| More than two hundred people, including members, visitors, and members of the Macintosh retail community, joined together at the Miami Museum of Science December 5th to make the 2001 Holiday Meeting an unqualified success.
 Those attending the meeting were treated to a first ever double presentation, with Microsoft and Apple together on the Gold Coast Mac stage for the first time. Apple OSX product manager Chris Bourdon was joined by Microsoft Project Manager Jason Weber for an evening which concentrated on the growing importance of OSX. In addition, members were treated to a brief iMovie documentary on the opening of the new Apple Store at The Falls, and enjoyed thousands of dollars worth of raffles, prizes, and giveaways.
Members also took advantage of the large attendance at the meeting to approve the group's purchase of a new Titanium 550.
The first presentation, from Apple's Bourdon, was a hands on look at the benefits of OSX, in a way which made easy for people nervous about the changes to see what those changes bring. While Chris is from a marketing background, his presentation showed some real world situations and explain how OSX makes the Macintosh experience better, and he also answered questions about features, upgrading, and issues such as high speed internet.
One good presentation deserves another, and that's exactly what members got when Microsoft's Jason Weber took the stage. As one of the developers responsible for the creation of Microsoft Office:Mac v10 for OSX, Jason took his audience through an enthusiastic look at the key components of the new office suite, released in late November and built from the ground-up for the Mac. From Word, to Excel, through Powerpoint, and ending with Entourage, Jason wowed members with the great graphics and improved features, and repeatedly pointed out many of those features "are Mac-Only," a statement which drew appreciative comments from the audience.
If that wasn't enough reason to have a great time, we had the biggest evening in the 17 year history of Gold Coast Mac for prizes, raffles, and presents! Some of the lucky winners:
iMac DV400, OSX, and extra memory (Value $700).........Gustavo Monte
iPod MB3 (Value $400), donated by Mac Center...........Bob Dudley
Office:Mac v10, Donated by Microsoft (value $495)......Patrick Foy
Holiday Santa, Created by Katey Lynn (priceless).......JoAnne Barkan
iBook Slipcase, Donated by Mac Center (Value $60)......Rose Lynn
Neoprene iBook case, donated by Macstore...............TBA
6 Copies OSX 10.1, Donated by Apple and Mac Center
(Total Value $775)................................6 Lucky Winners!
We also gave away (donated by Apple User Groups and Garr Reynolds):
30 "Been there, done that" T-shirts
4 Apple Laptop bags
50 Apple Neoprene Mousepads
2 hard to find OSX T-Shirts
and a couple of T-Shirts from Microsoft!
And one more thing...
We gave away well over 100 wrapped gifts to members as they left the meeting. Talk about your holiday cheer! And we had such generosity from our sponsors, we even held back a contribution from the Apple Store at the Falls. You'll have to come to the January meeting to see!
In addition to being a lot of fun for Gold Coast Mac, the raffles helped beef up the group's treasury for the coming year. $740 was raised by the iMac raffle, and when added to past ticket sales, we raised a total of $900 over the cost of the computer. MacCenter sold all 75 tickets to the iPod raffle and donated the proceeds to Gold Coast Mac, for another $750. Katey Lynn's Santa raffle brought in $65, the Hot Disk clearance brought in about $90, and we brought in nearly $1000 in new and renewal memberships! So, in addition to a great meeting, a lot of fun, and great support from our retailers, and great prizes, we made significant strides toward ensuring financial health, as well as making it possible to continue to benefit members with new equipment and the like. Few user groups are so fortunate, and you should be proud of the people who work to make it possible, and of the support you give them.
This outstanding meeting was the product of a lot of hard work and support by dozens of people.
Thanks to The Board collectively, and singling out:
Rose Lynn, for her unceasing efforts and great advice. I'd need a separate memo for everything she does!
Esver Camacho, for Tech Support
Jan Barkan, for braving the check-in table and signing up a record number of members
Giuseppe DiFranco, for tech support, designing and printing brochures, and taking still photos of the evening
Z'Garci, for taking video of the evening
Jim Bolinger, for supervising the Raffles
Charlie Carlon and TJ Carlon, for overseeing the money and countless other tasks
Felicia Sternbach, for filling the gaps and doing anything asked, big or small
Andre Perwin, for making the hot disks an experience!
Thanks to our presenters:
Chris Bourdon, of Apple, who made OSX understandable,
Jason Weber, of Microsoft, who braved a red-eye from Seattle to show us amazing Office:mac v10.
Thanks to our retailers:
GCMac Board Member Rafael Marerro and Mark Asturias of MacCenter, for the raffles, the donated prizes, for the iPod discounts, for helping publicize the event, and the great presence MacCenter had at the meeting.
Joel Lukacher, President of The Mac Store, and Vice President Charles Frishman, for donating prizes and a Titanium case for GCMac's use, for distributing our flyers in the store, and for setting up a great display at the meeting!
Tom Summers, Manager of the Apple Store at The Falls, for being part of the evening and for donating some great gifts to be distributed next month.
Jim Kiltie, of Computer Village, for distributing flyers, newsletters, and for his continued solid support of Gold Coast Mac
Bill Harper, Apple store rep for CompUSA Dadeland, for helping to distribute flyers and promote the event.
Thanks to our supporters:
Katey Lynn, for making the Holiday raffle gift and then coming to help sell tickets!
Richard Lynn, such a great supporter of GCMac, for everything from hanging banners to helping at check-in
Fina Perez, for helping with credit cards and check in
Joseph Diaz, for sweltering inside the red suit to play an outstanding Santa Claus!
JoAnne Barkan and Mary Ann Game, who in addition to surrendering their husbands to GCMac, helped man the raffle table!
Bob Lasky, our Member of the Month, for his help in set-up and for acting as an elf for the prize giveaway
Linda Ginsberg, for helping to get Santa ready and other assistance!
Francesca Smith, for serving as an elf and helping elsewhere and with breakdown
Sandy Medina, for her help enlisting new members and helping guide people
Steve Krischer, for his usual great job with the Q and A
John Hopkin, winner of the Iron Man award, for volunteerism beyond the call!
Marta, the Museum of Science custodian, for her usual great assistance
The Miami Museum of Science and its staff, for proving a great venue, and for allowing us such latitude in accommodating such events
Chuck Joiner, for giving us National Attention in the User Group Report at the MUG Center
Garr Reynolds, Manager of the Apple User Group Program, for helping to arrange Chris Bourdon's appearance and for arranging to donate great Apple gifts!
And all the others, whom we grabbed for help on the spot, and who always pitched in with a smile!
December 2001
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