\title{A foreigner's impressions of \ukt}
\author[Ulrich Jahnze]{Ulrich Jahnze\\\texttt{ulrich\_jahnz@pe.maus.de}}

\begin{Article}
  \noindent I have been interested in \LaTeX{} for the past several years and I
  usually just \emph{use} it and do not try to write fancy styles or
  macros.  Nevertheless I was very pleased to get an invitation to
  participate in the 1994 \ukt\ AGM at the University of Warwick.
  Though the meeting was not very well attended, it was still
  a worthwhile day for me. During the first part of this meeting
  the members of the group tried to find solutions for several
  administrative problems, and though most of them have been working
  together for the last decade, nobody tried to push things through
  and instead constructive criticism led to solutions everybody could
  agree with. The whole atmosphere was very friendly. During the
  afternoon several talks were given on various topics and, again,
  though many controversial points occurred, the people tried to work
  \emph{together}. But is all this the main reason, why for me this
  trip was worthwhile? No! The most important thing for me is, to
  \emph{see} those people. Almost everytime I buy a book, it has a
  short biography and a picture of the author in the beginning. If
  you compare how much time you spend reading one book to the time
  you work with all those nice programs and styles, I always ask
  myself, what are these people like as human beings.

Drawing a conclusion for me, the main reason to join in local TUGs and
to attend meetings is not in the first instance to hear new things but
to see those people, who are concerned about bringing \LaTeX{} and
\TeX{} further. For those who cannot attend any meetings it would be a
good idea to put at least a little picture of the author into the main
articles in \ukt's brilliant \BV, which on its own is a
product that makes joining the \ukt\ worthwhile. Since I had the
opportunity to attend this meeting I can only suggest to everybody
else to do the same and see ``them'' live. Before I finish I just want
to thank especially Malcolm for his kindness and all his efforts!

\end{Article}
