If there are specific topics that you would like to see discussed in a future newsletter, please send your questions or comments to the HUG Secretary, Steve Jones at sjones@blacksburg.gov.
The HUG Board meets via a teleconference on a monthly basis for normal HUG business and as required at other times during the year. The Board also meets on an annual basis at the site of the next Annual Conference. This year the Board met
July 29-31, 2004
at the 2005 Conference site at Bally’s in
Las Vegas
.
The HUG Board along with representatives from SunGard HTE, L&A Meeting and Management, and our contracted Audio/Visual provider attended the meeting.
The annual meeting provides the Board with structured time to work together in reviewing the previous annual conference to determine where we had successes and where we need improvement. Some of the major items the Board accomplished at the annual meeting were:
- Reviewed the previous year’s goals and set goals for the coming year.
- Created the next fiscal year budget.
- Dues were reviewed and no changes were made with the 2004-2005 dues remaining at the previous years’ level of $150.
- Reviewed the 2005 Conference contract and made any necessary changes along with meeting with Bally’s on issues pertaining to the conference.
- As we must have contracts in place several years in advance, we began reviewing the proposed 2008 Conference contract with Disney’s Coronado Spring’s Resort.
- We had a presentation on web services by Jim Windsor who will continue this next year to be a driving force on the Web Committee. Jim has taken the lead on getting us to the next level in the HUG Database Development. Working with Jim on website development and Webmaster duties are Board members Larry Nicolette and Steve Jones. The Web Committee has already completed a major effort in the database development as evidenced by the recent completion of the tie between the HUG Member Database and the HUG Discussion Groups.
- Reviewed the bylaws to begin determination on any changes.
- Reviewed the membership survey responses from the 2004 Annual Conference. This is a great tool that helps the Board make adjustments on future conferences.
- Reviewed the ER process and determined the timeline for the various steps in the process.
These are just a few of the topics we discussed as we begin rounding up “All The Horses You Need” for a successful year culminating with the 17th Annual International HUG, Inc. Education Conference at Bally’s June 6-10, 2005.
Your feedback is always welcome and the HUG Board encourages you to consider volunteering your time and talent either on the National or Regional level to make HUG all that it can be. We will keep you up-to-date as the year progresses.
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As of September 7th the Enhancement Request (ER) site is open for your input. This is your opportunity to make suggestions for the improvement of the SunGard HTE applications you use each day. You must have a MyHTE account to enter an Enhancement Request. If you do not have one, you may sign up at www.myhte.com or www.sungard.com/hte (click on th MyHTE icon).
The site is scheduled to close for new entry on
February 28, 2005
. Your requests will be reviewed by your Application Coordinators (ACs) through March 2005. The HUG Board is currently recruiting ACs for the 2005 HUG Conference. ACs are scheduled to be finalized by the end of October 2004.
Be sure to attend the “HUG Purpose & Direction” session at your Regional HUG Conference or contact Tino Anthony, HUG Member-at-Large, for instructions on how to enter Enhancement Requests.
HUG has expended much thought, time and effort to create and manage the HUG Member Database. Listed below is a short list of the benefits of this database to the HUG Members:
- Contact information of your peers, by state or by all localities – in the AGENCY LIST.
- Application information of your peers, by state or by all localities – in the USER LIST.
- Document Library - share information and documents with others that are located on the LGOV web site (www.lgov.org)
- Enhancement Requests (ER) – obtain information of this very important process. This is one of the most important methods to bring improvements to the many SunGard HTE applications.
- Conference Presentations – obtain presentations you saw at a conference.
- Conference on-line registration.
Larry Nicolette wrote an excellent article for the July 2004 newsletter on this topic. Steve Meyers wrote another informative article for the February 2004 newsletter. Please read these to fully understand the value of the Member Database – they can be viewed in the newsletter section of the HUG Inc web site - http://www.huginc.org/news.html
So why are we writing about this again?
There have been some new features added and there have been a lot of questions about updating information in the database. The HUG Board of Directors can not state enough how important this member database is to the smooth operation of HUG.
New Features
- We have added a Tech Support interest area for each application - this is in addition to the Owner and User interest areas. This will help you to better identify those who have technical background on a topic or application.
