Re: [activities] President's report, 2010-2011

The committee is always interested in venue offers. Please feel free to have
any interested groups approach us with details of what they can offer
On Apr 8, 2011 10:20 AM, "Samuel Marks" <[email protected]> wrote:
> If it was only a funding problem, then all you need is for the on-campus
> Computer Student-Group host the event, they get free room hire.
>
> They may also help advertise it, which will bring in a new dynamic of
> interested students
>
> On Fri, Apr 8, 2011 at 9:59 AM, James Polley <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> The rooms we'd previously allowed to use gratis were suddenly going to
cost
>> us hundreds of dollars a month.
>>
>> I wasn't around at the time either, but I believe thus was related to VSU
>> and the union suddenly needing to find alternate funding
>> On Apr 7, 2011 11:36 PM, "Samuel Marks" <[email protected]> wrote:
>> > Perhaps the business focus of SLUG should be changed back to a student
>> > focus... I wasn't part of SLUG when it was at UTS, so maybe someone can
>> > enlighten me as to why we moved (not that I don't like Google HQ, just
>> that
>> > our President wants more members...)
>> >
>> > On Thu, Apr 7, 2011 at 9:16 PM, James Polley <[email protected]> wrote:
>> >
>> >> President's Report 2010-2011 by Sridhar Dhanapalan
>> >>
>> >> Experimentation and minimalism have been the themes of the 2010-2011
>> >> period. We
>> >> started 2010 (prior to the 2010 AGM) by utilising the many rooms
>> available
>> >> to
>> >> us at Google to hold meetings with many streams at once; we ended in
>> early
>> >> 2011
>> >> by having simple brief meetings, with just one speaker followed by
>> >> socialising
>> >> in the pub.
>> >>
>> >> = Statistics =
>> >>
>> >> Prior to the 2011 AGM (ie, for the 2010 year), we had 34 financial
>> members.
>> >> This is around the same as a year ago, but represents just over 60% of
>> our
>> >> membership in 2009. Importantly, this number of financial members was
>> not
>> >> sufficient to meet our costs during 2011 financial year - but our
>> >> treasurer'sreport will cover this in more detail.
>> >>
>> >> Mailing lists (lists.slug.org.au) continue to be a major part of SLUG.
>> >> Compared to figures from the previous two years (in brackets), the
>> numbers
>> >> of
>> >> subscribers have been increasing, although the rate of change has
>> slowed:
>> >>
>> >> announce = 452 (402) (332)
>> >> slug = 787 (778) (732)
>> >> activities = 221 (210) (200)
>> >> slug-chat = 231 (227) (218)
>> >> coders = 190 (172) (155)
>> >>
>> >> Also important is the #slug IRC channel on Freenode.
>> >>
>> >> = Minimalism =
>> >>
>> >> To quote from my email announcing my candidacy for president over a
year
>> >> ago:
>> >>
>> >> I do believe there's a place for an organisation very much like SLUG,
I
>> >> just
>> >> don't think it makes any sense for that organisation to be called the
>> >> Sydney
>> >> Linux Users Group; nor do I feel that SLUG, as it currently exists,
>> >> adequately
>> >> serves the needs of the people I've just talked about. SLUG is slowly
>> >> dying a
>> >> natural death; I want to be President so I can help ease the
>> >> suffering and pain
>> >> and ensure that its death is swift, painless, and serves a purpose.
>> >>
>> >> Through the year I had discussions with many people in the community,
>> both
>> >> en
>> >> masse at meetings and in private. These discussions revealed a broad
>> >> consensus across several areas.
>> >>
>> >> Many people feel that SLUG could use more meetings - meetings with a
>> more
>> >> specific focus on more technical areas were mentioned; weekend daytime
>> >> social
>> >> events were suggested. However, no-one has yet stepped forward to run
>> any
>> >> of
>> >> these meetings...
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Another common theme was that the name SLUG should be retained.
>> >>
>> >> In discussing the differences between SLUG and other similar bodies
such
>> as
>> >> Linux Australia, there was consensus that SLUG's main differentiator
was
>> >> it's
>> >> focus on the local - it's a forum for people to meet local people with
>> >> similar
>> >> interests, for people looking for local jobs, and so on.
>> >>
>> >> Lastly, there was general agreement that the fact that our membership
>> >> numbers
>> >> aren't high enough to pay cover our expenses was a concern.
>> >>
>> >> To address all of these concerns, several motions were passed at the
EGM
>> >> held
>> >> immediately prior to the AGM. The committee will be approaching Linux
>> >> Australia
>> >> and asking them to take over the running of the regular Sydney
meetings,
>> >> and
>> >> then winding up and leaving the Sydney FOSS community in the hands of
>> Linux
>> >> Australia.
>> >>
>> >> = Conclusion =
>> >>
>> >> As one of the oldest Linux user groups in the world, the SLUG
community
>> has
>> >> shown a remarkable degree of persistence and adaptability. Hopefully
the
>> >> work
>> >> we've done over the last 12 months (and are doing over the next 12
>> months)
>> >> will
>> >> help the community to grow in size and strength.
>> >> --
>> >> SLUG Activities
>> >> Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Samuel Marks
>> >
>> > Degree: Bachelor of Information Technology
>> > Emphasis: Majoring in Software Technology
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Samuel Marks
>
> Degree: Bachelor of Information Technology
> Emphasis: Majoring in Software Technology

-- 
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