MCL SIG within MADA - proposal

[UK0392@AppleLink.Apple.COM (EHN & DIJ Oakley,BDV)]

Friends,
 
Following the recent decision of the Board of the MacApp Developers'
Association (MADA) to support the formation of Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
within MADA, and to encompass development environments other than MacApp,
including specifically Macintosh Common Lisp (MCL), I would like to propose the
formation of a SIG within MADA for MCL users.
 
As the mechanics of SIG formation have yet to be tested, and although many
people have expressed an interest I am unsure yet as to the real response to
this, I am not at this moment forming such a SIG.  Rather, what I would like to
do now is to canvas for interest and encourage discussion.
 
The most important information for us now is to gauge what sort of response (in
terms of numbers, and thus subscription funding) an MCL SIG will attract.  I do
not ask everyone to mail me saying that they are interested, but some feedback
on rough numbers and potential sources of finance would be very useful (and
treated in confidence, too).  I would rather like SIG membership for
individuals to be very cheap - essentially that needed to cover the costs of
newsletter production and mailing, etc. - so that those in education can easily
take part.
 
The other information which I would like is who can and will help, and in what
ways.  It would be excellent to have a (modest) newsletter, which will require
editing and production, someone to help keep code and make sure that it is made
available (possibly in conjunction with the production of MCL 'Goodies' disks
for those without FTP access to the Apple Cambridge repository), possibly an
annual meeting to coincide with a MacWorld Expo, or the MADA Conference, or
WWDC or a Lisp conference (personally, I would like to see SIG members having
meetings at all of them, but perhaps only one would need to be 'the' annual
meeting).  I am also very keen to forge good working relationships with the
Apple MCL team, so that we can represent the views of users to them, to help
them continue to enhance their wonderful product for our benefit.  We should
also consider such matters as promoting information exchange, help for
beginners (and experts!), and so on.
 
I am not desperate to organise all this myself.  I will do whatever we cannot
get volunteers to do, and will be very happy if others come forward to run the
show.  What I want to ensure is that we get this going soon - and with the MADA
Conference coming up at Orlando, this is a good time to get talking (although
sadly I am unable to go to Orlando myself).
 
I look forward to hearing from you,
Howard.
[Howard Oakley, EHN & DIJ Oakley, Isle of Wight, UK,
AppleLink UK0392, Internet UK0392@applelink.apple.com,
CompuServe 70734,120, CIX hoakley]