A big thank-you and congratulations go to Arun Batchu, who was elected
the new OTUG President tonight.

As most of you probably know, Arun has been around the OTUG scene for
a number of years, and is perhaps unique in that I have never heard of
anyone who didn't enjoy pair programming with him. His passion and
positive energy are well known, and will provide much value in his new
role. Please send him congratulations and fresh ideas for future OTUG
events via email (president@...), Twitter (@arunbatchu), or
whatever channels you have at your disposal.

Also notable and significant: tonight we elected Jason Titus as the
new President-Elect—the first time in two years that anyone has held
that position. Jason will support Arun in making things happen this
year, and will then position himself well to be elected President next
summer. You can send him kudos at preselect@....

Those of you who haven't made it to OTUG lately: I encourage you to
come back for another round in the coming year. The crowds have been
energetic and engaged. The new practice of having a sponsored dinner
at Davanni's after the talk has turned each event into a serious
discussion and networking opportunity. Event sponsors enabled us to
keep this up without losing money.

As the outgoing President, I have some serious credit to dole out. The
four people below formed an unofficial core of volunteers, who largely
made the year a successful one for the community—doing far more than I
did*. The President provided logistical support, continuity, a voice,
and the interface for booking rooms and pizza—but each event was
conceived, organized, and coordinated by an individual who was
passionate about making it happen.

Thus my very heartfelt thanks go to:

Kyle Larson, who convinced me to run for President by promising that
he would play a big behind-the-scenes role in keeping me at it. He did
that, and acted as the organizer for three of the seven events we held
in the past year, including the largest one.

Hamlet D'Arcy, who signed up to maintain our web site and has
faithfully kept it up ever since. Hamlet also organized two events and
spearheaded a fundraising storm which enabled us to fly Ted Neward in
for a talk in May.

Tom Evans, who along with Hamlet showed up for the first and only OTUG
happy hour last September, which became the kick-off planning meeting
for the entire year. Tom also committed that day to deliver a
presentation in the spring. He did, and it was excellent. (Gee Tom, if
only everyone could see your slides on the web site, they'd know some
of what they missed. ;-)

Stephen Thompson, who as our long-standing Treasurer has provided a
thread of continuity and discipline through OTUG's many years.

Bhabani Misra, Kathleen Hauser, Tim Fremouw, and all the other
staffers at the University of St. Thomas who did legwork and paperwork
to provide us the space to hold our events, plus promotional messages
to the GPS alumni mailing list.

***And Finally***

My single regret about the last year is that I didn't use the OTUG
lists to get more people into the loop. Here's my one chance to make
up for it. Each and every one of you: if you have something you'd like
to present, someone you'd like to see present, or just an idea for an
event, contact Arun and Jason and find out how they can help you make
it happen. Post a message to the list with your idea; see if someone
else is similarly passionate and wants to help you make it happen.
Make it happen. OTUG can provide a platform; the community puts the
value into it. We are all the community.

With that, I bit you adieu. Thank you.

-Markus Silpala






* Extra points to Dion Stewart, who noticed this and asked me
repeatedly, "how come you're the President when it looks like Hamlet
does all the work?"