History

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The first meeting of ARPA Computer Group was held in February 2006 with 15 people attending. Of these 12 were members of ARPA and one joined ARPA to become a member of the Computer Group.

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As the meeting was called by Dean V, it was decided to create the group and install Dean as the new Coordinator. At a later meeting, it was decided that the financial year for the group would be from July of one year to July of the next year.

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At the first Annual General Meeting in July 2007 the group had grown to 29 members, and a Committee was then elected.

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By mid 2011, membership had increased to a stage where the ARPA Office could no longer accommodate the numbers. After much searching, in May 2011 the Computer Group moved to the Pilgrims Hall in Flinders Street. Due to venue hiring costs, poor parking availability and venue time limitations, the Computer Group tenancy was only seven months.

 

Another search in late 2011, located the Glandore Community Centre and the Computer Group relocated to the new venue just off Anzac highway in November 2011. During the stay at Glandore, the Computer Group membership increased up to record level of 63 at the beginning of 2016. Unfortunately the Club's tenure was placed in jeopardy with rising hire costs and change to another building at Glandore. So commenced the search for a new home for Computer Group meetings.

 

Meanwhile renovations at the ARPA Office had been completed and a relatively large conference room was available for the Computer Group use. After negotiations with head office and a vote by members the Computer Group relocated back to the ARPA Office in July 2017. The Computer Group has gone full circle, returning to a venue where the club was first created.

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Membership of the group stood at 48 as of 30 June 2018. Our numbers have declined, some comments state this erosion of members happened in the first half of 2017. Whereas there is an opinion it happened in the latter half of that year, when the Computer Group had returned to Adelaide. After two years residence in the Adelaide CBD,  the Computer Group membership continued to decline. Membership of the group now stands at 39 as of 30 June 2019.

 

So the Computer Group membership has dropped from a record high of 63 in 2017, 48 in 2018 to the current 39 in 2019. Our members have not appreciated the shift of the group back to Adelaide CBD. With the financial scaling back by ARPA in 2018, the conference room was being discarded, so the computer group had no permanent home to conduct its monthly meetings. So the search commenced in mid 2018 for a new locality for the Computer group.

 

After looking around the suburban area to no avail for six months, the computer group was recommended a site at the  Mile End Church of Christ hall, Torrensville. After the group executive commenced discussions with church representatives, agreement was reached that the ARPA Computer Group would relocate to Torrensville. So now the Computer group has a new permanent home, the tenure is is still to be determined, but we have a foot in the door. This locality also happens to be the home of the APRA Radio Players.

 

With a new home in the suburbs will the Computer Group membership continue to decline, or potentially blossom back to the numbers of the Glandore era, only time will tell.

 

As of January 2020 the membership of the Computer Group is currently sitting at 34, the relocation to suburbs has not improved our numbers.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic hit the group at the end of March 2020. This placed the group into recess as State Government regulations banned any meetings as a technique to minimise the spread of the virus.

 

In September 2020 the group restarted and conducted its delayed AGM in October. A motion to dissolve the Computer Group was not carried, but an alternate motion to place the group in recess until 2021 was carried. 

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At the end of February 2021 the Computer Group restarted and a motion was passed to rename the group as the Computer & Technology Group. The meetings were still being held at the Mile End Church of Christ Hall, 2 Danby Street Torrensville, South Australia 5031.

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