Brisbane VZ Users Workshop

This group was formed in 1987 by Bob Jones, Eddie Tomes and John Wilkins following the success of John D'Alton's (of LE'VZ 200/300 OOP fame) VZ mini-expo in December 1986, with support from John D'Alton, Larry Taylor, Bob Kitch and Bob's son Bruce Kitch. Bob Jones was to be its coordinator throughout its lifetime.

The initial meeting took place at 1pm Saturday 7th March 1987 at Capalaba State High School. Subsequent meetings were to take place at 1pm on the first Saturday of each month at the same venue (unless otherwise notified). It appears that around 7 people gathered for the first meeting, and increased to a maximum of 10 in 1987. Regular reports of their meetings were to appear in LE'VZ 200/300 OOP for a couple of years, although in later issues they were relegated to just a mention under the Other User Groups section. It is not clear when the group ceased operating but as of the final issue of LE'VZ 200/300 OOP in May 1990 they were still mentioned as a going concern with Bob Jones continuing at the helm.

Initially unnamed, the group went on to call itself the Brisbane VZ Users Workshop, or BVZUW for short. In conjunction with John D'Alton it was to run two more VZ mini-expos in December of 1987 and 1988. The event in 1987 was hugely successful with exhibitors from interstate (Gavin Williamson from LaserLink and Mark Harwood, publisher of VZ User) and around 100 people in attendance. In comparison, the event in 1988 was a flop with only 25 people showing up including organisers.

Meetings were fairly hands-on, with demonstrations of both hardware and software, troubleshooting of user problems and the occasional talk. Some software was supplied free of charge for the use of the group by John D'Alton.

Given the close involvement with John D'Alton, there was no need for the group to produce a newsletter.

Back to User Groups and Newsletters

Back to Main Page