New Home Site

The Southwest Conference was in need of a new home and we found it at www.theswcc.org which is short for "The Southwest Computer Conference". Not only do we have a new home but we also have a new look. Not to worry if you happen to log into the old address you will automatically be redirected to our new home.

Don't forget to bookmark the new site.

Pix from conference floor

This year we are going to have several volunteer photogaphers taking pictures and we hope to upload images from the conference right to the web site as they happen. At this time I have sent some pictures of the five us preparing for the conference click here to check them out

We Are On Our Way to San Diego

Plans are underway for the 15th Annual Southwest Computer Conference to be held May 30, 31 and June 1, 2008 at the Town and Country Resort & Convention center in San Diego, CA.
Over 300 Windows, Mac and Linux end users will converge on San Diego to learn about the latest offerings in the technology marketplace. Many attendees are members of computer user groups or clubs that represent 25,000 computer users known for being early adopters of technology.
The Conference includes workshops, seminars, tech sessions, networking with other computer users, vendor presentations at meals and the ever-popular Vendor Expo. It’s all included in your full conference registration fee! San Diego is the place to be the end of May, 2008. Enhance your computer skills -- meet like-minded people – smooze with top-notch vendors. What better place to learn from each other and sponsoring vendors than the 15th Annual Southwest Computer Conference? Attendees for more information visit our new site at www.theswcc.org
The Conference is dedicated to computer users who own one or more computers and use them daily for more than just e-mail. They are leading edge consumers who buy the latest in technology -- from software upgrades to new devices. Many are known as respected influencers and knowledgeable experts by their peers and are familiar with their group's and community's buying habits. All are vocal enthusiasts and products will be eagerly discussed - both orally at meetings and via publications. Attendees are teachers of technology, from computer labs to Special Interest Groups (product-specific small group meetings) -- they are eager to spread the word about your products.
John Iasiuolo from the Computer Outlook Radio Talk Show will broadcast LIVE on Friday evening from the conference floor. Vendors and attendees alike will have the opportunity to be interviewed for future shows.
Vendors are encouraged to contact Patricia Hill, to learn about the many opportunities to participate in Southwest 2008.

How Hot Will It Get?

The view from Judy Taylour's window

A New Look

Check out our new look

Its A Coming

14th Annual Southwest User Group Conference

George M. Holloway
Southwest International PC Club

Doug & Rosie Agee and George & Mamie Holloway attended the 14th annual Southwest User Group Conference held July 13th to July 15th at the Town & Country Resort and Convention Center in San Diego Ca.
There were over 270 attendees from Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Texas.

No conference is successful without sponsors and there were over 70 sponsoring vendors with 27 attending the Saturday Vendor Faire. I will be sending a thank you note to the vendors.

Smart Computing, Pinnacle Systems, AMD, Corel and Microsoft sponsored the meal and presentation events.

For the first time in the conference history a key note address was given by Andy Marken of Marken Communications. The subject of his address was Digital Rights Management (DRM) – How will the show End? The subject of DRM is the protection of digital property, i.e. music, movies, and digital images.

Between meals and presentations there were 20 workshops to choose from.
Of particular interest to me was the two digital photograph workshops presented by Cathy & George Margolin. The attendees at the first workshop were invited to take pictures on the grounds of the Town & Country property and submit them for judging and token prizes at the Sunday workshop.
With 60 entries yours truly won 2nd prize in the nature category.

Since it was impossible to attend all workshops, the hosts of the workshops provided Power Point presentations of their topics which were included on the conference CD. This will be a source of future SWIPCC presentations.

As you know, the winning entries of our local digital photo contest were submitted to the Swug digital photo contest. Winning entries were announced at Sunday’s breakfast. I am sorry to say none of our entries won in the available categories.
Judging is somewhat subjective. To illustrate, the attendees voted on their favorite photo to be awarded Best of Show. The voters did not choose any of the winners in the different categories. Instead they choose La Union Sunrise by our very own Garry Bentley.

Congratulations to Gary.

With Sunday lunch the conference came to an end and plans for next year began.
The 2008 conference will be held May 30, 31 and June 1.

Changes R A Coming

I can't spill all the beans yet but I can say the plans are big and the time is short so we will just have to wait and see how much gets accomplished.

The secret is out

After everyone left Sunday afternoon we spent the next 4 hours going over all the evaluation forms that were returned. We do this every year to see how we did and what we can do to improve next years' conference. Monday, at breakfast we had our first planning meeting for the 2008 conference. The meeting lasted several hours many suggestions & ideas were discussed and we think we are of to a good start.

