On Thursday 04 November 2004 19:29, Aaron Seigo wrote: > the idea i've tossed out there is to have multiple tracks at each meeting.
We have at least 2, "divisions" in the group - advanced users, and newer users. Four, if you consider server versus desktop. So, how do we split the meetings to address these areas? Do we have 4 distinct sub-meetings, for each area? What about advanced desktop versus junior desktop topics? Does this mean we really have 8 potential groups? I think the only real way to handle this (and this is only my opinion - feel free to comment) is to try to do two (or more) presentations at each meeting. Each presentation would be for a different "division". However, the negative side of this is the time constraints. Can you really do a proper presentation on an advanced topic in 45-60 minutes? Can you cover a junior topic in enough detail for the newer users in that time? I think the answer to these questions is a resounding "depends". I realize a lot of this has to do with the topic being presented, and who the presenter is. But, we saw with the mini-presentations that it is very hard to stay within the time limits - especially for a topic the group finds interesting or has lots of questions on. An alternative to this was suggested last night - maybe do multiple meetings. I don't think this is a great idea because of the reasons discussed last night - mainly management/organization time to make it happen, and the added pressure on our supporters for the facilities. Also, if the topics were cleanly split between junior and advanced for these meetings, then the advanced users aren't likely to attend the junior meetings, thereby loosing out on the mentoring and knowledge sharing we currently have. Another alternative could be creating more targeted mailing lists. But I believe this would only solve a small part of the problem. To reiterate the point I tried to make last night - the problem is not one of getting presentations, but of WHAT presentation/topic do we cover and how do we do it, to allow newer users and advanced users alike feel that they are gaining something from the meetings. I'm very interested in the discussion of this topic, as I can easily see the same sort of issue coming up with the PROGSIG group. Do we target new programmers, or experienced programmers? I believe the discussion will offer some ideas that can be applied for PROGSIG as well. Shawn _______________________________________________ clug-talk mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) **Please remove these lines when replying
