You are |
by Harvey Hild |
This is taken from the early newsletters of HAL-PC before we were a club. I have no way of verifying the contents of these articles except from the newsletters.
Relating a story told to me by Ben Quick, he and Rob Taylor were sitting under a shade tree one day when Rob came up with the idea to start a computer club. Rob claims that Ben came up with the idea. Flyers were put out in as many computer stores as possible for about six weeks before the following took place. I can't account for why Ben was not on the original membership roster. The first newsletter went out dated April 20, 1982 under the name of "IBM/PC USERS GROUP". The meeting was called to discuss: [first meeting]
¨ Newsletter
¨ Software Library and Co-op
¨ Technical Library
¨ Feedback from other users on problems and successes
¨ A chance to share our experiences with other users and benefit from other users' experiences.
¨ Technical presentations from manufacturers (hear it from the horse's mouth)
¨ Computerized "Bulletin-Board" information exchange.
The meeting was held at COMPUTERLAND (Westwood Store) at 9896 S.W. Freeway. They volunteered their store for the group to meet after they were closed. It became apparent that the place wasn't large enough from the start. There seemed to be a constant search for quarters large enough to meet.
You'll all be interested to know that in the bylaws that were drawn up this night the dues were set at $25.00 per year. The Executive Committee consisted of President, Vice President, and Secretary/Treasurer. They were to be elected every June and December. It was stated from the beginning the the club is a "not-for-profit club of IBM PC users (but not limited to such)". The stated purposes of this club include, but are not limited to, mutual help of members of the group in order to:
¨ Avoid the pitfalls that others have encountered.
¨ Develop and evaluate software and hardware.
¨ Apply the IBM PC to personal and business problems.
¨ Assist novice or new users of the IBM PC.
After the initial meeting was held on April 20, 1982, it was decided to peruse a users group. Temporary officers were appointed and it was full steam ahead for them. A lot of the information contained here was taken from the newsletters word for word (even misspellings).
On April 29, 1982 an Executive Committee meeting was called. A Newsletter was sent out to let the membership know what was going on. Those attending were: Don Daze, Ralph Roddy, Robert Taylor, Cecil Thompson, and Tim Triplett. Items that were discussed were: proposed bylaws, publicity, time and place of meetings, membership list, dues required to meet the club objectives.
Contained in newsletter:
FLASH
We have received word that a new version of PC-DOS is available. To obtain Version 1.05 bring in your old diskette to the meeting or bring in a blank diskette with your sales receipt for PC-DOS (proof that you have a license with IBM) and Bob Roenigk of Computerland will make copies.
Taken from the June 1982 Newsletter the article LOOKING BACKWARD:
On Tuesday, May 11, 1982, our group met at the Computerland Store. Once the boring bussiness of reading, amending, and approving the associations bylaws was goten out of the way, election of officers was held. It was a close race but Robert Taylor nosed into the chairman position, Tim Triplett won the vice-chairman slot, and Donald Daze was awarded the Secretary/Treasurer/Editor job. In addition several gentlemen were appointed to chair special committies John Hart - Software Library, Tim Bethel - Bulletin Board project, Bob Sibley - Club Liaison, and Ralph Roddy - Newsletter and mailing assistance. Then came nominations for a club name. Of the many suggestions, UPC, PC GALORE, PC Users Group, Houston PC Users, and HUPC were favorites. Final voting will take place at the June 8 meeting. Bob Roenighk gave an informative talk about the wide range of services available from The Source. The meeting was wrapped up by a lively group discussion about diskette manufacturers. I wish to thank everybody who attended the meeting and everyone who paid there dues.
AGENDA
1. Distribute adopted bylaws.
2. Vote on name for club (so we can fill banner at top of Newsletter).
3. Presentation by a mystery vendor.
4. Open question and answer session.
The newsletter stated that they planned a series of informative, lively and useful meetings every 2nd Tuesday of the month. If things work well at St. Philip Lutheran Church, we will establish the church as a regular meeting location.
They had an announcement in the newsletter that new software upgrades from IBM were available, Basic 1.1 and BASICA 1.1.
Now for some facts that I find very interesting, the vote for the name of our club. As you already know, we had a few choices to choose from. All the names and votes were:
From talking to some of the people that were there, it was decided to not use IBM in the name because of possible conflicts with copyrights.
Harvey Hild is a HAL-PC member and chronicler of our history.
NOTE: The "organizing notice" for the meeting is dated April 20, 1981, which, according to a founding member, was simply a typo. Our correct "birthday" is April 20, 1982.
E-mail me at webmaster@hal-pc.org with any comments you have and tell me what you want to see here.
Back to the Magazine Home Page