By James Calloway — originally published in COMPUTE!’s Gazette Issue 2, August 1983
Whether you are new to computing or a veteran, a good users group can offer numerous benefits. Here’s how users groups originated, how they work, and some things to think about if a new one is forming in your area.
When computers first came to the attention of the public, decades ago, many people worried that the giant flashing machines somehow would dehumanize society—turning names into numbers and isolating people in self-sufficient, electronic cocoons. That was before home computers.
Something funny happened. Plenty of people still feel a bit dehumanized whenever impersonal computer bills arrive in the mail, but now home computers are causing an opposite effect. They are providing an impetus for people to meet others, to make new friends, to collaborate on projects, and to exchange information. The result has been the formation of computer clubs, also known as “users groups,” all over the world, and the movement has grown quickly since its modest beginnings less than a decade ago.
The earliest users groups actually began before the venerables of personal computing—PET, Apple, and TRS-80—had come off the drawing boards. The popular computers in those ancient days (the middle 1970s) had names like Altair, Imsai, and “homebrew.” Many of the clubs that began in those days are still active, and some are flourishing. The older computer clubs tend to be generic, meaning their members may own or be interested in any number of different brands of computers. The members are united by an interest in computers in general. That makes sense when you think about it. Even before the major home computers came on the market, computer hobbyists benefitted from comparing notes and helping each other out. Computers were so complicated even back then that so-called experts were not afraid to approach other hobbyists for advice.
That still applies today. Although users groups perform a number of auxiliary activities, such as accumulating software libraries and organizing hardware flea markets, the primary function of the groups is still the exchange of information. If anything, the need for information is greater today than ever. Home computers are easier to use and better documented than their cruder predecessors. They also are more complex, and perhaps most importantly, more and more are being bought by a new breed of home computer users—people who as recently as a year ago had not thought of owning a computer. Now they have ventured bravely into unknown territory, and they turn to one another for help. A white-haired gentleman at the recent inaugural meeting of a new VIC-20 group put it best: “I just need someone to tell me what to do.”
These newer computerists are changing the nature of users groups in several ways. A larger percentage of women are showing up at meetings, not to mention teen-agers and even children. The younger members may be the product of computers in the schools and video games in the shopping malls, but there also is a growing number of retired citizens who have decided it is never too late to get involved with computers.
The most recently formed groups tend to specialize in specific computers. A VIC-20 group and a Commodore 64 group might spring up independently in the same city, and the two will have only tenuous crossover between them. Many of the old generic clubs have literally fallen apart, as clusters of members have split off into smaller brand-specific groups. Other generic clubs, such as the 1,400-member Amateur Computer Group of New Jersey, have survived and grown by allowing subgroups to develop within the larger organization.
The older brand-specific clubs are experiencing a similar change as new members come in and as companies such as Commodore produce more consumer-oriented computers such as the VIC-20. One of the oldest and largest Commodore clubs, the Toronto PET Users Group (TPUG), has seen a large contingent of VIC and Commodore 64 owners forming within itself, causing TPUG to hold special meetings just for the VIC and the 64.
“A lot of users groups are running into this problem,” says Jim Butterfield, who has been called the “grandfather of TPUG.”
“Old-timers don’t understand what the newcomers need, and they tend to be impatient with them. The newcomers want to know, ‘What can I do with a VIC-20? What can I do with a Commodore 64?’ This is important, but I would hate to see the groups completely break into separate units, because we have a lot to share with each other.
“Back in the old days we had to go snooping for ourselves. Anybody who wanted to peer into the insides of the machines had to spend some time at it. We would have killed to get our hands on the information that is available to everyone now in the Programmer’s Reference Guides for the VIC-20 and 64.”
“The old days were very good, but the world is still changing, and it is getting very full of beginners. For them it doesn’t matter as much why their machines work as long as they can do something when they turn them on.”
The older groups have changed in other ways. Most noticeably, many have grown to gargantuan proportions. TPUG began in 1978 with a handful of people (some accounts say 12, some say 35). They met in the basement of an apartment building where the group’s founder, Lyman Duggan, lived at the time. (Duggan since has moved to Florida.) The group now has more than 5000 members, about half of whom live outside Toronto. Five separate chapters meet in Toronto each month and may be attended by as many as 600 people at a time. Understandably, the group investigated the use of video projectors early in its history so that large groups could watch a single computer being demonstrated.
