[wplug] PACC invites members of the WPLUG community to visit...

[Pat Barron]

I've been asked to extend an invitation to the WPLUG community to stop 
by at a future meeting of PACC, the Pittsburgh Area Computer Club.

PACC is not a Linux or open-source oriented user group, but it is rather 
focused on how computers (in general) can be used by individuals, 
personally.  It is actually one of the very first "personal computer" 
user groups to be formed in the US, having been founded in 1975 - long 
before "personal computer" or "PC" meant "A computer with some type of 
Intel x86 processor running DOS, or Windows, or Linux...".  These were 
the days of groups like the Homebrew Computer Club in the SF Bay Area; 
these were the days when there really wasn't much in the way of 
off-the-shelf computer hardware an individual could buy and use in their 
home - and even the few "computers" that were available to purchase were 
generally available in kit form, and you had to put the pieces together 
yourself...  There are still some members of the organization who were 
around at that time.  These days, most of the organization's interest 
center around Windows-based PC's, though Linux and other alternative 
environments are discussed - and, of course, free software (on whatever 
platform it runs) is always welcomed.  ;-)

At one time, PACC had something like 550 members.  Currently, there are 
just a handful, and it's been some time since they've made any 
particular effort to drum up interest - though they're realizing that 
they're going to have to do some outreach if the organization is to 
survive.  These days, even if you mention PACC to someone who was a 
member back in it's heyday, the response received is typically something 
like, "PACC?  You mean they're still around?"  Which is really sort of 
sad, given that it's an organization that was actually rather well known 
in the early days of personal computing. You can read about some of that 
history here:

http://www.oocities.org/tcomden/June/not/nothere.html#clubs

They were even featured in an article in the Pittsburgh Press in 1983, here:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19830911&id=gNYeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qGEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3301,3965070

PACC operates somewhat differently than WPLUG does in that, in general, 
it's events are open to paid members only.  However, they do encourage 
non-members to attend a meeting or two as "visitors", to see if the club 
is right for them.  It's in that spirit that I've been asked to extend a 
particular invitation to members of the WPLUG community to attend an 
upcoming PACC meeting as a visitor.

PACC typically meets on the 3rd Sunday of each month, on the campus of 
Point Park University in Downtown Pittsburgh.  You can find information 
about PACC's meeting schedule and location on their web site, which is here:

http://pacc.apcug.org

PACC produces a monthly newsletter - again, normally available only to 
paid members.  I've uploaded a sample copy here:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/71910064/PT05-13.pdf

In case anyone wants to look at it to see if it might be of interest.  
I'll probably leave this here for a month or so.

PACC's next meeting is on Sunday, June 16th, 2013.  If you're reading 
this e-mail, you are welcome to stop by and visit - at this, or any 
future, meeting.  (Of course, you're welcome to visit even if you're not 
reading this e-mail, too... ;-) )  If you have any questions, or just 
want to know more, I'll be happy to answer as I can, as I'm a member of 
the club myself and normally attend it's meetings.

--Pat.