| ROVAC ZMAGAZINE | | Issue #164 | | July 4, 1989 | |Copyright 1989, RII| |This week in ZMagazine| * The Club Room: Doing an AtariFest * Jerry Cross *** I.C. Super Summer Sale *** *** I.C. News Flash *** *** Crazy Eights Fund Raiser *** *** A SysOp's Peeves *** Bob Maxwell |THE CLUB ROOM: DOING AN ATARIFEST| |by Jerry Cross| Genesee Atari Group, Flint Michigan [Each month THE CLUB ROOM brings us help and ideas for Atari clubs. If your group has managed some hurdle or solved a common problem in an innovative way, share it with Z*NET!] I have an illness. Nothing serious, but it's really becoming a pain. The symptoms? Mention the word -Atarifest- and I get nervous, shaky, a deep burning in my wallet, and finally a bad case of the runs (run to Detroit, run to Toronto, run to Chicago...). I guess I'm just a sucker for these shows. It's even more fun to have them in a city with a lot of other tourist attractions so I can plan a vacation around it. The recent World of Atari show in California was the most fun I ever had! There are usually several user groups who have booths at these shows. I love to swap information on how they run their meetings, look over their libraries, and just chat about computers. A well organized Atarifest will also have a number of seminars on a variety of topics. I always learn something new! But the main attraction of these shows are the vendors. Here is your chance to meet well known developers like David Small, Tom Harker, and Atari executives too. The last show I attended, the dealer marked down a whole table of software to 75% off the retail price! These savings alone can pay for a trip to a show. Are you interested in hosting an Atarifest? It's not easy. Here are some tips that I have picked up from doing our own Atarifests, from being involved in the user group part of the Dearborn World Of Atari Show, and from attending several other Atari shows around the country. First, let me mention that ST-World is planning a number of shows around the country and just might be willing to host a show in your city. Give them a call first, as the World of Atari shows are outstanding AND require comparatively little work from the user group! If you do plan to do a show yourself, start your plans many months in advance, even a full year is not too early! If you wait until the last minute, dealers will already have committments, or you may find that national events are conflicting. Divide the work--it simply will not work to have 3-4 people doing all of the work. This is exactly what destroyed the Chicago show a few years ago, and hampered others in the past. If you don't have enough dedicated volunteers at this time, don't proceed! You will need to locate an appropriate room for your show. You should plan for, at the very least, a 6,000 square foot room. A room too small will result in aisles too narrow, and a room too big will give the impression the organizers couldn't sell enough booths. Although civic centers are big and convenient for your visitors, they are expensive and harder on the vendors who must get transportation between hotel rooms and the show site. Most hotels will give your show guests generous discounts on their hotel rooms if you use their hall facilities for your show, but they are often too small. Some very successful shows are held in schools, shopping malls, and other locations. The advantage is that they don't cost you anything, but you loose some of the -pizazz- of a big show. This is an excellent way to start out though. Get some of the other local computer clubs to join in. Another advantage is that some shopping centers will help you with publicity. Always keep a professional approach. Remember, you are asking vendors to spend several hundred dollars in travel, lodging, and shipping expenses to attend your show, not to mention the booth rental! They won't attend unless they think you can produce many hundreds of people. Put a lot of thought into your dealer packages, and send each vendor a complete package. You won't impress anyone with a post card that says -Send us a letter if you want more information.