Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach a man to fish, and he'll eat for a lifetime. This old adage describes the way we raise our children, and why we educate them. If we didn't spoon feed them while they are babies, they would starve to death, but as they grow and develop, we teach, and expect them, to do more and more for themselves. In today's users' group environment, we try to follow the same philosophy when helping others learn to use their computers. If the leaders try to spoon feed everyone, the organization will ultimately fail! There simply aren't enough hours in the day to lead each individual by the hand. It is incumbent upon each member of the group to put some effort into reaching his/her own computing goals.

The value of users' group membership is in sharing what we know with others, while learning from those who know more than ourselves. The more participants in this process, the bigger the potential benefit for each one. Some people are fascinated by the latest developments in technology while some are happy simply learning to make the computer do some tasks they previously did manually. All participants benefit from the knowledge and experience of the others.

ICON's leaders work hard to provide the help you need, whether you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced user. It is impossible to cover all levels at all times, but we're moving ahead with a broad range of programs and informational resources that appeal to the greatest number of members (and prospective members) possible.

Some of our efforts are aimed specifically at beginning level users, and a few programs are geared more toward rather advanced users. Most ICON members' experience level falls somewhere between these two extremes and that large group is where the majority of our programs are aimed.

If you are a beginning user, you can best help yourself by aggressively working to learn the basics of using your computer. We are willing, and have the resources in place to help you, but you must be willing to help yourself. Learn to tap into the resources ICON offers to you.

If you fall within the majority (in between) group, don't get complacent with the knowledge you have. You should be knowledgeable enough to work on your own, using the resources available from ICON and elsewhere, to learn whatever you are interested in. You should also do whatever you can to help those who are less knowledgeable than yourself. In so doing, you help to free up the more advanced members to learn new things which they will, in return, share with you.

You may have heard that "a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work"…and in the world of computer technology, if you aren't moving forward, you're falling behind, so…learn to fish!

Happy Computing
Terry