Membership Survey: Harvey reiterated the why’s and wherefore’s of the member survey now underway. Thanks were given to those who had completed and turned in their survey form; those who had not yet done so were implored to please do so as soon as possible. The information will be of considerable benefit to the Board of Directors in guiding the direction of the user group and our BBS and in making our group of greater benefit for all members.

Hard Drive For BBS: Harvey again noted for the group that the BBS has only one 212 Mb hard drive available to serve all the purposes we want of the BBS. The hard drive is full, and we need to acquire a 500 Mb + hard drive, preferably from donation or barter. Members were asked to look for ways to come by more hard drive space. One of our members offered a 200 Mb to the group, an offer that was quickly accepted. The ‘new-to-us’ hard drive should be installed in the near future, and we will likely see more files available for download in coming weeks. While this is not a long term solution, it will allow us to improve the BBS, and it gives us some breathing space. A BIG THANK YOU from all of us to ELAINE MARMEL for her generosity.

Special Interest Groups (SIGs): The OS/2 SIG is off and running. The first meeting is scheduled for 26 May - the 4th Thursday in May, at 6 PM, in the IBM facilities on the 4th floor of the Lake Pointe One building across ML King Blvd from Burdines in the Tampa Bay Mall. Subsequent meetings will be held in the same location and at the same time, but on the fourth Tuesday of each month. Many thanks to John Lucas for organizing and leading this SIG.

The CorelDraw SIG is still in the organization stage, with obtaining meeting facilities at HCC (Dale Mabry campus) the stumbling block. We hope to have good news on this in the near future so we can get this SIG going.

Possible BBS Move: Harvey informed us that the present location of the BBS may not be available to us in the future. Presently located at our SYOP’s place of employment, that business is presently in the throws of reorganization and tenure of our BBS is a bit uncertain. We need to be prepared to relocate the BBS should that become necessary, perhaps on short notice. All members were asked to keep an eye out for a potential alternate location, at least semi-permanent in duration, for the BBS. Please pass on any suggestions you may have to any of the members of the Board of Directors.

VA Patients Access To BBS: Harvey reported that the Board of Directors had determined that with only one phone line to our BBS it would be unfair to our members and hinder their access to the BBS. For the present we will be unable to grant access to our BBS to the VA hospital patients as had been requested by the Pinellas User Group.

Review Software Available: Software provided by vendors for our review is published monthly in the newsletter. Since the last newsletter went to print, we have received 4 more software programs for review. All members willing to try the software and write an objective, comprehensive review are invited to contact Marylee (Newsletter Editor) about reviewing any of the software available. A quality review benefits the entire group, and the reviewer becomes the owner of the software reviewed.

Public Relations Volunteer Needed: Membership growth of our user group does not reflect the quality of our group nor the benefits available from membership. What we need is someone who can take the bull by the horns and get information about our group in front of the PC users in the Tampa Bay area-- strategic placement of fliers, contact with area computer retail outlets/shops, etc., and develop other ideas and mechanisms to make the community aware of the Tampa PC Users Group. If you can contribute to this effort, please contact any member of the Board of Directors.

MS Access 2.0: Microsoft Access, the newest database program developed by Microsoft, has been released. Reportedly, sufficient copies are not yet available at all retail outlets to meet current demand, but keep checking if you are interested -- or order direct from Microsoft.

Word Perfect 6.0a: A maintenance upgrade to Word Perfect 6.0, identified as WP 6.0a, is now available from Word Perfect. Distribution is not automatic, and you must contact Word Perfect to get your free upgrade.