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Presidential Potpourri
By Walter Hanig, President

Author Bio

Administrative Council

No particular theme this month, just a collection of opinions, news, and references.

In February, we held the first meeting not at the Wyndham in several years. We surveyed the attendees for their reactions, and we hope to take post-meeting surveys monthly. Before I summarize the survey results, I'd like to tell the story of how we decided to hold the meeting there.

For some reason, we learned in December that we couldn't have our usual room for the February, March, and April meetings as well as some other future meetings. The council considered several options and agreed on fundamental objectives:

• Keeping the same schedule—second Wednesday of each month
• Staying in the general area of Sorrento Valley
• Not increasing the cost to the chapter and the price to the members

So, Michael Cardenas, who'd graciously volunteered to become Programs VP, and I interviewed about seven hotels. We gave them our constraints, the general logistics of meetings, and capacity requirements (40-60 attendees). Ultimately, the Woodfin Suite was the only feasible choice. And it had the advantage of being easy to get to if you're familiar with the Wyndham's location. Most of the nearby hotels do not have adequate conference room space; few have food preparation facilities.

So, what were the survey results?

First, I was gratified to get almost 40% response within 36 hours of sending the survey. You folks sure aren't shy!

The location was rated excellent or acceptable by all respondents. This isn't surprising; if it were really inconvenient, you wouldn't have attended and therefore not received a survey.

The logistics were rated excellent by 12 of 13 respondents. (The holdout selected acceptable.) Obviously Lance, Gail, and Nadine are doing a great job!

Food was an interesting subject. Several people observed that food isn't a factor in deciding whether to attend; others commented that they don't have high expectations in general for food at any meetings. A significant number (five of 13) rated the food as disappointing. Considering that I know what the March menu is, I'm confident you'll like it more. I will work directly with the hotel to improve some aspects of the food service.

Ten respondents said the speaker and presentation fully (8) or somewhat (2) met their expectations. Others felt that the presentation's exclusive focus on database publishing wasn't appropriate.

If you haven't responded, please do!

We had an administrative council meeting February 19. Here are the highlights:

• Chapter Post Office. We agreed to move the chapter's post office box to a more convenient location for the Finance VP. Our new address is:
  
  STC San Diego
  PO Box 501261
  San Diego, CA 92150-1261
  
  This address will be posted to the website ASAP.
  
  
• Late Reservations. In response to a member's request and given that meeting reservations are not compiled until Monday morning, we agreed to delay the "late reservation" deadline to 10:00 p.m. Pacific Time. This will be implemented as soon as the crack Web site team can do so.
  
  
• The Chapter's Library. Members have asked about donating books to the chapter's library. Of course we'd like to offer as many books as we can. But we don't want to become a dumping ground for the books that members can't bring themselves to toss in the paper recycling bin. We agreed on a policy that will be posted on the Web site and at the library table. The gist of that policy is that we'll accept all books in good condition. Software books that refer to the current or immediate previous version will be considered if in good condition. For example we would accept FrameMaker 7 or FrameMaker 6 books into the library, but not FrameMaker 5. We may accept older books for permanent recycling to other members.
  
  Think of it as a used-book sale without the money! We'll provide a receipt, but the donor is responsible for establishing the value for tax purposes. Also, the librarian's decision is final!
  
  
• Location for Meetings. We discussed the results of the meeting survey and considered an earlier newsletter survey on location. From that survey, we learned that Mission Valley is a feasible location to a significant number of members. We agreed that Michael would try to get a better deal from the Radisson in Little Italy; Sharon would check out a hotel near I-15, and Lance-Robert and I will investigate possible locations in Mission Valley. Fact is, we know we can't please everyone, but we'll do our best!
  
  
• Next Year's Officers. The next major item of business was a discussion of officers for next year. I choose not to say who's agreed to stay on for next year and what positions need to be filled. Why? Because if you're interested in serving the membership, you shouldn't feel that opportunities are closed to you. LET ME KNOW AND WE'LL FIND A SPOT!
  
  
• Programs Planned. We discussed programs for the rest of the chapter year. We don't have a committed program for May, but some possibilities are being considered and others investigated.
  
  
• Next Council Meeting. Lastly, the next council meeting is 6:00 p.m., March 20, in Rancho Bernardo. Within limits, any member is welcome to attend. (The limits relate to room capacity and food cost, not any attempt to hide discussion.).

Even though I'm way over my word count target, I thought I'd include some goodies from my 1 MB plus bookmark file for your surfing pleasure. I hope you find these interesting. If there's a subject you'd like a link for let me know; I might have it, especially if it has to do with animals or food.

Reference materials
http://www.refdesk.com/index.html
http://www.ipl.org/
http://www.webopedia.com/

Fun
http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/top_ten/
http://www.theonion.com
http://www.fontlover.com/