Apple Blossom Computer Club
Oregon's
pioneering apple group
The Lewis & Clark of Apple user groups honor in our state belongs to Winston, Oregon's Apple Blossom Computer Club, which was established in 1981. Of course, this was before Macintosh was born, so this group started as an Apple II UG. Now, this MUG thrives with some of its founding members, and participated in MUGshot '88 and its first YDKM event in 2001.
MUGshot '88
First statewide user group event
In 1988, an Oregon MUG was the host for probably the first statewide User Group event of its kind anywhere — an event titled MUGshot '88. CMUG (Corvallis) was the host, and it was held on the campus of Oregon State University. Steve, then CMUG president, created MUGshot '88, and the full-day event featured a combination of guest speakers from Apple (UG program manager, and members of the HyperCard team), Ashton-Tate, and others; workshops and open discussions on user group operations, sharing resources; and providing tools. All of the Oregon UGs (Apple II and Mac back then) were represented and took home software donations from some of the industry-leading vendors of the time (to be used by and benefit each Oregon user group).
MUGshot '88 proved a statewide user group event could work, and work well. It was the foundation for what would be reborn a decade later — You Don't Know Mac! Event Day.
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MacCamp
Oregon outdoors & Macintosh... wow!
The Portland Macintosh Users Group (PMUG), at home in Oregon's largest city, is nestled within all of the excitement and hustle and bustle of most big cities. Yet Oregonians, and that includes Mac Oregonians, are not shut-ins... they crave the outdoors. So in 1984, PMUG decided to combine the best of both worlds — the beautiful outdoors of the Northwest with the most lovable computer in the world — and thus was born MacCamp.
It was such a hit PMUG decided to do it twice a year! And now, over 24 years and 48 MacCamps later, it continues, better than ever.
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Fall MacCampers. © Photo PMUG
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The next MacCamp will be the Spring version in April 2009. It is never too early to register and reserve your spot. Need to know more about what the MacCamp experience is really like? 'Nuff said, here ya' go:
Most campers want to preserve their MacCamp memories, so bring a camera. Oh, and spread the word!
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MacCampers' faces look like this all the time. Honest!
© Photo PMUG
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Omug, and our statewide
"You Don't Know Mac!" Event Day
Statewide hub & celebration
Created in 1999, Omug (then known as The Oregon "You Don't Know Mac!" Statewide User Group) has several purposes, but its main thrust is to serve as a digital communications hub to foster and improve our state community of user groups, share resources and to celebrate our community with a fun trivia contest, part of a one-day annual event hosted in a different MUG town each year.
YDKM Event Day's first year, CMUG of Corvallis was the host. In 2000, MUGport of Newport was host -- and a fellow named Steve Wozniak was MC! PMUG of Portland hosted in 2001 (where we actually crossed the border into Washington). YDKM's first co-hosts were COMUG and BBMUG in 2002, in Bend. Omug went south in 2003, and 3 southern MUGs teamed up to host (JoMacs, ABCC and Rogue Macs) in Canyonville. Community and teamwork are certainly a key part of our MUGs.
YDKM Event Day grows and improves each year, and does so with the help of generous, MUG-supporting vendors locally and nationally, who donate items for each year's event that benefit our state's MUGs and their communities.
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Rogue Valley Expo
Southern style!
What started with a memorable -- if not flammable -- 2002 Open House, the MUG group in Grants Pass, JoMacs, turned its creation into an annual southern event in the Rogue Valley the following year. JoMacs now leads the way to bring a fun annual Expo event to the "off the road" region of our state — they call it the Rogue Valley Expo.
Read about their most recent Expo on JoMacs site.
Live meeting webcasts
AshMUG raises the bar in community sharing!
AshMUG (Ashland), early in the new millennium, linked up with the mind- and tech-power of local Open Door Networks to begin what has become the only (to date) MUG in Oregon to consistently stream live webcasts of their monthly general meeting presentations. Webcasts can be accessed via your web browser or in your QuickTime Player:
This has provided even stronger bonding of community between our state's groups, as it allows instant sharing of presentation topics/resources, as well as shows off the potential outreach beyond borders of a Mac users group tapping into the high-tech tools it embraces.
AshMUG meets on the 2nd Tuesday each month, with its meetings beginning at 7 p.m. (Pacific Time).
