Publisher, author and all-around Mac expert Adam Engst of TidBITS, Take Control books and MacNotables panel member will make another of his highly anticipated visits to a New York Group next week.
Adam will visit Apple CIDER on Wednesday, September 10, to discuss the latest happenings in the Mac universe, including the announcements of Apple’s September 9 “Let’s Rock” event.

Visit the Apple CIDER web site for all available details, time and location.

Starting at Photoshop World this week, Softpress‘ Ian Schray is crisscrossing the United States with the Freeway Roadshow, and has more than a few Mac User Group stops scheduled.

You can catch Ian showing off both the Express and Pro versions of their web publishing utility, Freeway, at these groups in the coming weeks:

• 9/8/08 - Portland Macintosh Users Group
• 9/9/08 - Havasu Macintosh User’s Group
• 9/9/08 - Salem Mac User Group
• 9/11/08 - MetroMac
• 9/12/08 - Long Island Macintosh Users Group
• 9/13/08 - The Hudson Mac User Group
• 9/18/08 - Apple Blossom Computer Club
• 10/9/08 - Florida Macintosh Users Group

Be sure to check with each group for times, locations and visitors policies, and plan to say hello to Ian when he’s in your neck of the woods.

If you’re somewhere not on the map (yet), you can hear Ian talk about Freeway on MacVoices #883.

The MUG Event Calendar re-ignites as many North American Mac User Groups return from summer breaks and start their Fall schedules.

Apple Senior Systems Engineer Dave Marra is back in action in Pennsylvania, while Take Control and TidBITS author Joe Kissell will present to a Colorado group via iChat, and Chris Luger of Quark will visit a Illinois group to show off the latest version of their desktop publishing software.

Other topics on the agenda for the week include the role of Apple Resellers in Ireland, stock software, iWork, and iPhone data management in Australia, genealogy in Kansas, Photoshop trickery in New Mexico, Networking in Florida and Iowa, and ergonomics in Connecticut.

Is your group getting back in the game for Fall? Email your meeting information to The MUG Center, and we will post it here, on The MUG Event Calendar and in our weekly Briefing.
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TidBITS and Take Control author and Macworld columnist Joe Kissell will be the guest speaker at a Colorado group next week, thanks to iChat.

Joe, who is currently based in Paris, will be the featured speaker at the September meeting of the Silicon Mountain Macintosh User Group (SMMUG) of Colorado Springs, Colorado, thanks to the magic of iChat.

Joe will cover topics that have been the subject of some of his most recent books, including Take Control of Easy Backups in Leopard, Take Control of Mac OS X Backups, Take Control of .Mac, Take Control of Apple Mail in Leopard and Take Control of Spam in Apple Mail. Joe is a frequent guest on MacVoices and a member of The MacJury.

Get more information on time and location by visiting the SMMUG web site.

Apple Senior Systems Engineer Dave Marra has announced a new set of user group appearances that stretches into 2009.

You can check out Dave’s trademark dynamic presentations of the latest Apple hardware and software at:

• September 4 - Bux-Mont Macintosh Users Group

• September 11 - Bux-Mont Computer Users Group (A Windows/PC group that wants to learn about the Mac)

• September 13 - Main Line Macintosh Users Group

• October 14 - MacPower Macintosh Users Group

• January 28, 2009 - Connecticut Macintosh Connection

• February 21, 2009 - Philadelphia Area Computer Society

As always, be sure to check each group’s web site for complete information on times, locations and visitor policies before you set off to see Dave in action.

August wraps up with a variety of demos and presenters at Mac User Groups this week.

Jayson Adams of Circus Ponies will present to a California Mac group and multiple presenters are on the agenda at a California Final Cut Pro User Group.

Some of the other subjects on tap this week include Comic LIfe Magiq, Illustrator CS 3, iMovie, Google, web site creation, the options for running Windows on a Mac, and more.

Don’t just sit there - get your group’s event listed! Email your meeting information to The MUG Center, and we will post it here, on The MUG Event Calendar and in our weekly Briefing. Read the rest of this entry »

Highlights of this week’s MUG Event Calendar include a visit from a Mac expert, a Final Cut Pro tour stop, and Film Festival and plenty of interesting meeting topics.

Mac author and expert Jim Heid will visit a California group, and Mike Piatek-Jimenez from Gascho Software will speak to a Michigan group. A FCP user group in Massachusetts will welcome a stop on the Final Cut Studio Tour, featuring the Red camera, and another California group will host their annual film festival.

Other topics on this week’s agendas include summer picnics, iDVD, Photoshop Elements, “The Mysterious Services Menu,” free and low-cost alternatives to Photoshop, security and identity theft protection and much more.

Your group could be listed here. No, really. Just email your meeting information to The MUG Center, and we will post it here, on The MUG Event Calendar and in our weekly Briefing.
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James Lee of Tropical Software is making two Mac User Group appearances this week, and he forgot to tell us.

Today, August 13, Jim will be showing off TopXNotes to the Mt. Dora Macintosh Users Group, and on Thursday, August 14, Jim will travel over to MacPeople in Gainesville to appear as the featured presenter. And you can bet he’ll have one of those eye-catching tropical shirts on for both events.

Check both group’s web sites for information on times, locations and how you can stop by and say hello to Jim.

The MUG Event Calendar is back to busy this week, as Mac User Groups around the world start to pick up steam for August.

Geoff Schuller from Filemaker will demo Bento in California and Bruce Nazarian, President of the DVD Association International, will be the guest at a special Final Cut Pro User Group event in Florida.

Programs that have earned a top demo slot this week include Skitch from pasq, Adobe Photoshop Elements 6, VMWare Fusion, CrossOver, Freeway Pro 5, iBank, Moneydance 2008, Liquid Ledger and Mail. Digital hhotography, iPods, a picnic and a social round out the highlghts of the week’s meetings.

Why isn’t your group’s listing here? Because you didn’t let us know! Email the information to The MUG Center, and we will post it here, on The MUG Event Calendar and in our weekly Briefing.
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The South Florida Final Cut Pro Users Group will hold a special event on August 14: a presentation by Bruce Nazarian, MPSE, “The Digital Guy” and President of the DVD Association International.

Bruce will give a presentation on how video creators/producers using Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Studio can take advantage of Blu-ray authoring in a knowledgeable way. He will address a number of “gotchas” that currently exist in BD authoring, duplication and replication that make the current path to BD publishing not as straightforward as it is for DVD. The DVDA’s mission will be to eliminate this confusion by providing information on what options are available for successfully producing and publishing using Blu-ray Disc.

Seating is limited, and you are strongly encouraged to RSVP.

For complete details including time and location, vist the SoFlaFCPUG web site.