Thanks, apparently, to the software the Adobe Groups site runs on, the scheduled events are not being propagated to the members.  I canceled the original meeting and have rescheduled for June 17th, 7-8 pm.  I have not locked down a site for this meeting yet but it will be a one-hour meeting at which I want to accomplish two things: conduct the semi-annual CS5 software raffle (it has to happen this month) and discuss where we are headed in the “post Shane” future.

If this is all news to you, please read my posts from May 25th either here or the Adobe groups site (cpfug.groups.adobe.com).

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I’m sure that many of you have already heard that Shane announced his resignation as CPFUG manager at the May meeting.  Shane is trying to deal with the needs of his family and the demands of a new job and continuing as user group manager in Harrisburg doesn’t make sense.  I’m sure I’m not alone in expressing gratitude to Shane for all his work in getting CPFUG off the ground and running.  He will continue to participate as a member when practical.

So where do we go from here?

For the moment, I have agreed to take over as manager. I will continue in that role for as long as you, the group members, want me to.  But I can’t do it alone.  I don’t have anywhere the experience with Flash and other CG tools that Shane has.  I don’t have the community and industry contacts that Shane has.  So I will need help.

If you want someone else to take over, I would be willing to drop back to my role as co-manager.  If you think there is someone else who can serve in that role better than I can, I won’t be offended.  I want to see some life return to the group. I’ve learned a lot from you members and I don’t want to stop learning now.  I believe in contributing where I can, so let me know what you think.

Our next meeting is next week, June 3rd at 6pm.  UPDATE: This meeting will be held at JPL, 471 Jplwick Drive Harrisburg, Pa 17111. The main focus of the meeting will be a discussion of where we want to go as a group.  To add an incentive for attending, we will have our semi-annual Creative Suite (CS5) raffle.  Same rules will be applied as in the past.  You must be a member.  You must be present to win.  You must have attended at least one meeting prior to the giveaway meeting. Extra chances to win will be awarded based on the number of meetings attended, whether you presented, whether you brought a guest to any meetings.

So come on out next week.  I’ll even guarantee that there will be refreshments.  I will post an update as soon as I know where we will be meeting…it will be somewhere in the Harrisburg area.  In fact, if anyone has a suggestion for an alternate meeting location, please let me know.

If you have questions or comments for me, post a response here.

Since I’m not entirely confident in the functionality of the new group management system (Picard), I will repeat this post on the old blog and I will Tweet (from @CPFUG) a link to this posting.  I will try to post an event on this site but it may not let me do so without a location.

Thanks.  I look forward to seeing many of you next week.

Art

(I haven’t straightened out the admin on this site yet…that’s why it says “posted by Shane”.

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As I mentioned before, Adobe Developer Connection is a great site for developers. On ADC there is an AIR Cookbook and a Flex Cookbook where developers can post source code and samples of how to develop a certain task.

If our group can get 5 or more cookbook posts from now till the end of January, we are eligible to raffle off a copy of FlexBuilder 3 Professional among the people who contributed the posts. Here is an example of a cookbook post.

Every post should count as a chance to win.  So if Member A makes 4 posts and Member B makes 2 posts, we will qualify for the raffle copy since we’d hit the 5 post requirement.  Then Member A would get 4 entries in the draw and Member B would get 2.  The more posts you contribute, the better chance you will have to win.

BONUS!!!
As an added bonus, if we drive 10 or more posts during the submission period, we will also get a copy of Creative Suite 4 to raffle among the contributing members.

So, write those cookbook recipes and start posting.

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As we discussed during our last meeting, we are holding a contest to win a copy of FlashEff Premium ($149 value). All you have to do is create a Flash banner that promotes CPFUG. Create as many as you wish. For each banner submitted, you will be entered into the drawing. We will then vote on the one that members will be able to place on their personal site or blog to help promote our group.

Get Started

Step one: Download and install the free version of FlashEff. Get acquainted by checking out the sample files and documentation or view the video tutorials.
Step Two: Download the banner templates and choose from the three different size which you’d like to use.
Step Three: Design and animate the banner using the FlashEff component.
Step Four: Submit the banner (including source files) to manager@cpfug.com.

The templates include the CPFUG and Adobe User Group logos. Please feel free to add any other elements or text that you feel will describe our group. Some examples of key words to use are community, learn, local, support, network, knowledge, sharing, etc.

Deadline will be January 31, 2009 at midnight. We will hold the raffle during our February meeting on 2/5/09.

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