About DVPC...


What is a PC User Group?
From Windows to databases to web site development, whether you've had formal computer training or not, whether you use computers at work for a small business or a huge corporation, whether you're a student who wants to learn more about computers, or whether you are just a user who wants to meet with friends for sharing and learning from each other, user group members all have one thing in common – we enjoy working with our computers. We have a desire not just to learn more about that "mysterious" box we call a computer, but we have the desire to meet to learn and to share the knowledge we have with others. A PC User Group provides a place to meet and learn and share.




DVPC is a PC User Group
DVPC, the Diablo Valley PC Users Group, is the place for doing just that. We are the largest computer user group in Contra Costa County in the San Francisco East Bay area. DVPC members represent a wide variety of users, with ages that range from teenagers to our many valued retirees. We range in experience from PC novices to consultants and computer industry leaders, from simple users to power users to hardware and software designers. Our members use equipment that runs the full gambit from legacy systems to the latest and hottest Intel Pentium and AMD systems. So whatever your needs, interest, skills, age, or PC experience, DVPC is right for you!
Membership in DVPC is Contra Costa County's best bargain for computer users today. For just $30.00 annually (about the price of a twenty minutes with a computer technician) you can become a member of DVPC. Full time students can join for $20.00 annually.
Bring along your questions to a meeting and challenge our collective experience, someone has already been there and done that, and are eager to share the solution.
Since we represent lots of PC users we get a steady supply of top notch software & hardware vendors who show us their latest and greatest products. And, to show their appreciation, they usually generously donate valuable products for our raffle and often offer discounts on their products. If you attend meetings on a regular basis you may walk out with prizes of top rated products worth hundreds of dollars. And as a member you'll get your first raffle ticket free each time you attend a meeting.
We also get nice discounts at major area computer retailers, not to mention the fantastic deals at our auctions, and at our Networking Table.
Members receive a notification email message with a password so they can access the current month's issue of Diablo Blue, our monthly web-based newsletter. Each issue is packed with articles of general interest, tips and tricks, columns by DVPC members, articles from other user group's newsletters, articles by well-known columnists like Steve Bass, and often comes spiced with side-splitting computer humor.
Our meetings are casual, and our members are a fun-loving lot that ask questions about their computer hardware and software and are happy to share tips, techniques, and ideas for spirited discussion.
DVPC has a number of SIGs, Special Interest Groups that meet regularly to share specialized areas of interest.
We hold our main monthly meeting on the first Thursday of every month at 7:00 p.m. Meetings are open to the public – you don't have to be a DVPC member to attend. But we hope you will join DVPC so you can gain access to the current month's issue of the Diablo Blue newsletter, raffle tickets, and SIG meetings.

How to Join
DVPC annual dues are only $30/year with access to the current month's issue of our on-line web-based monthly newsletter, Diablo Blue, and only $20/year for full time students.
To join DVPC, fill out a Membership Application and mail it with your check to DVPC, or bring it to one of our monthly meetings that are held on the first Thursday of each month.

Where and When We Meet
Our monthly meetings are held on the first Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at Diablo Valley College In Pleasant Hill, California. The Main Campus is located at 321 Golf Club Road. Until further notice we will meet in Humanities Building room H107, marked in red on the detailed and campus maps below. NOTE: This is the new meeting room we'll be using from September, 2009 through June, 2010.

Driving Directions (scroll down for maps):
680 Northbound: 
Exit at Willow Pass Road
At the end of the exit ramp turn left onto Willow Pass Road  
Continue on Willow Pass Road to the second signal and
turn right onto Contra Costa Blvd.

680 Southbound: 
Exit at Concord Ave.
At the end of the exit ramp turn left on Contra Costa Blvd.  

Direction into the Campus:
Continue on Contra Costa Blvd. to the signal at Golf Club Road and turn into Golf Club Road. At the left turn just past the traffic signal at Old Quarry Road turn left into the campus, then immediately turn right. Turn left into lot 7. Park (but don't use parking spaces that are reserved for faculty and staff only), then purchase a daily parking permit (see Parking Fees below) and put it on your dashboard. Click on these links to see:
> a detailed DVC map showing parking and our meeting room
> a map for driving to DVC
> an aerial view of the DVC campus
or scroll down to see these maps.

Finding Your Way:
There's a lot of construction going on at DVC. To prevent confusion, for parking and to get to our meeting room follow this detailed map to Humanities building H marked below in blue, enter the building, and go to room H109 where the DVPC meetings are held.

Parking fees:
On the Pleasant Hill campus parking permits are $2.00 per day for short-term parking. You can purchase permits at the parking permit machines marked with a red star on the maps above and below. NOTE: Diablo Valley College has replaced all of the old coin-only parking permit dispensers to new models that take dollar bills as well as nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollar coins, and will at some time in the future take credit cards. No longer do you have to have a collection of eight quarters to buy your parking permit! Note that these parking permit dispensers do not make change. DVC parking permits are required Monday through Friday at all times that classes are in session. That includes the times that DVPC meetings are held! Do not park in metered or faculty/staff spaces.
You need to purchase a parking permit and place it face up on your dashboard so it is clearly visible through the windshield. If you attend classes at DVC and have a campus parking permit, you can use it when you attend DVPC meetings.

Parking violations:
Be sure to purchase a parking permit! Fines range from $35 for parking in a regular space without a permit, to over $275 for illegally parking in a space reserved for the handicapped.

Parking alternatives:
Some members carpool and share the parking fee; they park at Sun Valley Mall, have dinner at one of the many restaurants in the mall, then take one car to the meeting. Some members park in the lots in front of College Park High School, which is across Viking Drive at the south side of the DVC campus. Remember: if you decide to use any of these parking alternatives, you do so at your own risk!