Re: Mark Twain Video Now Available

[joko@crl.com (Joe Kohn)]

Since some folks seem to think that perhaps the $20 that the GravenStein 
Apple User Group is asking for the Mark Twain video is excessive,
let me give you a little background on the project...

To begin with, every last cent generated by the sales of the Mark
Twain video is going to benefit the GravenStein Apple User Group
(GSAUG) of Petaluma/San Rafael, California.

GSAUG started nearly 10 years ago, as a IIGS only user group. GSAUG
has published a newsletter since then and it holds monthly meetings.

Several years ago, GSAUG...like many other Apple II only user
groups... started having financial problems. The board of directors
watched as, each month, the treasury contained less and less money.

Drastic measures were needed if the user group was going to stay
alive and well.

The first drastic measure we took was to start a Macintosh Special
Interest Group. At the time, none of the IIGS users who were members
of the board was really thrilled about having to do that, but it was a step 
that had to be taken to help insure our survival. But, as things turned
out, the Mac SIG became more active than the GS component of the
club, and GSAUG now has a President who is a Mac owner, and at least
50% of the board of directors use Macs. The Mac meetings these days
may have 40 or 50 attendees; the GS meetings might see 10 or 15 in
attendance.

Financially, things have not improved greatly since then. In 1996,
we've had to take some more cost cutting/fund raising measures. The
entire board of directors, who had free memberships in the club,
agreed that all board members should pay dues, just like everyone
else. That brought a few hundred extra dollars into the treasury.

More recently, we were forced to slash the size of our newsletter,
and it is now down to 16 pages (from a high of 30+ pages).

So, like most other Apple II user groups, GSAUG decided that if it
wanted to stay in existence, it had to come up with other fund
raising efforts.

Fortunately, Shareware Solutions II agreed to donate a prize each month 
for the GSAUG $1/ticket door prize raffle, but that really only adds a few 
dollars more each month to the GSAUG treasury.

So, the Board of Directors of GravenStein has high hopes that money
generated by the sales of the Mark Twain video will help the club to
stay afloat and that we'll be able to continue to offer IIGS help to
folks in Northern California.

That said...GSAUG is still relatively healthy. We're not going to go
out of existence at any time soon.

But, we anticipate that things are just going to get tougher and
tougher for us in the future, and we want to beef up our treasury so
that we'll be prepared for those tough times ahead. We see the writing on 
the wall, so to speak.

So, if you purchase the Mark Twain video for $20 (or $25 for
International delivery), you are going to help out the GravenStein
Apple User Group. But, you're going to get something in return. You
are going to see a 96 minute tour of the Mark Twain IIGS prototype 
computer.

In the video, you will see me talk about my 1991 meeting with the
big-wigs of the then Apple II division when they publically announced
the Mark Twain computer. You will see me remove the cover of the Mark
Twain and give a 'guided tour' of the insides. You'll also hear me
speculate on the Mark Twain project, as I talk about possible reasons
why it was built and why it was killed off by Apple. And, almost as
an after-thought, you'll see me demo some GS software that, just like the
Mark Twain, doesn't officially exist.

So, in 1996 dollars, $20 will buy you a large pepperoni pizza and a 6
pack of coke, or it'll get you a small piece of Apple IIGS history.

If that's too much a price to pay...

Joe Kohn
Vice President, GravenStein Apple User Group

Visit http://www.crl.com/~mpearce/GSAUG/Apple.html for more info on
GSAUG.