- There will be new features added in the future and we will announce these when they are added.
Keeping the Database Up-To-Date
To make all the above listed benefits work, it is important that we keep the membership information as up to date as possible.
Listed below are some important aspects of the member database that everyone should understand:
Agency Contact
Each organization has at least one designated contact. This person has the capability to add, update, and remove individuals for their respective organization. This person also has the ability to add and remove your account from the discussion groups. In addition, the HUG Board of Directors Web team has this capability as well.
Member Information
This is your information in the database. The member information is tied to a valid email address. If you can not remember your password the system can email this to you – simply click on the “Send Me My Password” button at the database logon screen. It is important to make the appropriate changes – especially if your email address changes.
New Accounts
When new accounts are added an email notification is sent with a random, temporary password. Once you have entered into the system we recommend you change your password to something more meaningful and memorable. You will have the ability to modify your password and manage your own account. You can manage your profile information and interests. If you wish – have your agency contact add you to some of the discussion groups.
Discussion Groups
One of the most important aspects of this web site and the HUG organization is information sharing. The discussion groups are an important aspect of this effort. Your agency contact or the HUG Web Administrators have the ability to add or remove you from a discussion group.
Thank you for your time and interest by reading this article. I recommend you visit the members only section of the HUG Inc. web site and explore the database.
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The 2005 HUG conference will include an Executive Track. This track is designed for City or
County
Managers
, Police & Fire Chiefs, Council members, Finance Directors or any others that feel high level presentations would be of value. While it is a bit early in the planning stage to identify specific topics being covered, it is known that the Executive Track will be a two and a half day commitment that will include guest speakers and reduced conference registration fees, as well as a bit of golf.
Seating will be limited, so please watch for further announcements in this area. If you would like to be one of the first informed of the specific agenda for this track, please contact Jamie Biggs at (800) 727-8088 or jbiggs@hteinc.com.
At this year’s conference we had 44 User Led Sessions presented by HUG member users. In addition there were 6 User Experience sessions led by SunGard HTE and HUG member users which showcased their experience with some of the latest software modules that SunGard HTE has unveiled.
SunGard HTE has generously offered again this year an incentive in challenging the HUG membership to expand the User-Led and User Experience sessions next year to greater heights. You can earn a maintenance credit of $500 for your agency if you make a presentation at the 2005 conference in
Las Vegas
. Just ask any of this year’s presenters how easy it was. I think you will agree that $500 for two one-hour presentations is some pretty easy money. It can help offset a large part of your conference expense and may afford you the opportunity to go the conference in these tight budget times.
We already have commitments for eight sessions next year but there’s room for many more presentations. The HUG Board needs your help to make this next conference even better than last year’s.
Please consider presenting a user led or user experience session at HUG 2005 in
Las Vegas
the week of
June 6-10, 2005
. For more information on how you can be a presenter, please contact Candy Retamoza, HUG President-Elect at (209) 937-7403 or candy.retamoza@ci.stockton.ca.us
It's time now to think about volunteering at the 2005 HUG Conference in
Las Vegas
. The HUG Board of Directors is seeking volunteers who are willing to devote a small portion of their time during the conference to ensure the conference is well-organized and meaningful for everyone. The HUG Board relies on volunteers to help us with registration and other tasks during the annual conference.
If you are interested in serving as a volunteer, please go to the HUG web site at http://www.huginc.org/. Click on Annual Conference, and then the "Volunteers Needed" icon. After you have completed the form, click on "Submit Volunteer Form". Or, send me an e-mail advising when you would be available during the conference.
If you have any questions, please contact Robert Girndt at rgirndt@ci.mocity.tx.us. Or, you may call me at (281) 261-4326.
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Several years ago a few groups of users got together to conduct training sessions whereby individual cities could share the costs. In these training sessions, HUG recognized an opportunity to further our mission and negotiated with SunGard HTE to support seven Regional Groups. In the early stages SunGard HTE would provide a specified amount of training hours at no cost, but any training time above that specified amount was borne by the regional group, and ultimately passed on to the attendees in the form of conference registration fees.
After several regional conferences, it became apparent to us that while each conference was a success in its own way, they were inconsistent in price, content, and quality. HUG wanted to ensure that each attendee had the same positive experience while attending a regional conference. To accomplish that end, HUG worked with SunGard HTE to devise the current model of the regional conference.
