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From: murp...@eisner.decus.org (Paul Murphy)
Newsgroups: comp.org.decus
Subject: DECUS US Announces Future Direction
Message-ID: <1993Dec6.183821.1514@eisner>
Date: 6 Dec 93 18:38:21 -0500
Organization: DECUServe
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DECUS U.S. CHAPTER BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ANNOUNCE FUTURE DIRECTION FOR THE ORGANIZATION
Group's Transformation Process Stresses
Advocacy, Member Services, Electronic Services,
and Enhancement of National Events
DECUS '93/SAN FRANCISCO, CA - December 6, 1993 - The Board of Directors of
the U.S. Chapter of DECUS, the Digital Equipment Computer Users Society,
this weekend announced plans for the future direction of the Chapter.
Board members outlined specific actions which will be implemented as part
of the Chapter's ongoing transformation program, designed to ensure the
relevancy and the vitality of the organization. The announcement was made
to Chapter members during DECUS '93/San Francisco, the group's semiannual
national seminars, symposium and trade show event.
Stressing the primary objective of promoting the unimpeded exchange of
information for Chapter members, the Board's plan places increased emphasis
on areas including: advocacy; member services; electronic services; and
enhancement of the Chapter's national events. The plan also calls for a
restructuring of the Chapter's leadership.
Board members said that they are researching mechanisms for the
implementation of their plan which covers the 1994 - 1995 time period and
lays the foundation for the future direction of the organization.
"This is a very exciting time for us. We are charting a course for the
future which emphasizes addressing the changing needs of our members,"
noted Chapter President Margaret Knox. "Although the plan we are putting
forth calls for a cultural change from the way we have operated in the
past, the Board strongly believes that the actions we are taking will best
serve the needs of our members by growing the opportunities for the
exchange of information sharing. This is key to achieving success in the
rapidly changing IT arena."
Under the action plan put forth by the Board, the Chapter will fund and
support formal programs to advocate member requirements before the group's
"cornerstone" vendor Digital Equipment Corporation; vendors operating in
the Digital-focused arena; standards bodies; and industry consortia. The
Chapter will also actively seek and develop mutually beneficial
relationships with professional organizations, and other users groups.
Recognizing the increasing importance of electronic communications, the
Board announced plans to negotiate reasonably priced Internet access for
all members, and provide services via the Internet such as program
libraries, information archives, DECUS communications, and member forums.
Board members stated their commitment to growth in the area of member
services, focusing on improving and building new options for the exchange
of informal dialog and peer-to-peer interaction amongst the membership.
Products such as a member directory and other professional development
tools are being considered.
The Chapter will focus its event support on an annual DECUS University
program and semiannual modified national event programs.
DECUS University, a seminars program offering attendees a choice of 30 -
40, one- and two-day offerings, over a four day period, will continue in
its present structure. The program allows attendees to choose several
offerings from a wide array of seminars to build a personalized curriculum
based on their individual needs. The next DECUS University will be held
March 19 - 22, 1994 in Irving, Texas.
The national event programs, comprised of seminars, a symposium, and the
DECUS Trade Show; will undergo a number of enhancements designed to best
address the information needs of the Chapter members, Information
Technology professionals. The events will be designed to reflect the
current concerns of attendees and actual technology available. DECUS
'94/New Orleans, May 7 - 12, 1994, will follow the theme of Managing
Complexity: Succeeding in a Multivendor, Multiplatform World. The core
program will offer technical tracks on Virtual Networks; Client/Server and
Transaction Processing; Application Development; and Avant-Garde
Technologies.
The Board's plan also calls for a restructuring of the Chapter's
leadership, shifting business responsibilities to a smaller base of
Board-appointed, volunteer groups and a professional staff. A larger base
of volunteers will now focus on the technical content exchange, which
according to Knox is the "heart and soul" of the organization.
A token membership fee will be instituted to differentiate between DECUS
"customers" and those who are committed to the Chapter and to whom the
Board is accountable.
The DECUS U.S. Chapter is an association of Information Technology
professionals interested in Digital and related products, services, and
technologies. The Association's purpose is to promote the unimpeded
exchange of information, thus helping its members and their organizations
to be successful. The Chapter provides each member with professional
development, forums for technical training, mechanisms for obtaining
up-to-date information, member advocacy, and opportunities for informal
disclosure and interaction with professional colleagues of like interests.
