About the MacGathering (2005 show)
Hi. I'm Deborah Shadovitz, the producer and driving force behind this show. If you have any questions that aren't answered on this site, I invite you to contact me by email.
Why • Who • How (our toolbox)
Why a Mac Gathering?
I started this event in 2003, in response to 4 years of being asked by both Mac users and vendors to produce an event that brings them together. The Mac Gathering is a place where every product is for the Mac and Mac users can meet each other to socialize, learn, and share experiences, knowledge and recommendations.
Some folks think the Mac is only a graphics and audio machine — but it's a strong tool for much more. Many businesses run fully on the Mac OS. This show provides opportunity for attendees to learn more about those business possibilities.
You'll notice that many of our seminars are marked with [Mac/Win] tags. That's because:
- There's plenty that Windows users can learn. For example, Microsoft Office and Adobe software is cross-platform, as is iTunes and the iPod. Email protocol is the same on any platform, and so is good literature layout.
- In business dual platform issues often come up. We want to help Mac users be aware of software that runs on Windows as well. We've asked vendors to explain similarities and differences between their platform versions. This can help both Mac and Windows users to determine which platform to use for each need.
- Sometimes a business that uses Macs wonders if it can hire a contractor who uses Windows, and vice versa.
- The internet doesn’t replace in-person knowledge and face-to-face friendships.
Meet the Mac Gathering Advisory Committee
I invite you to meet some of the folks who have been my sounding board, come up with ideas, volunteered their time, etc. This show would never have happened if not for the encouragement of so many Mac users and vendors who asked me to do it and offered ideas. People who'd attended the original MacFair LA by the LAMG recalled things they loved. People who had volunteered at MacFair LA shared stories. Fellow authors, vendors, and speakers provided thoughts. And fellow user group leaders/members who've been asking me for a show have been giving me ideas for years.
••• Shelly Brisbin • Mark Hartman • Thomas Larsen • Fielden Lundy • Jim Mitchell ••
•••Mario Salinas • Joyce Schwarz • Cathy Scrivnor • Dorothy Yamamoto • Deb Shadovitz •••
Shelly Brisbin
Shelly comes to the MacGathering from Austin, Texas, has probably been involved in many an item you've read if you've been reading about Mac for much of its years. She has written 10 books and hundreds of articles for magazines including Macworld, NetProfessional, The Net, NewMedia, WebTechniques, and SunWorld. For 4 1⁄2 years she was the networking editor for MacUser Magazine.
Her real-world expertise comes from jobs such as being Managing Editor/Technology at Powered Inc., Webmaster, system administrator, and consultant.
Shelly is part of the main feature in MacAddict's current issue and her current book is The MacAddict Guide to Living the iLife. In her free time, she manages a music-related Web site and mailing list.
 Mark Hartman
I first met Mark Hartman at a user group meeting in Orange County in Dec 2002. Attending the first ever Regional Macintosh Gathering in April 2003, he stepped in to help out and immediately became an integral part of the show. Since then he has been a major sounding board, offering many excellent ideas and solutions.
Pre-show Mark helps with just about everything. At the show, Mark is our primary Vendor Support, as well as a speaker.
Thomas Larsen
 Tom is a long-time Mac user group member who has helped me out at so many meetings over so many years that I couldn't begin to count.
Back in 1992 he was teaching himself DOS when a computer store sales person introduced him to the Mac and invited him to an LAMG meeting. Seeing Mac users' enthusiasm he left DOS behind, bought a Mac (Classic), and hasn't looked back since. The closest he ever got to buying Windows is VirtualPC. His newest Mac is a PowerBook G4.
At the show,Tom handles seminar set-up and management.
Fielden Lundy
 Fielden hails from the LAMG and MacFair LA. Along the way we have crossed paths at Long Beach Mac groups, at trade shows and seminars and through discussions over the future of the Mac and of computing in general.
He's an illustrator, a Mac enthusiast, a student of art and technology. Fielden has attended, volunteered, assisted and presented at trade shows, user group meetings, and informal gatherings.
Jim Mitchell
Jim started out with an SE/30 and a whole lot of love for his Mac. It was during those early years using PageMaker, Freehand and Photoshop that he learned the importance of keeping his system in tip-top shape. Now a system administrator (among other things) with over 20 years of user support under his belt, Jim's ongoing projects help keep the Macs of others running smoothly and efficiently.
Based in Huntington Beach (Surf City), California, Jim started his own business, like many Mac-folk, as a graphic design artist. As his business grew, he found himself committing more and more time to creating business solutions, which ultimately led him to change gears, becoming a full time systems administrator and FileMaker developer.
