May 2009 Issue

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The Newsletter - The Future?

Bryan Coleman always gives me a ring the week before a meeting is due to remind me to write the newsletter. I usually write one on the Wednesday before a meeting is due and send it to Bryan who tidies it up, prints it and sends it out to members. Bryan also emails it to Nigel King who puts it on the website.

Last month the newsletter was sent out as usual and on the day of the meeting I worked on a project that I am doing in the garden and planned to finish earlier than usual in order to come to the meeting. The project, a garden room, has taken all my time for the last few months and I do tend to get a bit over involved in it. I worked to about 6.30pm as usual and completely forgot the meeting. Bryan telephoned to inquire why I was not at the meeting and I had to confess that I had completely forgotten about it and was much too tired to rush a meal, bath and get to the meeting.

Although I have missed a few meetings over the years they are very few and this is the first time that I have completely forgotten a meeting.

I need to keep busy since my wife died but I do tend to go over the top a bit and get too involved in projects. I am sorry to have missed the meeting.

As usual this week Bryan telephoned to remind me to send out the newsletter.

I told Bryan that I had not used my computer since the last newsletter and in fact have only used it occasionally for the past few months for anything except recording.

Since most of the recording research I used to do is now being done much better by other people there is very little left for me to do on the computer. I am far too busy with other things to sit and surf the web!

What is all this leading too? Well, as I do not use my computer a great deal now and everything has been made so much simpler, I find it difficult each month to find anything to write about computing.

I have written a newsletter every month since 1987 (a quick calculation makes this in the region of 260 newsletters although this one is listed as issue 234)

I have seen membership drop from around 50 people to less than a dozen now, all of whom are quite competent and seldom need any help but enjoy getting together each month to use the internet and have a chat.

I am sure that the drivel I write each month is not very important to members except to remind them of the date of the next meeting, so would not a simple reminder be sufficient? Brief notes could be added when further information is required.

I would be pleased to have the opinion of members.