TPUG publishes a monthly newsletter, “The Torpet,” which really is more of a magazine, running as long as 24 pages and featuring advertising. The group also maintains a large software library from which members may obtain programs by the disk-full or cassette-full for the cost of materials and handling. Members also can get programs for free by copying disks at the monthly meetings and by attending TPUG’s celebrated annual copy session. To keep all this operating, the club rents office space in Toronto and has several paid employees, at least one of whom works full-time.
People outside Canada might wonder, “Why Toronto?” Butterfield attributes TPUG’s success to the helpfulness and relative stability of Commodore Canada. During the period TPUG was growing, he says, the United States arm of Commodore Business Machines, Inc., experienced repeated staff turnover and a degree of confusion that only really ended with the surprise success of the VIC-20.
“We were in the peculiar position of having the company come to the users for information, whereas in Canada, Commodore was very stable. You could go to an engineer and ask, ‘Do you remember such and such?’ and he’d say, ‘Oh yes, that was when the original machine came out.’”
Another factor that Butterfield doesn’t call attention to is Jim Butterfield. He has become world-renowned for his intimate understanding of Commodore computers, and although he has not participated directly in the running of TPUG, he has been a regular speaker at its meetings and teaches courses in machine language for the
group. He also has a television program about computers that is broadcast throughout Ontario, and he contributes to a number of publications, most notably COMPUTE!, of which he is an associate editor. Butterfield gives Duggan all the credit for starting TPUG, but if you listen to the folklore of the club, you will hear that Butterfield and Duggan cooked up the idea for TPUG one night over a few rounds of beer.
Many groups have started in similar fashion, with a small number of persons getting together and spreading the word. Sol Libes founded the Amateur Computer Group of New Jersey by sending letters to several friends he knew were interested in computers. Michael Kleinert is organizing his National VIC Association out of Nanuet, New York, by advertising in “The Torpet” and sending out announcements by mail. Bill Trammell, founder of the Raleigh (North Carolina) VIC-20 Users Group, used the local newspaper’s computer column to announce the group’s first meeting. The important thing in each case was to let people know that someone wanted to start a users group. With varying degrees of success, other clubs have used campus bulletin boards, posters at obliging computer stores, and information services such as CompuServe and The Source to spread the message.
The structure and activities of groups vary. The Northern Utah VIC & 64 Users Group, for example, has about 12 members and no formal organization. The group doesn’t bother with a newsletter because it is simpler just to call the members by phone. Meetings are held in members’ homes.
“We have no big ambitions for the group,” says David Sanders, its founder. “We just enjoy getting together and finding out what everybody has learned during the month.”
In areas where the population is more concentrated, the number of VIC-20 or Commodore 64 owners is likely to be quite large, and any new group that announces itself publicly may be surprised at how many people show up. This may require some formal organization, depending on what the members want to do with the group. Even the simple matter of meeting on a regular basis will require members to find a suitable location, such as in a civic hall or a library. If the meeting room has to be rented, then dues will have to be collected to cover the cost.
There are plenty of other ways to spend dues. After a group reaches a certain size, it will have more members than will ever attend any single meeting. A newsletter offers an easy way to keep in touch. If the group is scattered over a large geographical area, such a publication becomes essential. The newsletter probably will start humbly as a photocopied leaflet, or perhaps a member will contribute the use of his printer.
If a users group in the United States finds itself mailing more than 200 newsletters at a time, it can qualify for bulk mailing rates. The initial permit for bulk mail costs $40, but it can lead to substantial savings. The group may also apply for further reductions in postage as a nonprofit organization. Most groups apply under the “educational” classification.
More users groups also are setting up their own bulletin board systems, or BBS for short. A BBS is a specially programmed computer and disk drive tied to its own telephone line with a modem that can answer the line automatically whenever a call comes in. Club members who have modems can call the BBS by telephone and use their VIC or 64 to leave messages, read other members’ messages, or even copy any users group software that might be stored on the BBS’s disk. This, of course, raises the dues a bit, although once the initial cost of the system has been absorbed, the only ongoing expense is the fee for the “dedicated” phone line. However, having spent dues on such a system, many clubs institute a password system so that only paid-up members can use the club’s BBS.
