In this Issue:
NEW MEETINGS | WHAT YOU MISSED | SWAN NOTES | NEW MEMBERS | CREDITS
What is the internet? How do you use it? How much can you benefit from it?
There are now 30 million internet users in 40 countries. You'll hear why at the SWAN kick-off meeting for 1996, to be held January 17 at the Bergen Museum at 7:30 p.m.
Member Bill Cross, a sysop (you'll find out what that is) for Compuserve, will lead a discussion on various on-line services. He will be joined by Phil Patton, a contributing writer for Wired magazine, who will offer an overview of the internet, including what software you'll need and how to connect.
Are you interested in setting up a Home Page? This may be an area where SWAN writers and designers can exchange services. At the meeting, you'll learn what's involved and how to set one up.
What new tax legislation on the state and federal level affects free lance people? For example, it may be slightly easier to qualify for a home office deduction. You'll find out about these and other tax developments at the SWAN meeting on February 21 at 7:30 in the Museum.
Alyssa Lebovic will again update entrepreneurs on how to plan for the 1996 tax year and how to file for the 1995 tax year. Bring your questions. You'll get practical answers.
Do you work under a contract? Do you work on the client's site or at home? Does the client provide you with work materials and tell you your working hours?
These are questions the State of New Jersey will ask in determining if you are an independent free-lancer or a contract employee. The answers will affect employers directly and you indirectly. For one thing, they affect Social Security and unemployment insurance payments due from your employer.
Karen Siletti will lead a discussion on this hot topic in the stateÍs tax division. If you work on contract or on site, or plan to, you should attend this meeting on March 20 at 7:30 in the Bergen Museum.
The privacy issue and the insecurity of the internet were called the "dark side" of the digital domain by attorneys Charles Merrill and Robert Smith at the October SWAN meeting. The McCarter & English lawyers addressed nearly 100 members and guests.
After Smith reviewed the definitions and differences between patents, copyrights, trade secrets, and trademarks, and the means to safeguard them, Merrill discussed the ways networked computers are changing society. "The new on-line environment for making money raises concerns for the creative entrepreneur," he said.
Using e-mail as an example, he noted that a signed document is enforceable if there is an "intent to sign" and it can be proved it came form a given person. Microsoft and others are incorporating a public key cryptosystem that allows "robust" security on the internet, he said. It consists of a "key pair" for both sender and recipient: a private key kept secret and never transmitted and a public key that is widely publicized.
For the writer, illustrator, or graphic designer, any text or image can be "locked" with the same public key cryptography. Netscape, Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), and others offer software that allows viewing, but not copying any downloaded document. -Steve Traiman
Will you be able to support yourself during retirement at the level you are accustomed to? If you plan to retire at age 60, the average age today, you will need funds to cover a life expectancy of 20 to 30 more years.
Patricia Jorgen a financial consultant at Merrill Lynch, Paramus, advised freelance people at SWAN's November meeting of the financial planning they need to do. For example, a $2,000 investment in an IRA each year, if re-invested with a return of 8 percent, would grow slowly, becoming $12,700 in five years, $31,300 in 10 years, $98,800 in 20 years, and $244,700 in 30 years.
With no corporate pension to draw on, and Social Security benefits now less certain, independent entrepreneurs need a minimum nest egg in order to prepare for their future. Jorgen suggested they take this challenge seriously, and that in the long run common stocks offer the best answer to inflation.
SWAN has been invited to propose one or more programs for entrepreneurs for a new series to be held at the new Barnes & Noble superstore on Route 17 South, Ridgewood. If you would like to offer a program that would be of interested to all types of businesses, please contact Patti Gandolfini.
Winter is around the corner. If snow, ice, or sleet makes you worry whether the next SWAN meeting is going to happen, call the SWAN HOTLINE at (201) 967-1313. The voice-mail system will tell you whether the meeting has been called off.
Members may wish to note that there will be no SWAN elections this year. The new by-laws passed in the spring of 1995 designates two-year terms for all board members. The next election will be held at the end of 1996.
Watercolors and pastels by illustrator Paulette Cochet were on exhibit for one month through December 21 at the Mary Poulos Gallery, Paramus.
The photographs of writer Bob Parker, and the monoprints of his wife Margot Parker, were on exhibit at Montclair Community Hospital in the month of December.
The following art is on exhibit at the Bergen Museum, site of SWAN meetings. o Paintings by Martin Lasker, January 18 to February 18.
"Curator as Artist/Artist as Curator," the work of 21 area curators, through Feb. 26th. A symposium on the curatorial process will be held on Feb. 1st at 7:30 pm.
The new look for Cygneture, the SWAN newsletter, was created by designer Carrie Oesmann.
Welcome to the following final three new SWAN members for 1995:
Veronica Maldonado-Lucas, designer
414 High Street
Closter, NJ 07624
Tel: (201) 784-8571
Associate member:
Dean Cole, illustrator
336 Hoover Avenue
Bloomfield, NJ 07003
Tel: (201) 429-8770
Copyright © 1996 Cygneture
SWAN seeks news about members and their achievements.
EDITOR: Bob Parker
STAFF WRITERS:
Kathy Fairclough
Cindy Mehallow
Luisa Frey-Gaynor
Printed Newsletter Graphic Design: Carrie Oesmann
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