We "R" on Our Way

Our Welcome bags are packed and we are on our way to San Diego. It is 4:45 am California time, I just finished loading the car and about to head out. Oooops I almost forgot my wife. I guess I had better wake her so she can go too.

San Diego

My wife and I drove for 2 hours. Patricia & Al Hill drove for 7 hours. Judy T rode the train. We all wound up in San Diego to do pre-conference work. For 3 days we met with the hotel people, conference room management, catering, and the media department working out one detail after another. We also chased leads for other participants from the local area, hammered out many problems and got Macy's to give each attendee discount coupon. The evening of the last night we even managed to spend a few minutes in the spa. The next morning after breakfast all of us headed home. Not sure about the rest but I am exhausted.

Xmas in July

It's beginning to look a lot like Xmas each and every day. Almost daily the door bell rings and it's another delivery service with packages to drop off. No, my wife and I have not spending our time on EBay we have been designated as the official receiving place for all door prizes and welcome bag items for the conference. I have been told that this is only the start and to expect more.

It's Official

After much paper work, a complete background check, and checking seven references we were allowed to sign a contract covering the proper care of our new mascot "Cyber" who just happens to be a dog. Once my wife and I got him home and he was comfortable in his new digs he told us he was anxiously awaiting the conference. He also told us this would be his first trip to San Diego. So far he has been a great addition to our household

Mascot

At the last SCRUGs meeting it was suggested that the SW Conference needed a mascot. After much searching we found the cutest, friendliest, best trained, mixed mutt to fill the position. We thought "Cyber" would be a good name for him. We will bring him to the conference for all to "see".

We Listen

During the '06 conference user groups and vendors discussed the difficulties in getting presenters to show up at user groups, especially the smaller groups. I was task with trying to resolve this problem. After researching and testing several methods I think we have come up with both an easy and cost effective method to achieve this goal. I hope to have a finished presentation ready for this years conference.

It's Official

We now have an agreement with Mr. G that he or a stand-in Representative will appear at the Conference. A special thank you goes to Miz Pris for her help with this negotation.

Rumors Continue

An agent named Lex Luther is negotiating head to head with Mr. "G" trying to convince him to attend the Military Achievement Computer event, more commonly known as the MAC show. We may have to bring in some outside help to swing things our way.

Rumor Has It

Doorman and Door mouse have a special friend, Ms. Mouse, who happens to be the agent for the owner of a large software company in Redmond. Between them they they are negotiating with Mr. G. for an appearance at SW. More to follow as things develop.

SC Linux Expo

Saturday was the fifth annual Southern California Linux Expo. My wife, Judy and I went. It was her first time with any version of Linux and she became a little confused with Red Hat, Fedora, Ubantanu, Debian and the rest. By the end of the show she decided she did like Penguins, the stuffed ones that squeak.

Pasadena Photo Show

Yesterday Judy and I met JT in Pasadena for the Photo Expo being held there. We toured the floor and met vendors. Hopefully some of them will be at SW this year. After the show the three of us had a two and one half meeting going over final editing of the conference PR kit. Tomorrow the Westin.

Three meetings two days

After a 6 hour drive we arrived at our hotel in Arizona. Shortly after settling in we went to the airport to pick up JT - back to the hotel. The next day immedately after breakfast the first meeting started. It ended late when the cleaning lady needed to clean the room. The next days meeting started first thing in the morning and ended at lunch. After our short lunch break the next meeting started and ended just in time to get JT back to the airport.

WOW are we tired

Cars, Planes & Reservations

For those flying tickets are bought, for those driving GPS coordinates are programmed and all have their hotel reservations.
This years pre-conference meeting is taking place in Arizona at the home Al and Patricia Hill. The meeting is to take place on the 24 & 25 of January. Topics of discussion will include type of workshops to hold, possible new vendors to attract, the direction of the conference, delivery and storage of merchandize and products, transportation needs and hotel planning and staffing. Once all the goals have been established we will spend the next few months trying to meet them.

Preparations are on the way

Along with the start of the year 2007 we have started making preparations for the 14th Annual Conference. The first project on the vast list of things to do is produce the new registration form. With this years form you will be able to enter your information right into the PDF file and then print it. This is being done to make it easier for you to fill out the form and easier for us to read once they are returned.

The conference co-chairs are planning a face to face meeting later this month. This is not an easy task as one is in Arizona and the other lives in California. More on this meeting as it develops.