Even though UniForum Central New York-the UniForum affiliate located in Syracuse-sometimes has to postpone meetings due to freezing weather as it did this month, interest is driving membership to an all-time high, according to John Kastler, president of the group.
The affiliate now has about 85 paid members, a threefold increase over the last three years. The group was established in 1987.
Monthly meetings center around two main activities, Kastler says, starting with a technical presentation. "It may be a local company and what they're doing, or it could be something geared toward end users-they vary quite bit." After a break, there's usually a tutorial or an on-line demonstration. "We're fortunate that out meeting place-the public library in suburban Liverpool, NY-has an Internet connection, so we can get on and do some things with World-Wide Web or whatever people are interested in."
A recently added resource for the organization is a reference library for the members. "That's something new for us that seems to be working very well," Kastler says. "All of our books seem to be mostly checked out all the time."
The group also publishes a monthly newsletter containing technical articles as well as what activities are taking place within the group.
Information about available jobs is also exchanged at the meetings. "I set aside two areas," Kastler says. "One is for anybody who wants to stick a resume up or a job wanted notice, and a second area for company that want to put out any literature they may have for people who may be interested. We also have an e-mail alias on-line, so people can post jobs that they are looking for people to fill. And people can send their resumes out to the group, or they can just send questions about something they want to talk about."
The organization has an informal Linux special interest group, and occasional meetings are devoted to that subject. "We typically have one or two meetings that are just open forums, where people bring in questions or problems they're having," Kastler reports. "We try to figure out what the problem is and get a resolution one way or the other." Also, occasionally, a special panel presentation is put together on some aspect of technology such as client/server architecture, or wide-area information servers on the World-Wide Web.
"The past two or three years we have kind of gotten away from vendors talking about their products and more into technical presentations rather than sales presentations," Kastler says.
An affiliation with Syracuse University allows members to get dial-up access to the Internet - a further incentive for membership.
Persons needing further information may contact Kastler on the Internet at john@gems.com or at (315) 433-1010.