SANDS History
The Early SDSUG Years: 1983-1985
From Founder Kirk Lafler, March 6, 2012:
"SANDS began with a 2-day meeting in 1983. Of course, our user group wasn't called SANDS back then. I think it was called the San Diego SAS Users Group (SDSUG). The announcement of our first 2-day meeting appeared in the September 12, 1983 issue of Computerworld. A colleague, Kim Trif, and I organized our inaugural meeting on September 19-20, 1983 at the Rib Cage Hotel across from the Sands Hotel. The meeting began with brief introductions from approximately 20 attendees (most I've lost contact with many years ago), and I delivered several presentations (beginning, intermediate, and advanced topics). One of my objectives was to establish a core group of users to form an executive committee and to have at least two meetings a year. We had discussions about the goals for a user group, but many attendees didn't have time to devote to such an endeavor. Unfortunately, only two users became somewhat involved while putting me in charge. Our group had a couple more meetings -- one in 1984 and a second in 1985. Unlike now, we didn't have many SAS users or organizations using SAS. Ultimately, due to lack of involvement from users the group stopped meeting from 1986 - 1995."
"SANDS began with a 2-day meeting in 1983. Of course, our user group wasn't called SANDS back then. I think it was called the San Diego SAS Users Group (SDSUG). The announcement of our first 2-day meeting appeared in the September 12, 1983 issue of Computerworld. A colleague, Kim Trif, and I organized our inaugural meeting on September 19-20, 1983 at the Rib Cage Hotel across from the Sands Hotel. The meeting began with brief introductions from approximately 20 attendees (most I've lost contact with many years ago), and I delivered several presentations (beginning, intermediate, and advanced topics). One of my objectives was to establish a core group of users to form an executive committee and to have at least two meetings a year. We had discussions about the goals for a user group, but many attendees didn't have time to devote to such an endeavor. Unfortunately, only two users became somewhat involved while putting me in charge. Our group had a couple more meetings -- one in 1984 and a second in 1985. Unlike now, we didn't have many SAS users or organizations using SAS. Ultimately, due to lack of involvement from users the group stopped meeting from 1986 - 1995."
The SCSUG Years: 1986-1995
From Kirk Lafler, March 6, 2012:
"From 1986, I became involved with many other SAS user groups including BASAS and the Southern California SAS Users Group (SCSUG), which included the San Diego area, a group Charlie Shipp started. SCSUG had many established SAS organizations and SAS users to draw from which helped with the establishment of a solid executive committee. From 1989 to 1993, I became the President of SCSUG and we generally held 3 meetings per year. During this period we had as many as 300-plus users attend our SCSUG meetings. I'd usually rent space at a DisneyLand Hotel in Anaheim for our meetings and we'd have several presenters present for a half-day of interesting topics. Art Carpenter was elected President of SCSUG at the end of my 4-year term."
"From 1986, I became involved with many other SAS user groups including BASAS and the Southern California SAS Users Group (SCSUG), which included the San Diego area, a group Charlie Shipp started. SCSUG had many established SAS organizations and SAS users to draw from which helped with the establishment of a solid executive committee. From 1989 to 1993, I became the President of SCSUG and we generally held 3 meetings per year. During this period we had as many as 300-plus users attend our SCSUG meetings. I'd usually rent space at a DisneyLand Hotel in Anaheim for our meetings and we'd have several presenters present for a half-day of interesting topics. Art Carpenter was elected President of SCSUG at the end of my 4-year term."
SDSUG - The Second Time Around: 1995-1999
From Kirk Lafler, March 6, 2012:
"During 1995 and 1996, I knew I wanted to try to resurrect SDSUG, so I contacted a colleague, Roger Glaser. Roger and I would meet regularly to discuss how we could resurrect SDSUG because I still believed that a user group specifically for San Diego would be beneficial to our growing number of SAS users. Roger and I finally drafted and implemented a plan in 1997. We called a meeting of known San Diego SAS users together, including Roger, Art Carpenter, Charlie Shipp, Clarke Roberts, and me. It was decided that Roger would become the acting President, and Art, Charlie, and I would become part of the Executive Committee, along with a couple of other local SAS users. With an active and involved Executive Committee, it was much easier the second time around because we had a solid core of users, and SAS Institute provided some assistance and support. In 1999, Roger passed away, and Art was elected President shortly thereafter. SDSUG, sometime in 1999 or 2000, made the name change from SDSUG to SANDS."
From Art Carpenter, March 6, 2012:
"I gave up the lead of the southern CA group, SCSUG, the year that I chaired the WUSS conference in 1995. Unfortunately, that group faded after that. As Kirk pointed out, it was not too long after the '95 WUSS conference that I joined the leadership of SANDS. It was great working with everyone connected with SANDS for so very long. I do miss all of you that are SANDS."
"During 1995 and 1996, I knew I wanted to try to resurrect SDSUG, so I contacted a colleague, Roger Glaser. Roger and I would meet regularly to discuss how we could resurrect SDSUG because I still believed that a user group specifically for San Diego would be beneficial to our growing number of SAS users. Roger and I finally drafted and implemented a plan in 1997. We called a meeting of known San Diego SAS users together, including Roger, Art Carpenter, Charlie Shipp, Clarke Roberts, and me. It was decided that Roger would become the acting President, and Art, Charlie, and I would become part of the Executive Committee, along with a couple of other local SAS users. With an active and involved Executive Committee, it was much easier the second time around because we had a solid core of users, and SAS Institute provided some assistance and support. In 1999, Roger passed away, and Art was elected President shortly thereafter. SDSUG, sometime in 1999 or 2000, made the name change from SDSUG to SANDS."
From Art Carpenter, March 6, 2012:
"I gave up the lead of the southern CA group, SCSUG, the year that I chaired the WUSS conference in 1995. Unfortunately, that group faded after that. As Kirk pointed out, it was not too long after the '95 WUSS conference that I joined the leadership of SANDS. It was great working with everyone connected with SANDS for so very long. I do miss all of you that are SANDS."
