At this point in time, I’d like to offer a summary of what we’ve heard so far to give some perspective as to what we are and what we mean as a group to each other and to Apple. 

The L.A. area has the highest concentration of officially Apple-registered and recognized Macintosh User Groups anywhere.  We’re 1/3 of all the groups in California, and more groups than any other state. 

The L.A. area has the highest concentration of Apple Stores, 5 in a 35 mile radius.  There is no correlation between user groups and Apple Stores, but it is moderately interesting to see their ratio per state.  —> 

So on one hand, the L.A. area is very big and important, and on the other hand, we are part of an even bigger pie.  In any case, this visit from Garr, our third Apple User Group Program manager, is very special. 

The L.A. area is but one stop on Garr’s worldwide tour of going out and meeting user group leaders:  11/01 Oregon,  01/02 Japan,  02/02 Hawaii,  03/02 Florida,  07/02 Colorado and Michigan,  and now 08/02 L.A. 

The L.A. area has such diverse groups as the Adobe Technology Exchange;  Cerritos College, UC Irvine, and USC;  the LA Area 4D User Group;  Mushikui Ringo (the largest Japanese Mac user group outside of Japan);  and QMUG/LA (the only active gay Mac user group in the world). 

These 36 groups span 11 different area codes, go back to April 1976 (for the North Orange County Computer Club), have membership dues of nothing on up to $45 per year, have memberships of 30 to 400 people (= 6080 people) and monthly attendance of 10 to 250 people (= 1530 people). 

Our greatest successes so far include donating time and money to an elementary school, finding a great meeting place, having great vendor presentations, having successful and consistent SIGS, our longevity, our partnership with other MUGs, and publishing a monthly CD since 1998. 

And our biggest challenges right now include balancing Beginners v. Power Users, getting folks excited about OS X, getting members to take officer positions, getting more people to know we exist, getting new members, getting vendors or volunteers to present, and L.A. being so spread out. 

Can we learn from each other?  Absolutely!  Can we get ideas from each other?  Absolutely!  Can we help each other?  Absolutely!  For more Perspective, check out “Garr Reynolds: On Tour,” “Los Angeles: MUG Stats,” “Los Angeles: Websites,” “Map” and “Calendar.” 

UG : AS
 1. CA ... 97 : 8
 2. FL ... 35 : 2
 3. NY ... 30 : 5
 4. TX ... 22 : 1
 5. PA ... 20    
 6. IL ... 19 : 1
 7. WA ... 19    
 8. MA ... 17 : 2
 9. MI ... 16    
10. OH ... 15 : 2
11. OR ... 14    
12. VA ... 12 : 2
13. AZ ... 11 : 2
14. SC ... 10    
15. KS ...  9    
16. NJ ...  9 : 2
17. CO ...  8 : 1
18. NC ...  8 : 1
19. WI ...  8    
20. GA ...  7 : 1
21. IN ...  7    
22. IA ...  7    
23. ME ...  7    
24. MD ...  7    
25. AR ...  6    
26. CT ...  6 : 1
27. TN ...  6 : 1
28. MN ...  5 : 1
29. NM ...  5    
30. AL ...  4    
31. AK ...  4    
32. LA ...  4    
33. VT ...  4    
34. HI ...  3    
35. KY ...  3    
36. MO ...  3    
37. MT ...  3    
38. NV ...  3    
39. OK ...  3    
40. RI ...  3    
41. UT ...  3    
42. DE ...  2    
43. MS ...  2    
44. NE ...  2    
45. NH ...  2 : 1
46. DC ...  1    
47. ID ...  1    
48. ND ...  1    
49. SD ...  1    
50. WV ...  1    
51. WY ...  1    
==================
496 : 34
+230 Countries