###
DECUS, the DECUS logo, and Digital are trademarks of Digital Equipment
Corporation.
--
Paul Murphy - DECUS U.S. Chapter | Email: murp...@decus.org
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From: mk...@bongo.cc.utexas.edu (Margaret Knox)
Newsgroups: comp.org.decus
Subject: LUGs and the US Chapter
Date: 17 Dec 1993 23:18:29 GMT
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
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Reply-To: mk...@bongo.cc.utexas.edu (Margaret Knox)
NNTP-Posting-Host: bongo.cc.utexas.edu
Let me try to answer some questions I have been seeing with SHORT
answers (yes, I know I will regret this :-) on the LUG autonomy policy...
* Has Funding been removed for LUGs? funding for LUGs has been removed
for the remainder of the fiscal year (ending 1 July 1994). See later comment.
* are LUGs immediately delicensed? No. All LUG licenses continue until
the Chapter presents them with licensing criteria. The Chapter has to
put together minimal licensing criteria as well as provide information
to the LUGs about being a separate tax identity (in other words we have
to talk with the lawyers) as well as ascertain from Digital if they will
or will not extend liability indeminification to the LUGs and if so,
under what conditions.
* if my LUG got support from the local Digital office, will that
continue? It certainly should! The newest member of the Board is Bob
Schmitt, the Digital delegate, and his first response was to ask for a
list of LUGs so internally he can send down the word that support should
continue or START, as the case need be. For example, some offices
provide the LUG with copying and mailing of meetings and newsletters as
well as meeting space. Bob wants to see MORE support locally.
* will Classpass project continue? Yes. A good funding source for your
LUG and a real benefit to the membership.
* will other mutually beneficial projects happen? Yes.
* is there someone to talk to about all of this? Rick Wrigley is
specifically working LUG issues for the Chapter.
* why isn't everything already decided and tied up neatly in a bow? Good
question. As a board member I know we get hit because we don't talk
early enough and also get condemned for not having it all done before we
talk. There is no perfect answer, of that I am sure.
* I don't believe the financials...? Well, I wish I did not have to
either, but rolling down into San Francisco , where we HAD planned to
only talk about directions and the way to get them implemented (e.g.
advocacy emphasis, Internet, etc), the Board was faced with a reality
check. Our half year projections showed that we were about $800k under,
which would worsen to $1.4M by the end of the fiscal year. That meant we
would have slipped into cash flow problems before the New Orleans event.
At that point we knew we had to mandatorily put into place the removal,
from most of the chapter leadership, of the business mgmt of the
Chapter; we no longer had the resources, time and dollars, to do
business the way we had.
Okay, I know the answers are pithy, hopefully they help more than hinder.
Marg Knox
DECUS US Chapter, president
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From: mk...@bongo.cc.utexas.edu (Margaret Knox)
Newsgroups: comp.org.decus
Subject: DEC focus
Date: 23 Dec 1993 20:44:47 GMT
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
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Reply-To: mk...@bongo.cc.utexas.edu (Margaret Knox)
NNTP-Posting-Host: bongo.cc.utexas.edu
In my reading through some material from last week, I noticed some
comments with respect to DECUS (US Chapter) moving away from Digital.
I'd like to address that. No, we are not. Digital remains our
cornerstone relationship. We are DECUS, not a generic user society. For
those interested in something more generic, SAGE (System Administrators
Guild) is a good example. But we are not saying that we are DEC-only.
Even DEC is not DEC-only. But we believe that the membership has DEC as
a strategic, but not exclusive, partner. Surveys show most of us living
in the multi-vendor muddle and trying to make stuff work together.
Where the line gets drawn is difficult, but the focus is looking from
the Digital environment out into a wider world. We never found a
shorthand name that "resonated" with most people. DEC-centric seems to
imply too inward a look, DEC-anchored mall also raised a lot of
objections. SO if someone can come up with a catch phrase that talks
about a relationship with DEC as teh cornerstone, let me know!
Marg Knox
DECUS US Chapter president