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MacVoices #25143: Live! - The State of Apple User Groups

Release Date: 05/22/2025

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MacVoices

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Chuck Joiner, David Ginsburg, Marty Jencius, Brian Flanigan-Arthurs, Eric Bolden, Jim Rea, and Jeff Gamet engage in a lively, unscripted conversation, looking at how Apple user groups have evolved over time. Once central to learning and community-building, these groups now face new challenges—from shifting tech habits to digital alternatives like Zoom, Discord, and online meetups. The panel shares personal experiences, celebrates the value these groups brought, and explores how the spirit of community can still thrive in modern formats.

MacVoices is supported by Insta360 and their new Insta360 X5 360° 8K camera. Get a free invisible selfie stick worth $24.99 at store.insta360.com and use the promo code “macvoices”. Selfie stick offer available for the first 30 standard packages.

Show Notes:

Chapters:

00:07 The State of Apple User Groups
01:50 User Group Challenges and Changes
06:37 The Rise of Online Communities
12:14 The Shift in User Group Dynamics
20:07 Looking Back on User Group History
26:04 Engaging with the Community Today

Guests:

Eric Bolden is into macOS, plants, sci-fi, food, and is a rural internet supporter. You can connect with him on Twitter, by email at [email protected], on Mastodon at @[email protected], on his blog, Trending At Work, and as co-host on The Vision ProFiles podcast.

Jeff Gamet is a technology blogger, podcaster, author, and public speaker. Previously, he was The Mac Observer’s Managing Editor, and the TextExpander Evangelist for Smile. He has presented at Macworld Expo, RSA Conference, several WordCamp events, along with many other conferences. You can find him on several podcasts such as The Mac Show, The Big Show, MacVoices, Mac OS Ken, This Week in iOS, and more. Jeff is easy to find on social media as @jgamet on Twitter and Instagram, jeffgamet on LinkedIn., @[email protected] on Mastodon, and on his YouTube Channel at YouTube.com/jgamet.

David Ginsburg is the host of the weekly podcast In Touch With iOS where he discusses all things iOS, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch, and related technologies. He is an IT professional supporting Mac, iOS and Windows users. Visit his YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/daveg65 and find and follow him on Twitter @daveg65 and on Mastodon at @[email protected].

Dr. Marty Jencius has been an Associate Professor of Counseling at Kent State University since 2000. He has over 120 publications in books, chapters, journal articles, and others, along with 200 podcasts related to counseling, counselor education, and faculty life. His technology interest led him to develop the counseling profession ‘firsts,’ including listservs, a web-based peer-reviewed journal, The Journal of Technology in Counseling, teaching and conferencing in virtual worlds as the founder of Counselor Education in Second Life, and podcast founder/producer of CounselorAudioSource.net and ThePodTalk.net. Currently, he produces a podcast about counseling and life questions, the Circular Firing Squad, and digital video interviews with legacies capturing the history of the counseling field. This is also co-host of The Vision ProFiles podcast. Generally, Marty is chasing the newest tech trends, which explains his interest in A.I. for teaching, research, and productivity. Marty is an active presenter and past president of the NorthEast Ohio Apple Corp (NEOAC).

Jim Rea built his own computer from scratch in 1975, started programming in 1977, and has been an independent Mac developer continuously since 1984. He is the founder of ProVUE Development, and the author of Panorama X, ProVUE's ultra fast RAM based database software for the macOS platform. He’s been a speaker at MacTech, MacWorld Expo and other industry conferences. Follow Jim at provue.com and via @[email protected] on Mastodon

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