We are totally thrilled and excited to let you know that the L.A. area MUG Leaders Forum is a go, a green light, and to invite you w/ the who, what, when, where, how and why of it. 

Special thanks to those 33% who responded in the first 24 hours of last week’s query, ultimately evenly split between Sunday afternoon and Monday evening, and to Garr’s phone call Wednesday evening for deciding on Sunday afternoon. 

 
WHO .:  This is an invitation to all current leaders/officers of all MUGs in the L.A. area, Apple-registered or not.  If you know of any MUGs who are active but are not registered w/ Apple, please forward this invitation to them. 

 
WHAT :  This is an incredibly rare opportunity to meet each other, find out what resources are available to us, and meet Garr Reynolds, the current Apple User Group Program manager. 

<http://www.apple.com/usergroups/greynolds/> 

 
WHEN :  This will happen on Sunday, August 11th, 4pm-6pm.  According to Apple’s online locator, none of us meet on the 2nd Sunday of each month, so there should be no conflict. 

A general schedule for the forum will be:  4pm Welcome & Introductions,  4:40pm Review of what resources are available to us,  5pm Meet Garr Reynolds,  5:40pm Open Q&A. 

 
WHERE:  This will happen at the Farmers Market at 3rd & Fairfax, right next to the Grove where the newest Apple Store just opened.  You can use Apple’s page for directions. 

<http://www.apple.com/retail/thegrove/>
<http://www.farmersmarketla.com/>
<http://www.thegrovela.com/> 

Both the Farmers Market and the Grove offer *lots* of parking, and the Farmers Market offers *lots* of different kinds of food to eat, which we can eat in the Community Room. 

*Lots* of signs will be up to help you find the Community Room, which is up the stairs on the second floor, so look for stairs and you’re headed in the right direction. 

The Farmers Market has elevators, none of which access the Community Room.  Please let us know in advance if this will be an issue for any representatives from your group. 

 
HOW .:  To participate in this Forum, we really need to have you RSVP, not only for pre-printed name tags, but for a good idea as to how many people will be attending. 

The L.A. area has 36 officially Apple-registered and recognized MUGs, and the room holds a maximum of 40 people, so we should be okay. 

 
WHY .:  As stated earlier, this is an incredibly rare opportunity to meet each other, find out what resources are available, and meet Garr Reynolds, the Apple User Group Program manager. 

Not only that, but this will happen on a wonderful Sunday afternoon, so there shouldn’t be any conflicts w/ any MUG meetings that morning, afternoon or evening. 

*And* you’ll have a dizzying array of different kinds of food to eat: Brazilian, Cajun, French, Japanese, Malaysian, Middle Eastern, New York pizza, Texas BBQ, Vegetarian, and more! 

*And* you can check out Apple’s newest flagship store, like NY’s SoHo, two-story, glass staircase, skylight, and Apple’s new 17" iMac and Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar, etc. 

The Grove is great for kids, too!  In addition to the Apple Store, there’s a multi-story FAO Schwarz, double-decker Trolley to ride, synchronized dancing fountain to watch, and more, so come make an afternoon of this! 

We realize this invitation is going out to some remote groups like Ventura, Lancaster, Apple Valley, and Murrieta, which have a good 1-2 hour drive each way, but please keep in mind that Garr is driving down 5-7 hours for this. 

<http://maps.yahoo.com/py/ddResults.py> 

 
So this should be a really wonderful forum, w/ lots of great food, a great handout, Garr Reynolds, and a flagship Apple Store, so definitely RSVP.  The next opportunity like this may not come around again ’til next year. 

And again, thank you for all of your hard work in keeping your user group going.  As current and former officers, we know how much goes on before your meetings even happen, and how much happens behind the scenes.  So, see you here! 

 
Sincerely,