Table of Contents

• COMMITTEE REPORTS
  • MEMBERSHIP REPORT
  • SOCIAL REPORT
  • SPEAKER COORDINATOR REPORT
  • TREASURER REPORT
• LEADS
• NOTABLE MENTIONS
• QUESTION OF THE DAY
• MAIN SPEAKER

Committee Reports

Membership Report
(Click here to go to the Membership page)

No report.
 

Social Report
(Click here to go to the Social Event page)

No report.

Speaker Coordinator Report
(Click here to go to the Speaker Schedule)

Next meeting:  Charles Hultstrand

Treasurer Report

No report.
 

Leads Report

51-40, 51-22, 25-23, 25-41, 25-19, 41-19, 17-30, 16-45, 16-15, 42-21, 13-22, 13-46, 03-13

Notable Mentions

There will be a board meeting right after next week's regular meeting.

What charities are you involved with?

• Mike Whalen - His employees put together zip lock bags with food and water for the homeless.
• Jana Greene - She belongs to Soroptimus, a group that helps improve lives of women and their families.  She is also a member of the Desert Cancer Foundation.
• Lin Schmelzer - Desert Cancer Foundation
• Ralph Cunningham -  10% to Children's ministries
• Nick Mawrenko - Just private donations.  His company is looking for charities to offer free payroll service to.
• Don Ellis - Back to school supplies, free meals
• Jean Batt - Chances for Children...promotes health and fitness, normal  donations 
• Dave Lathrop - Donating to charities is like giving someone a fish.  Giving your time to a charity is like teaching them to fish.  He is involved with several mentoring programs. 
• Greg Stewart - Asked for donations daily.  We try our best to help but we can't contribute to all.
• Jim Bache - I belong to Kiwanis.  Right now we focuse on the little guys.  We give scholarships, hand out water, etc.   
• Stuart Schindler - I give away fish.  The car shows I am involved with always have a cause they donate to.
• Dave Crissman - Habitat for Humanity, helps his employees 
• Sandro Menasci - March of Dimes, etc 
• Randy Clark - Mostly private stuff
• Joe Zingale - Very involved with church, organize retreats and more 
• Denver Johnson - Most of what I do is write checks
• Mark Dreher - Involved with group that  improves quality of life in East Valley, children with cancer organization 
• Amy Ahrensdorf - I put together a group for boys to help them get involved with community service
• Chris Curran - Active member of homeless legal assistance group
• Bob Bush- Also in Kiwanis, Humane Society, Adopt-A-Family
• Althea Bussert - Help through church, donations
• Bill LaLonde - My Corvette Club works with charities
• Chuck Hultstrand - Donate through our church  
• Roman Okonowski -  Church and neighborhood youth groups
• Dave Spiess- Make-A-Wish, Adopt-A-Family
• Bob Becker - Lions Club...provide eye glasses for kids, donate to food bank, Santa House, etc
   

Main Speaker

[membersonly/archives/former_members/cunningham.htm]

Ralph Cunningham is our resident "computer guy".  He visits your businesses, usually during the worst moments, but is happy to report that most people continue working with positive attitudes even through their computer crisis.  It is all in how you view things.  He prefers to focus on being happy.

One thing that makes him happy is his new business with his wife, Cosmic Creations.  He really enjoys it.  Its fun.  The part he really enjoys is meeting new people.   

One thing that does not make him happy...Windows Vista!  Avoid it (except the pro version which is pretty descent).  There are a lot of neat features in Vista but is still needs a lot of work.  The rumor you heard about it being the only version available in 2008 is true.  Hopefully this will give other program vendors time to get compatible.  What's the rush?  ROI!

Software programs go through testing stages.  The alpha stage is where only programmers have their hands on the product.  In the beta stage they put it out there to a larger audience for a test drive.  By the time it hits the market, people begin adding all their different programs, gadgets, toolbars, etc.  These items are not tested in the early stages and problems begin to surface.

Add to the problem the internet.  Because people abuse it (hackers, spyware, viruses), you must have security - anti-virus software and firewalls.  Unfortunately, these things slow down your machine.  Ralph considers Norton "bloatware" anymore and has abandoned it.  McAfee also has bugs.  He prefers AVG and Zone Alarm.

A couple more computer tips...

• Don't reply to SPAM.  If you hit that innocent looking "unsubscribe" link you are telling the spammers that they have a good, valuable address.
   
• Look at web history on work computers.  You will be shocked to find that the top 9-10 searches will probably have nothing to do with your business.