- Take advantage of the bulk mailing permits! Sending 200 packages at bulk rate is cheaper then sending 100 by first class! Use this method to send flyers to user groups too. You can get a list of them from Atari's User Group Rep. Don't forget to ask Atari for some help too, like handouts, bumper stickers, and maybe even a sales rep or two. Now that you have your date and location ready, the hard part begins. You MUST gather all of your volunteers together and divide up the work, and set a preliminary budget. Vendor rates can range from as low as $35 a table to many hundreds for a -standard- 10' x 10' booth, depending on the facility and probable attendence. Plan your show so that most everything is paid for from the booth rentals and other promotions, and depend on the -gate- admissions for profits and unforeseen bills. One of your big expenses will be printing: posters, tickets, flyers, programs, and dealer packages. Try to get a bid from a printer on the entire package instead of letting one printer do tickets and another doing posters. A rule of the thumb that I have heard from professional show people: plan to spend a dollar in advertising for every three you expect to earn at the door. Groups like ours may be able to do a bit better on less advertising money if all avenues of free exposure are used well. Try to contact those people involved in past Atari shows, and find out what problems they had, or what they did right. You can eliminate a whole bunch of headaches by catching these problems in advance. One example is in supplying electricity. Such things as not enough outlets, outlets too far away from the booths (vendors needed to get extension cords at the last minute), poor engineering that put too many booths on the same circuit resulting in blown fuses, and no telephone hookups. My first mall show had a problem too. The vendor asked me where the outlet was, so I asked the malls electrician. He pointed up and said -Up there-. Yup, there it was, 45 feet straight up in the ceiling was the outlet. Don't overlook the small details! Ever try to unload a van full of computer parts by hand and carry them across a large convention center? Arrange to supply some hand carts! What about food? Got enough tables and chairs? Someone will surely want one more. Find out what the local union requirements are. Some of their rules can be extremely expensive, and could even end up canceling your show. One past show had a city requirement that said you needed a paramedic on duty. Well, guess what union decided to go on strike the week of the show? Insurance, security, tourist information, volunteers during the show, vendors requesting to borrow equipment are just a few of the problems you need to address well in advance. The list goes on and on. I took pride in my role in the Atari-Magic show as the official -Chicken Little-. I would look for everything that could possibly go wrong. I'm sure some of the others on our committee didn't always appreciate me, but many of the things I brought up actually did happen, and we were ready for them! |I.C. SUPER SUMMER SALE| Innovative Concepts (I.C.) 31172 Shawn Drive Warren, MI 48093 USA Phone: (313) 293-0730 CompuServe: 76004,1764 In appreciation to our customers and CIS, we are having the following Super Summer Sale, effective NOW, until August 31, 1989: Easy Scan II - Easy Scan is (along with SpartaDOS X - see below) one of only two products, to receive the 1989 Antic Award! Now, Easy Scan II is even better! The Graphics Image Scanner for the Atari 8-bits, that can utilize graphics modes 8, 9, 10, 11 & 15, to make it extremely versatile! Scanned pictures can be printed out, or saved as standard 62 sector files. Excellent for; User Groups, demos, banners, flyers, posters, and MUCH more! Includes FREE utlities for converting your masterpieces to other formats as well! Also includes our Demo Disk, full (both sides) of scanned pictures. Requires - XL/XE/XE GS w/128K and Epson graphics capable printer. SALE Price - $79.95 ($99.95 value) SpartaDOS X - Yet another 1989 Antic Award Winner! The ULTIMATE DOS for the Atari 8-bit line, on a cartridge! Warp/High speed support for the; U.S. Doubler, Happy 1050, and Atari XF551 (including our XF35 Kit, the 720K upgrade!). Also supports hard drives, subdirectories, time/date stamping (best, with R-Time 8 cartridge), RAM upgrades, XEP-80 adapter, and much, much more! Works on any Atari 8-bit (including XE GS) with at least 48K of RAM. SALE Price - $59.95 ($79.95 value) Diamond GOS Super Cartidge (also known as St jr.) - The COMPLETE graphics oriented Operating System package, for ANY Atari 8-bits, with at least 48K of RAM (including XE