I always think that no news is good news, but I'm always glad to hear what's happening around the region & be able to pass on the latest news.

First, starting with some old news.
MacCamp Spring '04 turned out to be a memorable weekend, and another great production coming from PMUG (Portland OR). This was my first opportunity to attend MacCamp, and Friday afternoon found me heading east out of Salem & into a beautiful mountain setting. Take four cabins that can hold 12 people each, add a general meeting room and cafeteria & separate all by a large green grassy meadow; add 10 waterfalls ranging from 30 ft to 170 ft, and you've got the setting for the weekend. The weekend was almost at it's maximum capacity, and was attended by young & old, plus some in between. Once everyone has a chance to fully recover, and pictures get collected, look for a full update at the PMUG website.

Looking forward to the best little Expo north of San Francisco... The 2nd Annual Rogue Valley Mac Expo is set to take place June 13. This event is hosted by JoMacs (Grants Pass OR), and all within driving or flying distance are invited. This year will see special guests including Mike Descher from Adobe, Rob Griffiths, author of Mac OS X Hints & Erik Rogers of ColorIQ. As a special welcome, they're having a special welcome for the guests with a dinner jetboat trip on the Rogue River. Stay tuned to the website for more information as it develops.

Coming in from Washington
South Puget Sound MUG is having a Demo of an  Apple iPod and an iPod mini, provided by their two individual owners, Brandon Boyd and Katherine Cartino. Both are experienced Mac users who can answer questions about what they have found out in using the iPod.

Even if you would never consider buying an iPod, this will be an opportunity to understand enough about it to answer questions that will come your way as a Mac owner. This product is dominating Apple advertising; and Apple currently has more unit sales of iPods than computers. Its success with Windows is a tangible step in realizing Apple’s ambition to sell  product to the benighted 97% of computer owners.

dBUG, Redmond WA
Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit invites dBUG members and guests to Microsoft's Redmond campus to plumb the secrets of Microsoft Office 2004 for Macintosh. New Features will be unveiled at a Main Meeting of dBUG, Seattle's Macintosh User's Group. (With, as usual, Microsoft's stellar food and drink spread.)

Get in on the ground floor with information about the useful new features - like Picture and Audio in Word. Come attend the meeting and you might be the lucky person to win your very own copy of Office 2004 (up to $500 value). T-shirts and more will be raffled, too.

You can also get ahead of things.... Whether you're ahead of the curve or behind the curve, dBUG's annual Swap Meet has something for you! Computers, monitors, hard drives, peripherals, cables,memory, mice.... Who knows what else? (Besides the free Mac advice you can pick up from dBUG members.) Come to buy or come to sell; food, drink and friendly faces await you. Visit dBUG's Web site for more information. For monthly meeting info & upcoming meetings, visit the dBUG web site.

WhatMUG, Bellingham WA
The MAY WhatMUG meeting will be held at the Bellingham Public Library on May 12 at 6:30pm. We will be hosting a presentation by Gary Wilson, a senior Product Manager from Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit. Gary will be demonstrating the upcoming release of “Office 2004 for Mac”. This latest version of “Office for Mac” provides exceptional tools for managing information, working smarter and connecting with others.  More information can be found on the WhatMUG web site.

And, from Oregon
ABCC, Winston OR has invited me to attend their meeting on the 19th. I'll be sharing information on the Rogue Valley Mac Expo, and doing my best to pass on the MUG Bug.

Regional Changing of Hats
We've had a number of new Ambassadors take on the hat & jump into the resources available. A big thank-you to each of the outgoing Ambassadors & welcome to the new ones! It's always exciting to see enthusiasm catch flame & grow.

Until next month, may the MUG Bug be freely passed, & may all who catch it become incurably caught up in the passion of MUGs.


Cheers!

Chris Kiltz
NW Regional Liaison
Apple User Group Program
[email protected]
iChat/Aim: [email protected]
"Spread the Mac Fire, Bring a Friend!"