Re: Future Meetings (Future of MorLUG)

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I know this is kinda long...but please stick through it:

First off...I'm no leader.  There's no secret in that.  I readily  
accept and agree with all criticisms of my leadership ability.  It  
just so happens that at the time I was the only candidate.  I will  
say that the things I have done for the organization, although  
perhaps inadequate, I've done on my own.

Which leads me to my second point...for the last meeting I posted  
flyers all over the place on the downtown campus, Evansdale, towers,  
mountainlair, etc. and there was next to no response.  I sent notices  
to the DA and U92 as well, but I don't think they were ever posted or  
announced.  We had 2 new members at the meeting...bringing total  
meeting attendance to 7 or so.  People aren't breaking down the doors  
to go to a LUG meeting.  Maybe its group's history of talking more  
about the group itself than what we're actually interested in (of  
which I am completely guilty in this email).

On to meetings...to me, meetings always seemed more fun when they  
were social gatherings instead of "planned talks."  I do enjoy the  
talks, but I admit to thinking "BW3?" during a talk sometimes.  We're  
computer people, after all...I think we have better ways to  
communicate information than going to a meeting and taking notes with  
pencil and paper.  Instead of having a meeting on security, post it  
to the wiki and announce it on the mailing list.  Use the talk page  
and IRC channel to discuss.  This is what eventually happens to  
information that is presented in meetings anyway...cut out the middle  
man.  There's no harm in asking on the list or IRC, "hey mdh, could  
you post some basic security info" or, "hey derek...what's the best  
way to get started with rails."  I'd be excited to comply to such a  
request.  Nobody really wants to take the time out of their busy  
lives to think up the stuff to fill an hour and a half talk to a  
crowd of 5.

The purpose of a LUG is of course to discuss, support, and educate.   
I think the best forum for this is not in a meeting but with the  
other resources we already have in place: wiki, IRC, mailing list.   
As I am typing this there is an active thread on the mailing list  
about IRC access at WVU.  THIS is what MorLUG should be about.   
There's no lack of willingness to discuss, support, and educate, but  
people are still apprehensive or too busy to come to structured  
meetings.

The Plan:
--Let MorLUG be a freeform, dynamic group of people that share a  
common interest.  No president, no secretary, no sponsor, no  
obligations.
--Don't judge our success by turnout at gatherings, but by how much  
we can help each other and how much fun we can have when we're not  
being "on-topic." (Put us together and we're bound to be "on-topic"  
anyway)
--Don't plan regularly scheduled meetings.  Wouldn't it be nice to  
think, "hey...I wonder what's going on with those MorLUG guys.  Maybe  
I'll post to the list and see if anybody wants to grab something to  
eat Tuesday night...or go bowling."  I think the scheduled meetings  
preclude impromptu gatherings.  I highly encourage having as many  
gatherings as we feel like.  Let us be our own calendar of events.   
Let us have gatherings that make people actually WANT to logout of  
Warcraft and leave the house.  (I refer to myself, but similar  
situations may apply to others)
--Don't bother with installfests or any other special gathering until  
we have some feeling that there is a real desire for it.  (Let's not  
try to create our own demand...poll for interest every now and then  
and we'll go from there if the interest exists)
--If we want to advertise (and I think we should), let us advertise  
the group's existence and resources.  Let's not advertise meetings  
just to see more attendance.

To sum it up: let's the group's collective (unleaded, unelected, non- 
debated) will take the group forward.

I challenge everyone on the list to do this: If you have an ounce of  
interest in GNU/Linux, free source, etc then download an IRC client  
and hop in the MorLUG IRC channel.  If for nothing else but to shoot  
the shit.  I haven't been in there lately and I'm going out of town  
this weekend, but I guarantee I'll be in there when I'm available.   
The life of the group is not a monthly reservation in Hodges Hall,  
but ourselves.  If we want the group to be active, then each of us  
needs to be active.

Craig Schiffbauer
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