GS)! Includes; Diamond DeskTop (the working enviorment), Diamond Paint (a drawing program), and the Diamond Programmers Kit (for using Diamond with YOUR programs, under ANY language!) Works with Atari DOS 2.0S, DOS 2.5, DOS XE, SpartaDOS, and SpartaDOS X. Now, you can bring your Atari into the 1990's, and make it sparkle with Diamond GOS! SALE Price - $59.95 ($79.95 value) AtariWiter 80 - The LONG-AWAITED program, for XEP-80 owners is here! Yes, an 80-column word proccessor, based on the popular AtariWriter program! Includes two versions; One for the 130XE (or XL/XE/XE GS upgraded to at least 128K), and another version for the 400/800 (w/48k), 800XL, 1200XL, 65XE, and XE GS. Also includes the Proof Reader (for spell checking) and the Mail Merge (a data base, for mailing lists, phone numbers, and more!). SALE Price - $49.94 ($59.95 value) XEP-80 Adapter - An 80 column adapter for ANY Atari 8-bit with at least 48K of RAM. Also has a standard printer port, for hooking parallel printers (Epson, Panasonic, Star, etc.) to your Atari. Has unique bit-image graphics modes, for outstanding capabilites! Includes disk with demos and sample programs, to get you started. SALE Price - $79.95 ($89.95 value) Shipping/Handling ----------------- USA - Add $3.50 ship/hand. Payment in check or money order. COD is available (USA only) at $3.00 extra. APO/FPO - Add $3.50 ship/hand. Payment in check or money order, in U.S. funds. Canada/Mexico - Add $7.00 ship/hand. Payment must be in U.S. funds. All other countries - Add $10.00 ship/hand. Payment must be in U.S. funds. Note ---- Be sure to mention the word -CompuServe-, when you order! This text file originated on CompuServe, in the Atari 8-bit section. It may be distributed through BBS's, or other informational services, as long as it remains intact, unchanged. (Editor's note: Please forgive the poor formatting and any misspellings, comma splices, etc., found in this and the next article. To include them here, I followed the above -Note- to the letter. Even though I was sorely tempted to clean them up, mirroring the composition standards which ZMagazine readers have come to expect, I let my regard to an author's wishes be tantamount...) |I.C. NEWS FLASH| Innovative Concepts (I.C.) 31172 Shawn Drive Warren, MI 48093 USA Phone: (313) 293-0730 CompuServe: 76004,1764 News Flash! ----------- We at I.C., are proud to announce the following NEW products, available NOW. All 3 were programmed by Jim Steinbrecher of Sector One Computers (ORIGINAL author of AMODEM). They are being marketted EXCLUSIVELY by I.C.: Print Shop Driver: 1020 - Yes, now you can use Print Shop and the Print Shop Companion, on the Atari 1020 Printer/Plotter! EASY to use and no patches or programming required! And, the printouts can be in ANY one color, out of the four possible (black, red, blue, or green)! Print Shop Driver: Okimate 10 - Same features as above, but made exclusively for the Okimate 10 printer. Print Shop Driver: Epson LQ-500/800 - Now, you can finally use the newer 24-pin printers, with Print Shop and the Print Shop Companion! Works with any 24-pin printer that is compatible with the Epson LQ-500 or LQ-800, which includes the Panasonic 1124, Star NX-2400, and many others! Price: $14.95 for each Print Shop Driver. Dealer, Distributor, and User Group inquires welcome! Ship/Hand --------- USA - Add $2.00 ship/hand. Payment in check or money order. COD is $3.00 extra (USA only). APO/FPO - Add $2.00 ship/hand. Payment must accompany order, in U.S. funds. Canada/Mexico - Add $4.00 ship/hand. Payment must accompany order, in U.S. funds. All other countries - Add $6.00 ship/hand. Payment must accompany order, in U.S. funds. Note: This text file originated on CompuServe, in the Atari 8-bit section. It may be freely distributed on BBS's or other informational services, as long as it remains intact, unchanged. |CRAZY EIGHTS FUND RAISER| I had this crazy dream... We were having a board of directors meeting and this amazing thing happened: EVERYONE showed up. We discussed the usual stuff like who fell asleep at the meeting (again)...you know, regular board meeting talk. And, as we do every year, we talked about the shortage...of money. -Bob, we can't buy a thousand disks right now. You're just going to have to see if you can get by with a year's supply.- -Denny, we just bought you a new mouse last month. Maybe if we mated them we could...