As humans, it is our nature to resist change. As we mature, we tend to hold tightly to principles and practices that have served us well in the past. This is a good thing…up to a certain point. Knowing where we stand gives us a firm footing from which to make decisions about the future. It's a sort of catch 22 though; the more we resist change, the faster we become outdated, not only in the eyes of young people, but to our forward thinking contemporaries as well. I have known people who seemed young and vital until retirement, who aged rather quickly afterwards because they stopped learning, growing and changing. I have known others who relished tomorrow's changes, thereby retaining their vitality at age 90 and beyond.

The world we live in has changed more in the last 20 years than it did in the previous 100, and it continues to change at a furious pace! In this digital age, when the world we live in changes so fast, users groups and their leaders must also continually change in order to avoid falling behind. The trick is to use the lessons of the past to grow with the changes in the world of today, rather than planting our feet, trying to resist the inevitable.

For the last several years, the membership rolls of computer users groups everywhere have declined because many groups have failed to stay current with the changes in the industry. ICON has continued to grow during this time of fast paced change by reaching out in our community. Through our affiliation with the seniors program, we have introduced well over a thousand beginning users to the basics of computer operation, many of whom have joined us. This important outreach continues, but ICON'S growth rate has slowed dramatically in recent months.

As your president, I have been working diligently to meet the changing needs of current and prospective members. As ICON has grown, the needs and interests of the members have become more diverse and more advanced. If the organization is to survive and prosper, we must find new incentives for prospective members to join us. We must also offer more advanced instruction to those who have mastered the basics and expand the benefits available to current members, providing each of you with better incentives to continue renewing your membership year after year.

It is my sincere hope that we, as an organization, can continue to reach out to others in our community, leading in a changing world, and that I, along with the other officers of ICON will always embrace the future, avoiding the pitfalls of stubbornly refusing to change.

Planting our feet would not only be an exercise in futility, it would be fatal for the organization. Seize the day!

Happy Computing,
Terry