On Wednesday, 4th February, it will have been twenty years to the day since the Midlands User Group (MUG) held its first meeting, and will be getting together in a pub on the day to celebrate that anniversary.
On the 4th February, 2006, a small cohort of RISC OS users in the Midlands area gathered together in the home of one – Robin Edwards of Serious Statistical Software, who is sadly no longer with us – and decided to formalise the group and hold regular meetings – initially settling on odd months, and later making it the 3rd Saturday of the month.
As the group expanded, the meeting place became the Methodist Hall in Blackwell, moving to Dodderhill Parish Community Hall in May 2019. They switched to online meetings, using Zoom, during the 2020 pandemic, and once gatherings were on the cards again switched to a mixed approach, with some meetings held at the hall, and some online.
My own involvement with the group began in May of 2015, when I visited the Blackwell venue to talk about the RiscPiC – RiscPC-inspired cases for the Raspberry Pi – but just kept on attending all the meetings thereafter. They couldn’t even shake me by moving!
Within a year of its formation, the group helped the ARM Club with a RISC OS show held at Featherstone, and since then has organised a number of shows of its own at various venues, and a couple online.
A more detailed list looks something like this:
- 2006; The ARM Club’s event at Featherstone.
- 2007; MUG’s own first show, held at the Heritage Motor Centre in Gaydon.
- 2008-2009; at the Birmingham University Guild of Students.
- 2010-2014; St John’s Church Hall in Kenilworth.
- 2015-2018; arranging a RISC OS contingent at the wider Recursion events.
- 2022-2023; virtual shows, held online via Zoom.
- 2023; The MUG Xmas Market – an in-person event once again.
MUG members have also made the trip to other RISC OS shows held around the UK over the years, often even having a table at the events.
In reaching this twenty year milestone, the group offers their thanks to members past and present, remembering those who are no longer with us, and are grateful to the many RISC OS-related companies and individuals that have helped and supported them, given talks to the group, and who have made the two decades of MUG so memorable.
As noted above, the group will be gathering for a celebratory meal – twenty years to the day since that first meeting – although this is limited to members only due to space restrictions.
Although I’ve been attending for over ten years now, I’m unable to make it to the meal – probably the first meeting I’ve had to miss in the last ten and a half years – but as someone who joined later, I can say that I’ve enjoyed all my interactions with the group, so I hope they have a great time on Wednesday.