- -Very funny, Chuck. By the way, can't we get by till next month for stamps?- -Not unless we can talk the Post Office into delivering our newsletters for FREE.- -I move we send the post office a letter concerning this great idea, do I hear a second?- -Second!- Patti laughed and shook her head. -I'm not even going to write this down--let's get serious here! There just never seems to be enought money. We have membership dues coming in, we sell disks, raffle off software...I mean, what else can we do? Mike had been quiet through all this but leaned forward and spoke. -How about a car wash?- Then there was this sound, sort of like seven bees humming in unison...-Hmmmmmmm-. Then we talked about our other problem--lack of volunteers! We liked the idea and went to the general meeting with our proposals, the benefits and then Denny gave the bottom line. -Now who wants to help?- Silence. -Gee, I wish I were Johnny Carson. He gets to break to a commercial when the monologue dies.- One by one, each of the officers, myself included, begged and hollered and whined and cried. We did stand-up comedy. We did impressions and amazing feats of juggling. Then we broke to a commercial. -That was a good show- one club member shouted. -You should take it on the road.- Another chimed in -There's our fund raiser!- after which everybody split their sides from laughter. -Ha-ha!- I responded. -How about this: everyone who helps will get a free club disk of their choice.- Within seconds the line for the sign-up sheet was ten feet long. We had the perfect weather for a car wash. A hot sunny day which came after a week long mucky-muddy rainy spell. The location couldn't have been any better either--we were at the gas station on 26th an Penninsula. To out-of-towners who have never had the pleasure of visiting Erie, this spot is known as the gateway to Presque-Isle. Over a half-million people head for Presque Isle's sandy beaches each summer I figured, and at least half of them should be rolling OUR way. We had competition to contend with. -Look, over at Burger King- one of the guys shouted, -It's the cookie brigade!- He was speaking of Girl Scout troop 127, which had chosen to locate their car wash right across the street. Pat was quick to dispell any discouragement that may have been forming. -That's ok, our women are better looking than them.- The girls loved this and worked even harder, making certain us guys kept our minds (and eyes) on the cars! The ladies did look good, too. The weather was nice so the girls wore shorts. One club member, looking at his wife, said to me, -Gee, I almost forgot she had legs.- I said to him, -Bill, you've been staring at your monitor too long!- The Girl Scouts were a tough team. They were jumping around, waving signs, blowing kisses...they tried every trick in the book to distract us! But we hung in there. We had a few tricks of our own. Dick made a banner using Print Shop that read -It's all the RAGE to wash with SAGE.- I have to admit, it was a real attention-getter. People said they pulled in just because they wanted to know what we meant. Many thought we were sampling a new brand of soap. Some even thought their cars looked thirty percent cleaner. We made sure that everyone left with a flyer about SAGE. Jean wiped the trunk of the last car and breathed a sigh of relief. -Hooray! We're done! Anybody hungry?- she asked. The guys answered together: -YEAH! Let's go to Burger King!- ...Just about then I awoke from the dream. -Hey! I've got a great idea for a fund-raiser for the club!- I was going to call Chuck about it, when all of a sudden I forgot the dream. Isn't it funny how that happens? Got a -crazy- story to tell about your club or computer? Drop me a line. |SAGE | |Attn: Crazy Eights | |PO Box 10562 | |Erie PA 16514 | You can also leave me mail here on Genie (LAKE31). Have a great summer! |A SYSOP'S PEEVES| |by Bob Maxwell| It takes a special kind of crazy to make an otherwise normal-looking human being choose to operate a bulletin board system...very often (s)he's placing valuable equipment at the mercy of others, and spending valuable time, and not really minding a bit. A little acknowledgement, the occasional -Thank you-, and periodic uploads of fresh software seem to keep these types happy. However (you knew there had to be a however to this, after reading the title, didn't you?), there are a few things that can...shall