End of Summer President’s Message
Greetings PBMUG members!
Welcome back! I hope everyone had a truly wonderful summer. I know many of our members (including myself) were out and about traveling this past summer. I hope you’ve made it back safe and sound from your adventures.
Before I address this month’s newsletter, I want to sincerely apologize to those members and visitors who made the trip all the way downtown for our September meeting expecting to see an iPhone 3G exhibition. At the last moment, I received word that our scheduled presenter was unable to attend due to illness. I, too, was unable to attend the meeting due to work obligations, which brings me to this month’s discourse and my humble plea, echoed by Nancy Sheridan’s fine article, “PBMUG needs your help!”
This is a very difficult column for me to write. This has been such an arduous year for so many of you on so many fronts. It’s only human nature, but most individuals abhor a sense of uncertainty. Yet we are indeed living in the midst of uncertain times.
As I write this, look at the ripples spreading through the political and financial world in just this past month:
- Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin had her private email account hacked into twice (check out Duane Hawk’s informative article on internet/email security)
- Washington Mutual was sold to J. P. Morgan Chase in the largest bank failure in U.S. history
- Foreclosures have been running at an all time high, with in many cases the property value being less than the amount of money owed on the house (those of us who live in Florida are well aware of that fact)
- Lehman Brothers filed Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
- Merrill Lynch was sold to Bank of America
- The Federal Government announced a bail out of mortgage lenders, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae
- In one day, Insurance Giant AIG lost close to 70% of its stock value leading the federal government to step in and give it assistance
I could go on and on with uncertain, negative news that has everyone a little nervous these days. Many of our members have gone through the most difficult situation of their life this year, the loss of health, a lost job, the loss of a home, a lost relationship, or something else equally as painful. Whatever the case, we can cling to the fact that life is about change!
If you think about it, the Internet is less than 5,000 days old, and yet, look at how it has changed the way we live. It has remarkably changed how we communicate with each other (MySpace, Facebook), how we market goods and services (eBay, Amazon), how we do our research (WebMD, Google), etc. In the field of technology, change is happening at such an incredibly fast pace it's become increasingly difficult to keep up with.
PBMUG is affected by change also, as referenced by one of PBMUG’s most revered veterans, Larry Grinnell, in his most recent Blog, titled “The Decline and Fall of User Groups”
The good news is: The sun is going to rise tomorrow. And while some people may want to throw in the towel and just give up, we know we can keep going, growing and improving. It’s really that simple.
Come November, you’ll have the opportunity to vote not only for the direction of the country, but also for the future of our venerable PBMUG. Elections for club officers - President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Member At-Large positions are all open, as is the position of Newsletter Editor. If you are a member in good standing, I would like you to consider stepping forward to keep the club going.
The question is, “Are you willing to step forward?”
Brian Bahe
PBMUG Grand PooBah