Wake Up Call to Commodore User Groups By Carol Martin Who wants to know the future of Commodore users when their user group disbands or no longer supports their computer? Who will I turn to for support? How will I obtaining information and kept my Commodore going after my area user group is gone? These are questions asked by users when their club cannot remain viable in the Commodore community. This article applies not only to Commodore users but to all vintage computer users. I have seen some alarming trends in the Commodore community. For one reason or another, Commodore clubs are becoming less common. Dwindling membership and members not willing to fill necessary club positions is one common reason sited. Many of the individuals I have contact with no longer have a user group within their area. In December some of the user groups I had contact with disbanded or quit supporting the Commodore computer. What happened to these Commodore members? Where are they getting their support? The answer is many no longer have an outlet for support. I know first hand the Internet can fill the gaps a user group cannot. A place to go to find people like yourself with similar interests, expertise, and not be restricted by the area you live in. The Internet does have drawbacks such as not everyone is interested in being part of the on-line community. Language barriers often occur among users. Not everyone is multi-lingual. Speaking only from my own experience with Commodore users, about twenty percent actually get on-line and many of these on-line users use their computer at work for obtaining Commodore information. The place to start is with a free membership at VICUG (Virtual Internet Commodore User Group) at http://www.jbrian.com/vicug. The rest is up to you with the CABOOM search engine, library, SWAP, FAQ's, and BBS. So, what do we as Presidents do for the other eighty percent of the membership who do not belong to the on-line community? I took the time to compile information for my membership to pursue if they are interested. This can also apply to members who move into a new area or for people who cannot attend user group meetings do to health or schedule reasons. MPC Chronicles is an 18-page black and white publication published five times a year with an average of fourteen pages dedicated to Commodore 128, 64, VIC20, and Plus/4 computers. What makes this publication stand out is you also receive at no additional cost a disk specific for the Commodore 128, 64, VIC20, and Plus/4 computer. To cut to the chase if you are a Plus/4 owner you receive a disk for your Plus/4 machine not a disk with a mixture of computer (128, 64, VIC20, Plus/4) information on it. A single issue is $4.00 and a complete 1998 subscription of five issues is $20.00. You can join the user group and have access to the club library, club specials, and special on-line site for an additional $5.00. For more information, send a 32-cent SASE for information flyer to CHLB c/o MPC On-Line, PO BOX 7293, Long Beach, CA 90805 or E-mail camaron@earthcorp.com. Meeting 64/128 Users Through the Mail is a user group through the mail. They do not offer a library or disk of the month. What they offer is a web site and bi-monthly newsletter. Contact Tom Adams (President) 4427 39th Street, Brentwood, MD 20722-1022 for information. E-mail tomadams@sysnet.net Lucky Report is a twelve-page newsletter published eleven times a year for Commodore 64/128 users. The cost for an annual subscription is $15.00 or $5.00 for four issues. You can also join their user group for and extra five dollars ($20.00 total) and have access to their clubs disk library. Lucky, c/o Phyllis Bunch, 2518 Browns Lane, Lousville KY 40220. Commodore World is a commercial publication of around forty pages for the Commodore 64 and 128 users. In the magazine, you will find various places that sell Commodore hardware and software. This publication will also give you an idea of what is going on in the Commodore community. $29.95 for eight issues. CW Subscriptions c/o Creative Micro Designs, Inc. P.O. Box 646, East Longmeadow, MA 01028. Loadstar 64 and 128 Quarterly by J & F Publishing. For Loadstar 64 offer a newsletter the Loadstar Letter and Loadstar disk magazine for $9.95 a month. You can also obtain a subscription to one or both also. Loadstar 128 is a quarterly disk magazine and available also by the issue or by subscription. Loadstar, PO Box 30008, Shreveport LA 71130-00008 or 1-800-594-3370 for orders and 1-318-221-8718 for questions. E-mail jeff@loadstar.com When a club closes it is a loss to the Commodore community. I would like to see the members of these user groups still have a chance at being involved with the Commodore community. When the time comes, I hope my members agree to use whatever treasury funds are left over to buy a subscription to a newsletter, publication, or disk magazine for the benefit of the membership. Even if it is only two issues per member, it is something to get them going and keep them going in the Commodore community. (from MPC On-Line May 1998 Camaron@earthdome.com, via C= The News, Internet Article Repository, via the Commodore Information Center, http://home.att.net/~rmestel/commodore.html. Permission is granted to reprint this article freely as long as this disclaimer remains and proper credit is given to MPC Chronicles, MPC On-Line, and the author. Commodore product names, trademarks, logos, copyrights, and technology belong to Tulip Computers. MPC Chronicles, MPC On-Line, and the author are in no way affiliated with Tulip Computers. MPC Chronicles, MPC On-Line, and the author assume no responsibility for errors, omissions, or content and assume no liability in anyway. Users use article at own risk.)