Future of BLUG WAS: Re: [lug] Re: New Meeting Place

[Nick Golder]

On 2007-05-04 13:08 -0600, Jeffrey Haemer wrote:
> Aaaaaaaargh.
> 
> Um.  I mean, "I respectfully disagree."

Good, then it's mutual.

> 
> If you just want to get together with other Linux geeks, show up at Hacking
> Society.  It's a highlight of my week.

So is HS more of an informal LUG?  I got a much different feeling from
the "What is it?" on the the HS site - that it would be OS agnostic
and more project oriented.

> 
> If we want to have meetings with speakers, we need speakers and a place for
> them to talk.
> 
> I got us a meeting space.  I could speak, too, but then it'd be the "Jeff
> Haemer Users Group," and I'm not all that interesting.  (Trust me on this
> one.)

Nice.  Is this a one time deal or more long-term.  Will we be needing an
access point, projector or anything else?

> 
> If no one's willing to speak, next Thursday, holding a meeting to discuss
> meetings is our path to process-oriented, euro-weenie, geezerhood.

I said a meeting to discuss the "future" of BLUG, not the "meetings" of
BLUG.  If meetings are all that the group sees as the future then you're
right, a meeting to discuss meetings is a waste.  But if you would like
to see more, like installfests, community outreaches, newbie sessions
and the like, then this transition of Chris handing the torch would be a
good time to pick a direction and start heading there.

I thought utilizing the time you arranged would be good to discuss this
(even if a speaker /could/ be found) for a few reasons - I know that
finding a meeting place is a PITA - the publicly available spaces at
the library and Boulder community centers need to be scheduled a bit
farther in advance - the larger companies are either out of Boulder or
need a company employee to register the space - and the smaller
companies I approached couldn't swing the liability/insurance issues
that the bigger companies can and that public places are mostly exempt 
from.

Another reason is for the same as to why there is the Kernel Summit, 
DebConf, OpenBSD Hackathon, etc. - it is often nice to attach a face 
to some work as well as hash things out in real-time.

Lastly, strike while the iron's hot.  As I said above, this is a good
time for BLUG, a community group ran by the community, to decide whether
to continue in the same direction or to take on a new heading.  I have
been apart of a few groups that came to a critical point like this and
have all but died with only a quiet ML remaining.  Most recently it was
AmesFUG.

> 
> "Who will help me make the bread?" says the Little Red Hen.

I am working on getting some speakers lined up.  Is there a calendar or
any way to handle speaker coordination?

> 
> On 5/4/07, Nick Golder <nrg at nirgo.net> wrote:
> >
> >If no speakers can be found, maybe this would be a good time for
> >"members" to discuss the future of BLUG.
> >


-- 
-Nick Golder