THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 2, 1995 TAG: 9412310192
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANET DUNPHY, SPECIAL TO BUSINESS WEEKLY
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
On a recent Saturday in the Virginia Beach Public Library, a crowd watched a portable television set. One man talked excidedly about the first time he logged onto the Internet.
It was the meeting of Mid-Atlantic OS/2, a computer user group whose members gather monthly to discover the intricacies of their electronic systems.
Computer user groups are a growing phenomenon today. The Capitol D.C. Group of Rockville, Md., numbers about 4,000 members.
In Hampton Roads at least nine user groups have formed, and while none are as large as the Rockville organization, some have as many as 150 members and most count on a loyal following.
Computer users, hobbyists and beginners are joining not just to discover computers and software but also to help stay current with their computer-based jobs.
People also turn to the clubs for help solving problems with their computers. Many computer companies are abandoning their toll-free help lines and installing costly 900 numbers.
As computer prices dropped, many manufacturers and distributors scaled back on the unlimited free help because it was expensive to maintain.
Computer scientist James Schwing of Old Dominion University said the user groups help people learn the ``ins and outs'' of a product by meeting with others who have figured it out in spite of the poorly written manuals.
Schwing, who develops software for NASA and Virginia International Terminals Inc., which operates the state's port terminals, said he doesn't belong to a user group.
``I don't tear programs apart. I don't use the tools to that depth,'' he said, describing how intense the club discussions can become.
Recently, Schwing suggested that a student working on a NASA project join a user group. ``I've been encouraging him to get into the inner workings of these groups,'' he said.
I joined the user group to learn more and to get a job,'' said Mark Buckley, 32, now president of the South Hampton Roads User Group, or SHRUG. ``It's a line on my resume.''
Buckley, a warehouse employee, said about 45 of SHRUG's 65 paid members attend each meeting at the Tidewater Community College in Portsmouth. The average member is 55.
SHRUG focuses on IBM compatible systems but doesn't limit the discussions to computers. They have also had speakers from Contel Cellular and C&P Telephone.
Ann Harney didn't own a computer when she joined the Tidewater User Group three years ago.
``I wanted to learn more about personal computers,'' said Harney, who launched a desk-top publishing business two years ago. She also edits The Umbrella, a local computer newsletter with about 500 subscribers.
I don't think there is one description for most of the members,'' said Shirley Thode, TUG president. ``For many of the members its a social gathering and the computer is just a hobby. Others want information.''
It's a hobby for Thode, a program analyst at the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Norfolk.
``I'm not a real techie,'' she said. ``I kind of coinsider myself on the fence.''
Many user group members prize the phone list of people willing to help them conquer problems over the phone. The lists are usually not circulated outside the clubs.
``Individual users are at the low end of the totem pole,'' said Bill Pettit, a member of the Southeastern Virginia Computer Group on the Peninsula.
Users band together in part so they'll have more clout with the product manufacturers since the toll-free lines are vanishing, he said.
For example, Umbrella, an organization of Tidewater user groups, has scheduled a meeting Saturday with Microsoft to discuss Windows 95,a much-debated software the company plans to begin selling in August.
The presentation is open only to members.
``Word Perfect used to be the ideal corporation,'' said Pettit, referring to the company's customer response program. ``They have slowly but surely backed down. It's frustrating, but it's buyer beware.''
The advent of the computer user groups pleases manufacturers.
``We tend to foster user groups because they indirectly promote our products,'' said Microsoft systems engineer Andrew Coupe of Washington.
Microsoft helped found the Southeast Virginia Foxpro club. The company mailed brochures to certain Tidewater zip codes and drew about 100 people to the first Foxpro meeting three years ago.
Joe Bleicher and Dick Whetstone helped start the group and say almost all the members make a living programming with Foxpro.
``We don't work for eight hours and go home and do something else,'' said Bleicher, a programmer working for a contractor at the Christian Broadcasting Network. Whetstone is a data base administrator for CBN, which eliminated its mainframe and completed its transition to Foxpro a year ago.
``This is not a hobby group,'' said Whetstone, calling Foxpro ``an intellectual challenge.''
It's a very tight-knit community, even as large as it is,'' said Whetstone.
Although the group has 62 paid members, two local Foxpro conferences in two years drew 300 and 700 people with the aide of Microsoft's mailing lists. A third conference is scheduled in May.
``The product changes constantly,'' Bleicher said.``About every 10 months there is a mjor revision. Then you're in a major leqarning curve to catch up.'' by CNB