Under the current model, SunGard HTE provides the trainers at no cost. A low registration fee, currently $50.00, is charged. A portion of the registration fee helps to defray the costs of HUG’s meeting planner who works with SunGard HTE’s staff and the individual RUG Boards of Directors. Part of the registration fee also goes to the individual RUG’s to defray the costs of planning and hosting their conference. The combination of the various parties makes it possible to have high quality conferences that maintain a regional focus.
As a result of the above-described partnership, the regional conferences have improved greatly in both consistency and content. This success has been measured by both post-conference surveys and personal experience as I have attended many regional conferences. Another indication of the success of the current regional conference model is attendance. There has been a 119% increase in the attendance at the regional conferences since the beginning of the current regional conference model.
In light of the success of the current program, HUG and SunGard HTE have an understanding that for the foreseeable future, we will continue the current program in its current form.
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I had the privilege of attending the Midwest Regional Users Group Conference in
Oakbrook
,
IL
on September 12th thru the 15th. What a great conference! Attendance was approximately 340 which set the record for Regional Conferences. SunGard HTE was able to bring about 50 employees to the conference which was a remarkable feat considering the hurricanes that had affected
Florida
recently. There were also many vendors in attendance and some also presented sessions on their products. I truly believe that all in attendance were satisfied with the conference.
Now that the Regional conferences are in full swing, I would like to encourage each and every one of you to try and attend one. This is an excellent training opportunity at a very reasonable price. Remember, you do not necessarily have to attend the regional conference in your area. You may attend any of the seven across the
United States
and
Canada
.
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HUG 17th ANNUAL EDUCATION CONFERENCE 2005
“Western Roundup 2005: All the Horses You Need”
Bally’s Las Vegas
Las Vegas
,
Nevada
Sunday, June 5 –
Friday, June 10, 2005
Conference Hotel/Convention Facilities
This year’s conference will be held at Bally’s
Las Vegas
, located in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip at
3645 Las Vegas Blvd. South
,
Las Vegas
,
NV
89109
.
Featuring one of the largest convention centers in Las Vegas, Bally’s is the Grand Dame of the strip and one of the original luxurious hotels that helped to make Las Vegas a worldwide destination spot. Bally’s tradition of a smaller intimate casino area, makes it easy to go from your hotel room to the meeting area without entering the casino. The spacious sleeping rooms feature irons/ironing boards, hair dryers, dual line speakerphones and high speed internet access. While there is plenty to do at Bally’s for entertainment, shopping, and dining without even leaving the hotel, Bally’s is located adjacent to the Paris Hotel and across the street from the Bellagio. Bally’s is also located on the Monorail system which can take you quickly and easily to the MGM, Flamingo Hilton, Imperial Palace, Las Vegas Hilton, and the Sahara for a minimal fee (currently $3 with discounts for multiple passes).
Bally’s features an Olympic size swimming pool with Jacuzzi, championship tennis courts, and the Spa at Bally’s, which is a full service health club with both free and mechanical weights, treadmills, and elliptical machines. The Spa also features massages, facials, saunas and steam baths.
For restaurants, you can enjoy the award-winning Big Kitchen Buffet, in the tradition of the
Las Vegas
buffet at a reasonable price, to the gourmet dining of Bally’s Steakhouse or Chang’s for Chinese specialties.
Conference general sessions and some breakout sessions will be held at the Bally’s Convention Center which is located right off the
North
Tower
of sleeping rooms. Many breakout sessions will also be located in the
South
Tower
. The
North
Tower
is the newer of the two towers; you may want to request a room in that tower. For more information or to reach a hotel guest, call 702/739-4111. For reservations, please call 800/634-3434. Room reservations must be guaranteed with a deposit of one room night plus tax.
Our conference rate is $115 single or double. Hotel cut-off date for these special conference rates is:
May 15, 2005
however, to assure room availability, we recommend calling for your reservation as soon as possible.
A limited number of rooms are available at the conference rate for pre and post conference stays. So, again, we recommend that you get your reservations in early.
Parking:
Self and Valet Parking are both complimentary at Bally’s should you choose to drive in or rent a car.
