User Group University Yearbook, Campus User Group Session, & More

The MUG Center has updated its site with information about the yearbook for User Group University Class of San Francisco 2003, the sixth User Group University, Shawn Kingis keynote speech, MUG events at Macworld Expo, and members of the User Group Advisory Board on C|Netis "Inside Mac" radio show. From The MUG Center:

USER GROUP UNIVERSITY YEARBOOK NOW ONLINE

The yearbook for User Group University, Class of San Francisco 2003, is now online. Photos and bios of attendees provide a unique picture of the diversity and strength of the MUG community. Give the page a minute or two to load - it is worth it.

CAMPUS USER GROUP SESSION, SHAWN KING & NEW USER GROUP ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS HIGHLIGHT USER GROUP UNIVERSITY

The sixth User Group University, the largest in San Francisco was held on Monday of Macworld Expo week and was a huge success. Shawn King of Your Mac Life provided an upbeat keynote address, talking about both his adventures on his User Group Tour as well as why he is such a strong believer in and supporter of MUGs.

Attendees benefited from a variety of sessions throughout the day, highlighted by a problem solving workshop facilitated by Campus User Group leaders that had team members acting out solutions to common challenges facing MUG leaders.

The day ended with a reception and opportunity for the Class of San Francisco i03 to meet with the many vendor sponsors of the event and a huge raffle.

The welcome session to UGU featured an update on the Apple User Group Program and updates on the Apple Regional Liaison Team, Campus Group Advisory Board and two new members of the Apple User Group Advisory Board:

Sandy Foderick

Sandy is a founding officer and current president of AOLis original user group, board member at the User Group Network and former Chancellor of AOLis User Group Learning Center. She has met and worked with user groups across the United States, is president of Virtual Mac, speaker chair for MiniiAppiLesi main meetings and has served as an Apple Regional Liaison for the North Central United States and online MUGs.

Lesa Snider

Over the years, Lesa has served as newsletter editor, web master, program coordinator, and currently President of the Cowtown Mac User Group in Ft. Worth. Lesa currently serves as a consultant for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, travels the country with the Adobe Photoshop Seminar Tour, and also occasionally writes for MacDesign magazine.

MUG EVENTS AT EXPO - CROWDS, RAFFLES & SURPRISE GUESTS

The MUG events at Macworld Conference & Expo were everywhere, exposing more show-goers than ever before to the user group experience.

The User Group Lounge opened Tuesday with an abbreviated schedule (due to Steve Jobsi keynote), yet drew a standing-room only crowd for David Pogueis session. The crew from The Mac Observer showed up for their session with two surprise guests: "Switchers" Jeremiah Cohick and Alex Schoknecht. The traffic through the Lounge was brisk throughout the rest of the week for the wide variety of Mac notables appearing in the Loungeis informal setting.

The Mega-MUG Meeting on Wednesday evening featured the largest crowd yet for this Birds-of-a-Feather conference track user group event. Experienced members and leaders as well as many new to the user group community enjoyed roundtable discussions on a variety of topics, capped off by a raffle of over $2,500 in hardware and software, including some unique Apple collectibles.

Through the first two days of Expo, the User Group Booth had already had more visitors than last yearis four-day show. Hourly raffles by the North Coast Macintosh Users Group, special give-aways in the Campus User Groups slot and tables decorated with fresh pineapples courtesy of the Maui Apple Users Society attracted and delighted show-goers.

Thursdayis MUG events opened with a packed Adobe User Group Breakfast and a dynamic GoLive demonstration by Terry White. Throughout the week, the User Group Guides helped attendees find what they were looking for.

USER GROUP ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS ON "INSIDE MAC" C/NET RADIO SHOW

Two members of the Apple User Group Advisory Board were guests on the Inside Mac show on C/Net Radio on Saturday, January 4. Chuck Joiner, Chairman, and Lorene Romero, Vendor Liaison, talked about all the Macintosh User Group events at Macworld Conference & Expo, and fielded listener calls about user group issues and information. You can listen to an MP3 archive of the show.

Coming Up This Week On The MUG Event Calendar

January 14 - 21

iMovie Fest - Apple Student Core @ Emory

January 16

Appleis Volunteer MUG Teams Chat - World Without Borders

You can get more information at The MUG Centeris Web site.