Editorial

Editorial

BY HENRY MARCINKOWSKI

July | August 2004
Issue No.17

When I joined the staff of the MetroMac newsletter, I was given the title of Managing Editor and the task of setting up schedules and procedures. It wasn’t long before the Editor-in-Chief [Bill Chachkes] resigned and I volunteered to fill in until a replacement was found. That was a couple of years ago, and I’m still filling in.

When no one volunteered to be the Editor, I kept on filling in. It became a little easier when additional members volunteered for specific jobs on the newsletter. Rob Yasharian, Joan Scherman and Joanne Haire have done a great job since joining Milt Herder, who was an original member of the staff.

I recently tried to resign [mostly for personal reasons], but was talked out of it [at least for now]. I was told that there were so few active volunteers in MetroMac that the group could not afford to lose even one. I was forced to agree.

Since we have hundreds of members, and certainly dozens of active members, this is not too good. In a recent editorial Rob said he felt bad about getting so much help from MetroMac without giving something in return, so he volunteered. Joan Scherman said a request for help was made at a General Meeting, and she responded, looking to improve her knowledge of the Macintosh. Everyone who has volunteered for some task in MetroMac has done so for a variation of one simple reason:

TO UNDERSTAND THE MAC BETTER, SO AS TO USE IT BETTER.

I have been a passive member of past organizations and gotten no more than a minimum benefit from them. I have also been active in other organizations besides MetroMac, and benefited much more from an active participation. I am by no means an expert in the use of my G4 iMac. I use Quicken to keep track of my bills, use Microsoft Word in newsletter work, maintain a fairly active e-mail correspondence, and enjoy surfing the web. I have had dumb problems which have been solved by experts in the Forum. I have learned a lot from reading the newsletter regularly [I read it twice once as an editor and the second time for my own information]. Since I volunteered to work on the newsletter, I truly believe that my proficiency with my Mac has improved quite a bit. If all of this sounds like a recruiting ad for the newsletter, that’s exactly what it is. If you believe you have the experience and capability to be the next Editor-in-Chief of the newsletter, contact me. MetroMac’s officers and I will be glad to give you a trial. This also goes for my position, Managing Editor. We can certainly use another qualified copy-editor and Rob could use assistance from another web designer. Of course, we also want authors. Software, hardware and book reviews are needed: contact President Chris Bastian and/or the Director of Vendor Relations Peter Fine about this. Please consider volunteering to help yourself and MetroMac grow. There are other MetroMac activities besides the newsletter that could use your help. Come join us.