I am on a [insert interest] Slack group. Pretty good functionality for low fees 
(or free if you only want a 90 day memory). 

I don’t think they harvest all of your personal data like Facebook. I have 
never received any direct or so far as I can tell indirect marketing or appear 
to have had my info sold.  

On 7 Aug 2024, at 7:13 PM, Tim Law via WAMUG <[email protected]> wrote:

Hello all,

I run a similarly small community group that must comply with the requirements 
of Dept Commerce to remain functioning,  so I appreciate the decisions facing 
the leadership team and us as a group. The responsibilities placed on the 
leadership group to continue to comply with the requirements are just too 
bothersome and it is a wise move to lay out the situation to the group.

Whilst it may have been required in the past in more vibrant times, I don’t see 
the need for WAMUG to remain an incorporated body. I appreciate this will mean 
the loss of the domain name and associated email addresses - plus sadly the 
archive. These are not decisions to be taken lightly.

I feel a Facebook group set to private would provide a familiar chat style 
amongst the small number of active members. There’s an advantage of such a 
group being able to show images which might be useful for some problem solving. 
  This may be a satisfactory and viable option for the future

Regards

Tim








> On 7 Aug 2024, at 4:43 pm, Stephen Chape via WAMUG <[email protected]> 
> wrote:
> 
>  Hi Rod … that is a very valid point.
> 
>  And a great idea in my opinion.
>  I only use Facebook sparingly, but I am a member.
>  I feel that this suggestion should be looked at.
> 
>  On 7 Aug 2024, at 4:40 pm, Rod Blitvich via WAMUG
>  <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
>    WAMUG has been there for us for SO LONG.My gratitude to the various
>    Committee members for all their work over the many years. I value the
>    list and the knowledgeable contributions from Peter, Maureen, Daniel,
>    Ronni and many others. It would be very sad to lose this community
>  and
>    this knowledge base.
>    But you need to face the facts. WAMUG will die unless us oldies
>  embrace
>    Social Media. If a WAMUG Facebook group was formed, you would triple
>    membership in a few months. Why not create a WAMUG Facebook Group as
>  a
>    trial for say 12 months and then evaluate the trial at the end of
>  that
>    period?
>    If you want new blood then WAMUG needs to target people younger than
>  us
>    “oldies” – and guess where you will find them – on Social Media.
>    Another possible alternative would be to use Microsoft Teams – I
>    believe there is still a free version around.
>    A WAMUG Facebook group can be Public or Private. It can have a Code
>  of
>    Conduct/ List of Rules. It can have 1 or more Moderators. People can
>    “apply” to join the group and can also be removed from the group.
>    So it is my view that you have 2 choices – 1)Go with Social Media OR
>    2)Accept the demise of our wonderful group.
>    Rod Blitvich  - Amy & Sam’s Dad
>    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
>    On 7 Aug 2024, at 9:02 AM, Peter Hinchliffe via WAMUG
>    <[email protected]> wrote:
>      WAMUG as an entity is reaching an impasse. WAMUG (Western
>  Australian
>      Macintosh Users Group) has been an incorporated body since 1984,
>  ie,
>      the birthdate of the Macintosh computer. Long-term members will
>      remember the early meetings at UWA, and later Curtin University,
>      through the efforts of Martin Hill, Shay Telfer, John Curry and
>  many
>      others. After Curtin started placing prohibitive costs on our use
>  of
>      their facilities, we moved our monthly meetings to ChristChurch
>    Grammar
>      School in Claremont until clashes with school activities and
>    resultant
>      parking problems forced to find somewhere else. Member Lyn Muir
>    kindly
>      offered us the use of her real estate business premises at ProWest
>  in
>      Willetton, until the premises had to be rationalised in response to
>      business pressures from a market downturn. so we moved to a hall in
>      Bull Creek. Through this time our numbers dwindled to a mere
>  trickle
>      until Covid-19 hit and forced us to abandon physical meetings
>      altogether. Since that time we have been running our monthly
>  meetings
>      via Zoom, but we have never had more than 3 or 4 members attending,
>      other than the committee. We have found that the effort required in
>      coming up with meetings themes, paying for Zoom, etc, is is not
>      justified given the one or two people that do regularly turn up, so
>    we
>      have greatly reduced the frequency of the meetings, which has not
>      exactly been met with a flood of complaints.
>      We now have a real problem: being an incorporated body, we are
>      constitutionally required to hold an Annual General Meeting, and we
>    are
>      now well overdue to do this for 2024. Maureen Smith, our erstwhile
>      President and now secretary, has declared that she will not be
>      nominating for a position on the committee, thereby reducing our
>    small,
>      tired committee to 4: Bernard Barnwell (Treasurer), Pete Smith
>    (Website
>      updates), myself (President), and Daniel Kerr, who keeps this
>  mailing
>      list online and in order. Notwithstanding the fact that the
>  remaining
>      members are happy to retain their involvement, if no further
>      nominations are received at the AGM our tiny committee will not
>  meet
>      our constitutional requirement of at least 5 members.
>      Apart from this, we are desperate for some new blood. The current
>      members are generally feeilng beyond their use-by dates, and it’s
>    clear
>      that it’s up to the exisiting membership to decide if we want to
>      continue or not. The lifeblood of WAMUG in 2024 is this Maiiling
>    List,
>      and it is treasured by all those who contribute to it. It is
>    certainly
>      far less active than it was, but it really is all that remains of
>    WAMUG
>      is any real sense.
>      If no-one is willing to step up to be a Committee member at the
>      upcoming AGM these appear be our two options:
>      1 Dissolving WAMUG, the associated mailing list and website.
>      2 Changing WAMUG to an unincorporated entity in order to keep
>    the
>      mailing list.
>      According to the Associations Incorporation Act 2015, we will need
>  a
>      Special Resolution meeting to dissolve or unincorporate WAMUG.
>      Changing WAMUG to an unincorporated entity.
>      This action Requires a Special Resolution meeting, and we still
>  need
>      people to run the organisation, but our current financial holdings
>      cannot be retained and will need to be distributed according to the
>      Associations Incorporation Act 2015, which effectively means we
>  will
>    be
>      starting again from scratch.
>      Whatever entity we decide to change into, we will still have to
>    charge
>      a fee for the mailing list. However, there is no insurance for an
>      unincorporated entity so the people running WAMUG would be liable
>  for
>      its actions and results. We will also lose the use
>      of [1]wamug.org.au as a Domain Name.
>      Dissolving WAMUG
>      This requires a Special Resolution meeting. Again, our current
>      financial holdings will need to be distributed according to the
>      Associations Incorporation Act 2015; and again, the website and
>    mailing
>      list will disappear.
>      If you want to see WAMUG continue in any form, please give some
>    careful
>      consideration to what I've outlined above, and offering your
>  services
>      to the committee. These days, we are running most of our meetings
>      online via Zoom, so there’s really no need even to leave the house!
>    We
>      desperately need some new blood on the committee and some new
>      directions for the future. If nothing else, we need this list to
>      continue.
>      We area aiming to hold our Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 5th
>      September by Zoom, in the absence of any better offers. Zoom
>  details
>      will be provided several days in advance.
>      Kind Regards
>      Peter Hinchliffe
>      President,
>      Western Australian Macintosh Users Group
>    References
>      1. http://wamug.org.au/
>    -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List --
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>  <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug>
> 
>  Regards
>  Stephen Chape
>  Mac by choice
>  Windows because my employer knew no better
> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List --
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