Meetings' Structure was: How is ITEC going?

[Seth Dimbert]

First of all, thank you to Steve Elling for bringing this issue up. I didn't
want to mention it, but it's been on my mind since my first meeting.

For the sake of the issue, here's "One New LUGNut's Story:"

I'm the tech-geek at work. I shot off my mouth at a meeting and said that we
needed an internal web server and that we could recycle an old machine with
Linux for free. Everyone looked at me for a moment and dared me to put my
money where my mouth was.

So, after trying (unsuccessfully) to download iso's, I broke down and bought
a copy of RedHat 7.2 and installed it (sans GUI) on an unused Win95 box.
When I registered it, I found a website about Local LUGs and followed the KC
link and found this illustrious group.

My first impression? Someone has already said it: "I think we need to look
less like a bunch of guys setting around and talking." I described to
someone at my office in this way: "Imagine a group of very, very
knowledgeable people getting together to have a meeting about an arcane form
of sorcery. Now subtract organization and agenda. That's it."

No offense, but - from an outsider's perspective - the meetings are not very
valuable.

I've been to two. During my first, I sat and waited until someone pitied me
and explained that, "This is all that we do. We sit and talk." I sat for a
few more minutes chatting with someone (I never did get his name) then left.
Early. 

I returned for an install-fest with an old PC in tow. Hal spent about 90
minutes trying to help me and we finally gave up. Some of you may remember
me - I'm the Jewish guy in the skullcap.

The point of all of this narration is to - in short - support the motion for
more organization at meetings. While I don't think that the group requires a
board, I do think that some forethought and organization would allow us to
capitalize on the increased numbers we're sure to see at the next meeting or
two, thanks to ITEC. (Of course, if we don't take action, those new members
will, like me, probably stop coming to meetings.)

As a suggestion, I look to MacCore, a local Macintosh UG whose meetings I
periodically attend.

1) Each meeting begins with a "Meeting Before the Meeting" for newbies. They
call it their New Member SIG (Special Interest Group). Newbies are welcomed
and someone tasked with that function helps to make them feel comfortable,
answer FAQ's, collect questions they want answered, etc.

2) Each meeting features a speaker with a specific topic.

3) Each meeting features a demonstration of some piece of software (not
necessarily connected to the speaker).

4) Four times a year, the group gives away a CD-ROM full of software demos
and, at the meeting at which they're distributed, someone demo's the
software on the CD.

In my mind, instead of a 3-hour shmooze, a meeting could look like this:

6:30 - 7:00 Newbie SIG
7:00 - 7:20 Welcome, Linux News, Group News, etc
7:20 - 8:00 Featured Speaker
8:00 - 8:30 Software Demo
8:30 - ??? Organized Q&A followed by Informal Discussion

Whew. Sorry about the length of the post.

I'm done.

-SD

On 10/12/02 2:24 PM, "Jim Herrmann" <JimH at ItDepends.com> wrote:

> On Saturday 12 October 2002 02:14 pm, Robert Kennedy wrote:
>>> growing enough that more structure is warranted.  I
>>> think the "Installfest" and "Demoday" concepts are
>>> out dated.
>> 
>> Don't know about that. More newbies means more people
>> wanting to install duel boot machines and/or get Linux
>> to run on unusual hardware.
> 
> Good point.  I'm just saying that the original concept of an Installfest,
> where you have lots of people coming to install is out dated.  I would never
> suggest that if someone brings in a machine that we fail to assist that
> person.  That just doesn't need to be the whole group.
> 
> Thanks for the input.  Let's keep it going.  :-)
> 
> Peace,
> Jim Herrmann
> 
> 
> 
> 
>