we say...bother a system operator. The bothersome users of a bulletin board fall into some broad classes, which are not necessarily mutually exclusive nor all that well-defined. Some are truly obnoxious, while others can get the Sysop upset with a third party, the world in general, or with...ummm...the Sysop. Let us introduce the first, and most obnoxious, of those users capable of having an effect on an operator's blood pressure. We'll call him the -Owner-, because that's how the creature behaves...like he owns the BBS (not likely to endear himself to the sap who pays the bills, no?). There are a broad range of symptoms displayed by an Owner. First of all, there is generally no respect given to all the other users of the system: he'll log on at 7 P.M. and stay there downloading files until the system (or operator) hangs up on him. At other times he'll call for a chat with the Sysop: if the Sysop's not there, he'll leave a nasty message complaining about the Sysop's inattentiveness. If the Sysop is there, he'll go on at lengths (typing slowly) asking why the files HE wants aren't always there, and why the BBS isn't tailored to HIS interests and needs. The only thing good about this creature is that he will either: (1) get bored and suck some other Sysop's BBS dry, or (2) get the message that he's being a pig. Next in our BBS zoo we have the Bull. Owners tend to be Bulls, too. A Bull behaves like he's in a china shop, crashing about, spending tremendous amounts of time discovering the variety of error messages the BBS keeps on file. Now, this sort of behavior is not really frustrating to a Sysop...unless he's waiting to use the BBS himself. What REALLY gets the Sysop is that a full-scale Bull will refuse to admit that it might be faster to read the Help files, and if he does have a question, he'll pose it to the Sysop himself. This Sysop has a standard response: silence. Any question adequately answered in the Help files does not need further attention. Fortunately for Sysops, most Bulls are self-curing. They will either discover the Help files or puzzle out the BBS structure by trial and error...and error...and error... Then there's the Apologist, who gets the Sysop mad at himself. What happens is the Sysop will complain publicly about some Owner or Bull on the system, and the Apologist will then leave a message saying he's sorry for spending so much time downloading a file, or that he tried various commands before going for Help. Why is the Sysop mad? Because a valued user has felt badly about the Sysop's complaints, while the REAL object of the whole mess never read the rotten complaint anyway! Last, and probably Least, is the classic Twit. Twits are usually lacking in most of the social graces. A Twit usually is unable to spell nor comprehend -courtesy-. He'll go right past the Sysop's request not to post messages offering to pirate software, and then post a message offering to pirate software. Requests for clean language are met with profanity, and when the offending messages are wiped from the BBS, the Twit will be absolutely outraged. Twits tend to run in groups, and will descend on a BBS like a horde of locusts. Twits either grow up (mentally: a low physical age is not a prerequisite for one to be a Twit) or discover a BBS operated by a fellow Twit who tolerates them. The -cracker- (what the press erroneously terms a -hacker-), who delights in trying to crash remote systems to cause maximum discomfort and damage, is a true Twit. Thank goodness there is the Decent User. This is the person who will upload files someone's looking for, read the messages and pipe up if he's got something to say, and will feel a twinge of guilt (needlessly) when he downloads that neat-looking big file or can't find anything half-decent to contribute. They may not be thanked, but they're the ones responsible for the continued operation of a BBS. Bob Maxwell, Sysop (no foolin', huh?) Turbo BBS, Vancouver, B.C. (604) 738-7811 July 21, 1986 Downloaded from Ghe Twin Paradises Cleveland, OH | Rovac Industries, Incorporated | | P.O. Box 74, Middlesex, NJ 08846 | | (201) 968-8148 | |Copyright 1989 All Rights Reserved| CompuServe: 71777,2140 GEnie: ZMAGAZINE Source: BDG793 ZMagazine Headquarters BBSes: Centurian BBS--(314)621-5046 (618)451-0165 Chaos BBS--(517)371-1106 Shadow Haven--(916)962-2566 Stairway to Heaven--(216)784-0574 The Pub--(716)826-5733