Re: Rooms at WVU available

Andrei Smirnov wrote:

> WVU is convenient in location and in facilities, including
> presentation equipment Internet etc.

My greatest concern stems from our past history which clearly
demonstrated that not having a regular and reliable meeting place was a
recipe for disaster.  Most of the meetings we had between November, 2004
to January, 2005 focused on this reality as we became more aware that as
a group we had to adhere to certain steps that have made other LUGs
successful.  Having a regular meeting place at a regular time is one of
the most paramount steps.

In your previous letter, you already concern me because you mention you
won't be able to make arrangements on such and such a month.  Then there
is the real issue of what occurs to Morlugs scheduling if you relocate
or take on a different line of work outside WVU?  Will someone take over
the scheduling of rooms at WVU for MorLUG?  Will they be able to
maintain our last Wednesday of every month schedule (which we determined
through another lengthy process) at 7:00 p.m.  It's nice when people can
know that Morlug will be meeting at Morlug's established meeting place
at a set time and date, and the results already speak for themselves.


> WVU is appropriate because the ESB building, which I recommended
> hosts the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, as
> well as other departments with potential members for our group.
>
> Consider even such "conservative" department as mine (Mechanical and
> Aerospace), where only in my group we run 3 Linux clusters, and use
> Linux clusters at Pittsburgh Supercomputer center, NETL etc.
>
> In fact, we can attract a lot of attention to our meetings by posting
> fliers on all 8 floors of that buildings advertising Morlug, and the
> auditoriums are big enough to accommodate all the newcomers.


Flyers will attract attention to our meetings no matter where they are
held.  However again, past experience proves we quickly loose those
people when we have unpredictable times and places to meet.


> Now, if we want to help those folks, we can always do it on a voluntary
> basis, and it will look as a gesture of generosity and good will, rather
> than payment for the service of letting us use their place. I can envision
> a newspaper article "Morlug helping schools with computer networks", or
> something like that.


On the other hand, WVU may want to run a T1 or donate some projectors to
SRSH.  As a life-long citizen of Morgantown I'm aware of outsider groups
that the University has charged exorbitant fees for using their
facilities.


> No offense, but the current situation can be interpreted by outsiders,
> like we are a group of punks who were only allowed to meet in a remote
> location under the condition that we fix their equipment problems there.


I disagree with this statement completely.  We went through a long
process looking for a place to have meetings at and it was well
documented on this list.  SRSH was what we found, and by far the best
situation for an organization without a cash basis.  If anything, people
  I've talked to are very impressed that we have our meetings at SRSH
because it's a place with a long illustrious history.  SRSH is a
non-profit organization and it's not uncommon for small organizations to
sometimes acquire their own non-profit status through arrangements with
an established non-profit organization (I'm going to be talking more
about this in another thread).


> For me it is really less responsibility if we meet where we meet now, but
> I somehow became emotionally involved with this movement, and I think that
> we should make choices that will strengthen our position rather than
> weaken it.


At this point we are still in a critical state.  Entrusting our group to
a potential scheduling disaster is a reality I firmly discourage and
won't support.


Jonathan


> Andrei
>
> On Thu, 26 May 2005, Andrei Smirnov wrote:
>
>
>>Just to followup on my suggestion at the last meeting. I can offer to have
>>meetings at ESB (Engineering Sciences Building). There are plenty of rooms
>>available after 18:00. I can officially book a big one on the ground floor
>>- (60 people), soft chairs and wireless. But I will have to do some
>>negotiations.
>>
>>I can also offer access to ESB-355, which is a 40 persons
>>auditorium on 3rd floor. Hard chairs, but wireless access, and
>>multimedia projector if needed. I have a key to that room, and there
>>is no negotiation needed.
>>
>>For a small group meeting 4-6 persons I have a permanent access to our
>>computer lab in Engineering research Building: soft chairs, round table,
>>video-projection equipment, Apple box, local 192.168 network, wireless (no
>>DHCP, sorry).
>>
>>The only problem now is that I'll be out of town for the next two meetings
>>(end of June and July), However, I still can book those rooms and let
>>someone else from the group use them in my name. Or we may consider this
>>as an option starting with August.
>>
>>Sorry I did not come out with this suggestion earlier - I thought there
>>was some political reason to abandon WVU facilities and move to that place
>>we have now, so I did not bother to suggest.
>>
>>Andrei
>>
>>
>
>

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