As his efforts began to focus on servicing Mac OS X workstations, Jim saw the need to create a simple, yet effective tool for OS X administrators that would allow them to quickly address routine maintenance issues. This vision led to his development of Yasu (Yet another system utility), which has become very popular with both system administrators, and regular users alike.
Currently, Jim works with private businesses and non-profit surfing organizations around the Orange County area, helping them solve their business and operational needs. Learn more about Jim at JimMitchelldesigns.com.
Mario Salinas
 Mario Salinas is the owner of Amazon-Networks, a web design and hosting company. It was in this capacity that he met Deborah and became an advisor/contributor to her Adobe GoLive 5 Bible, as well as becoming her website host. (In fact, he hosts this site.)
Joyce Schwarz
 It was a lucky day when the MacGathering attracted Joyce Schwarz's attention. Her knowledge of the trends and new mediums is vast. She brings understanding of the cutting-edge to attendees for discussion.
Joyce's company does strategic marketing, branding and new product introduction. She's also a prolific author; her current writing is TechTV's Cutting the Cord.
Joyce combines more than a decade of high-level advertising and marketing posts with such as Foote Cone & Belding and a division of Ogilvy & Mather with a dozen years experience launching start-ups, corporate spin-offs and digital media innovations. Her record includes more than $300 million in product launches for firms such as AT&T, Philips and Sheraton. She's created major campaigns such as the 'Missing Kids on the Milk Carton,' Johnson & Johnson's disposable contact lens, Democrats.com at the DNC, 2001, and the acclaimed 'Day In the Life of Paris' streaming online back in 1995. Her website, Joycecom.com is quite impressive.
Oh, we first met when she spoke at the very show that inspired this one, the LAMG's MacFair LA which I also helped produce and spoke at.
Cathy Scrivnor
 Cathy's background is in training and managment. Over the years, she has taught in many disciplines, including Needlework, Color Theory, Computing, and Elementary school. Prior to the birth of her son, she was a bank manager and wrote procedure changes for a major California Bank. She's even trained pharmacist's assistants. After retiring from banking, she found herself teaching large groups the art of Tole and Decorative painting for the Decorative Painter's Society, at Adult school and in private classes. She also helped introduce the web to painters by creating a forum on AOL, hosting several weekly chats, one of which helped newbies troubleshoot AOL problems. In recent years, Cathy managed the repair department of a popular LA Apple Specialist and Reseller store. She now works there part-time and continues to provide weekly private Mac training for clients.
Cathy worked closely with Deborah Shadovitz, during the writing of the GoLive 5 Bible; writing exercises, researching technical issues, muddling through beta software issues. She also wrote a chapter, as well. All concurrently with her own full-time employment. Little did she know what would grow from an email reply to a post on a GoLIve mail list!
And then there's Deborah...
 Deborah Shadovitz is a well-known and respected Macintosh/computer book author and columnist. She's a Contributing Editor at MacAddict magazine and has recently contributed to such publications as Macworld magazine and SBS Digital Design. Deb was also Mac Design magazine's GoLive columnist. She has contributed to O’Reilly publishing’s O’Reillynet.com and penned several books including the award-winning Office 98 Bible and Adobe GoLive 5 Bible, AppleWorks for Dummies and more.
Deborah’s been a regular presenter at Macworld Expo & Conference since 1997 and was a trainer/presenter for the LAMG from 1994-1998. She has also presented at shows such at Internet World.
Deborah has created several successful seminars for MacFair LA and Macworld Expo & Conference, not just for herself, but for others as well, matching user needs to people’s expertise. Additionally, although not a principle in MacFair LA, she played several key volunteer roles for the show. In 1994, she also ran the National Apple User Group Seminar & Workshop. Additionally, as A/V manager for a large non-profit in NYC, Deborah worked on many a special event from 1981-1984. She's worked on many social and fund-raising events on a volunteer or freelance basis since then. This photo was taken at the Party For The People, a party she produces for Macworld Expo attendees.
You can learn more about Deborah at her personal site.
The Mac Gathering Toolbox
A lot goes into producing an expo like this, so great tools go a long way. Our computers are Apple Macintosh 100%.
Before the show:
- Website — Adobe GoLive.
- Fliers, brochures — Adobe InDesign.
- Logo and other artwork — Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
- The show floorplan — the Omni Group's Omnigraffle 3.
- All fliers, brochures, floorplans, etc were exported as PDF within InDesign or printed as PDF in the Finder. They were always distributed as PDF. When emailed, they were zipped using the Mac OS Finder.
- In order to check our web stats, we need a PC, so that was done using Virtual PC — Windows XP.
At the show:
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The Regional Macintosh Gathering
