Hello,
I'm writing to propose a Flash CS4 study group; I am volunteering to coordinate the group. I want to discuss starting a study group in an effort to study towards certification in Flash CS4. I would propose that we have an organization meeting on Monday, May 18th. (details to be discussed)

Purpose:
     a. to help people who are relatively new to Flash to create their first animations.
     b. To offer a place where people at all levels can present a project that they're working on, ask questions, and get input from others.

Proposed format:
     - A two hour meeting, held once a month.
     - 60 minutes per topic, followed by presentation of a member’s project, longer if there is enough time.
Emphasis will be on a weekly topic – based on weekly reading. All members will participate in one of the weekly presentations. The group emphasis will be helping the person presenting their topic, rather than on the presenter sharing their expertise with the group. (you are not expected to be an expert)  All will be able to participate.

Why is this needed?
     There are a lot of resources available for people learning to program Flash.  But when you're first learning to animate and/or use actionscript, group study often makes the difference between repeatedly getting stuck and frustrated, and being able to move forward, continuing to learn, and gain experience in a reasonably efficient manner. Perhaps even go for Adobe certification in Flash. I'm hoping that this group can help to make learning Flash easier.
At this point I feel that I have enough experience with Flash to be helpful to novices. On the other hand, I'd love some mentoring on more advanced issues. So I think that I could act as an anchor for the group, but would very much welcome the involvement of others with more Flash experience. 

     I envision this group as helping people with all steps in the Flash application development lifecycle, from writing specs to selecting/designing an animation, to writing the code.
     The group will have an open process with participants encouraged to post specs, code, finished apps on the group's web space. Given such an open format, the group will probably be most appropriate for personal practice/demonstrations. 
I'm particularly interested in helping novices to create their first practice/demo projects.
Please respond on the Adobe Boston User Group Discussion area (http://groups.adobe.com/groups/babffa7798/summary) if you're interested, or feel free to call me at 978.251.7844 if you'd like to discuss this in person.

Thanks,
Charles Linskey