ICON’S December 17th meeting and program was one I had long planned for. ICON provided coffee and spiced apple cider for everyone attending the meeting, and Springfield Physical Therapy Center provided our guest speaker.

Scott Simpson, PT, took time out of his busy schedule to present a power point slide show explaining how to make our computer workspace more ergonomically friendly. He pointed out how much stress and strain we can avoid by observing correct posture...but sitting up straight is only one piece of the puzzle.

Chair design and desk height are important for both comfort and efficiency, but even if you use the best chair in the world and have it adjusted to fit you perfectly, your keyboard/mouse tray may be too high, too low, too close, or too far away, which could lead to carpel tunnel syndrome and/or other problems.

The height and distance of your monitor is also important. If it is too high or low, too close or too far away, you may cause unnecessary eye and/or neck strain.

Scott wrapped up his presentation by showing us some simple exercises we can do to alleviate stress and strain from working too long and hard…or is that “not hard enough?”

I think everyone in attendance was amazed by the effect our workspace can have on our health. ICON thanks Scott and Springfield Physical Therapy Center for presenting a very interesting and informative program.

Our holiday party followed the meeting, and we had a wonderful dinner at Ryan’s Family Steak House. Mary Phillips led us in a high tech version of The Twelve Days of Christmas. We had door prize drawings (including beautiful table decorations provided by Fran Miller) before Santa’s elves (Mike Fay and Shannon Rumley) distributed a fun party favor to everyone.

ICON’S January meeting will be held at:

1:00 PM, January 21st
The Library Center Auditorium
4653 S. Campbell Ave.

Besides our normal activities, Sarah and I were so busy last month with preparations for ICON’S and our own Christmas, my daughter’s wedding, and ICON’S March of Technology that I was unable to arrange for a guest speaker for January, so I will be demonstrating “Digital Image Suite”, Microsoft’s comprehensive photo editing application. We have a copy of the software and a couple of T-shirts to give away as door prizes.

January is also ICON members “Clean Out Your Closet” month. Many of you have old software programs, computer books, peripheral equipment, etc. collecting dust and taking up space, so dig them out and bring them to the meeting so someone else can get some use out of them.

Please don’t bring junk! These should be usable items that you no longer want or need. E-waste should be taken to the Computer Recycling Center, 536 E. Commercial St. or bring them to the March of Technology event at The Library Center on March 18th.

See you there,

Happy Computing,
Terry