Almost all users groups make arrangements for members to trade and copy software. This sometimes gets into a sticky area, because it is illegal in most countries to duplicate copyrighted programs without paying a royalty to the copyright holder. The fact that it is illegal does not always deter the copiers, but the more reputable clubs make it clear from the beginning that members are expected not to indulge in illegal copying at the copy sessions. Fortunately, there are thousands of programs available that are not copyrighted. These are said to be in the public domain, and anyone is free to duplicate them.
“There is so much available in the public domain,” Libes says, “that I don’t know why anyone would really want to copy programs illegally. Much of the public domain software is as good as or better than the copyrighted material, anyway.”
There are several ways a users group can accumulate public domain software. Members usually contribute their own programs to the club library. Groups also trade with other groups around the country, either by swapping entire libraries or by joining a much larger group as if the entire club were a single member. TPUG, for example, welcomes users groups to join either as a single associate member or at reduced rates as a collection of individual members. This gives the group access to TPUG’s software library and the opportunity, if desired, to reprint articles from “The Torpet” in the group’s own newsletter.
In recent years, software has tended to overshadow hardware in users groups, but there still are “hardware hackers” around who are willing to lend their expertise to the “softies.” Interestingly, many people who understand the intricacies of digital circuitry may know relatively little about programming, so the two sides often can help each other out. Hardware specialists can lead users groups in projects such as adding a reset button to the VIC, constructing light pens, or wiring color television sets (safely) to double as color monitors.
Sharing information is only one way in which users groups can save their members money. Another is by approaching computer merchants for discounts. Some clubs, such as Kleinert’s National VIC Association, have talked software firms into offering reduced prices to members as a promotional gesture. Other groups arrange to buy products in quantity for the members, which usually results in lower prices.
Businesses can be helpful in other ways. A computer store might offer its showroom for meetings, if the group is not too large, or it may agree to help publicize the meetings. This is an area in which users groups should use caution, however. Most stores deal fairly and may even offer to sponsor a club without expecting anything in return other than good will. On the other hand, there are reports of commercial outfits that have tried to dominate a club, insisting that the group buy only from that store or setting higher dues for members who bought their equipment elsewhere. Ultimately it is up to a group’s members whether they want to operate in that manner. Sometimes it may be necessary to dissolve the group and reorganize it from scratch in order to escape the commercial influence.
Another problem may come from within. Some people join users groups to make money. They may want to sell products to the other members or draw them into a pyramid-type sales scheme. Again, the members have to judge for themselves whether this is desirable for the group.
Sometimes new users groups can get advice from Commodore itself. Unlike some other consumer computer companies, Commodore does not have an official users group liaison, but there are two people at Commodore who can answer questions: Neil Harris, the publications department manager, and Diane Ottinger, the public relations director. Both can be contacted by writing to Commodore Business Machines, Inc. 1200 Wilson Dr., West Chester, PA 19380.
Some users groups contemplate setting up their own commercial ventures, such as by charging nonmembers for computer classes or by selling software to the public. The club’s members should think carefully before launching into such endeavors. Matters can get complicated. There are legal issues to consider, such as financial and material liability. Also, the specter of income tax arises. Strictly speaking, any organization in the United States that shows an income must file Form 1120 with the Internal Revenue Service. This is not often done, and spokesmen for the IRS are not clear whether they really want it to be done for organizations whose only income is dues. There is the opinion that clubs need file only if they bring in more than $5000 in an average year, but that figure really applies to tax-exempt organizations.
Users groups are ideal for exchanging information and advice with fellow home computerists.
Most computer clubs are eligible to apply for tax-exempt status as nonprofit educational organizations. The status, if granted, solves the question of taxes once and for all, but unfortunately, filing for it is no simple matter. The application, Form 1023, is 26 pages long, and the IRS is very picky about what it will accept as nonprofit activity. For more information, club members should call the IRS toll free at (800) 241-3860 and request Package 1023 and Publication 557, “Tax-Exempt Status for Your Organization.”
The tax question makes a good argument for keeping a users group simple, but that’s a matter for individual groups to decide. Some people like the informal atmosphere of a small group. Others prefer the services and excitement of a large one. The important point to remember is that the clubs are called users groups because they exist, first of all, for the users. That puts other issues into perspective.