Kin, It sounds good to me. I would come to try to get the record as the nube with the best attendence and the dumbest questions.
On the logistic side, a provided lunch sounds attractive but might be hard to get permission for and to supply. Maybe free coffee & donuts would be eaaier to do. Robin On Dec 6, 2007 1:07 PM, Kin Wong <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Had a brief discussion at last nights meeting on the purpose of CLUG, > getting more membership, get people more active, getting more people out to > the meetings, Installfest and COSSFEST. > > Background > COSSFEST is a huge undertaking which can zap you of energy for a couple of > months. It has always been technically successful but we have always lacked > both the time and avenue to promote the event. The intro track has always > been almost an after thought. (For a nube, enough to get started but not > functional.) > > InstallFest is not as a big undertaking but the attendance can vary from a > few knowledgeable faces to a healthy group of Linux explorers. The outcome > is a gamble. (For a nube, not enough to even to get started.) > > General meetings - we have had dwindling numbers for years now and we face > losing the gurus in the group if there isn't anything for them. We won't > get new blood unless there is something for the nubes. > > Analysis > Draw yourself a pyramid with the nubes at the base and the gurus at the > top. That means for some of us mere mortals, we are somewhere in the > middle. If you are attending the regular meetings then you are probably > interested in bring out people like Mad Dog, Linus, Aaron, etc. We can only > do so if the base of the pyramid is health. By focusing on what we can > provide to the general public, we will be able to more for the balance of > the pyramid. > > Proposal > Change the face of InstallFest so that there is more structure. Instead > of just dropping by and having the techies sit around all day - have 5*1.5hr > talks. Why use Linux and Open Source, installation of Linux, how to > print and play multimedia (including codecs), etc. The whole idea is that > the techs are only up for a couple of hours at a time, the subject matter is > more or less standardize so that we are saying roughly the same thing, the > topics are repetitive so that you don't need a huge amount of time for > preparation and the whole thing is transferable - someone with peripheral > knowledge would still be able to give the presentation in a pinch. > > Charge a price of $15-$20 - not to make money but to have commitment from > people who what to attend (nothing worse than to throw a party and have no > one come - also a waste of good talent). Provide lunch and a t-shirt (good > advertising for the group). > > Minimize on administration - other than getting the ball rolling and > determining content, there is little funding required, no large hall to > book, just pick a date and roll with it. We can start small - maybe 4 days > in a year and build up to once a month. Devry would be an ideal location > with free parking. A single room would not be a logistical issue. Topics > can be changed out to make things interesting. > > Promotion is the bane of pulling off an event, especially when you don't > have endless amounts of money. But you don't have to have a lot of money, > just energy. For the size of CLUG, if members are willing to spend even > 5-10 minutes of their normal schedule to post a poster in their office, > school, library it would go a long ways. But we need to know way in advance > what we want to do and when. > > We also have to have mini-events that feed into InstallFest and > InstallFest to COSSFEST. Tag along on not-for profits that have great > coverage like the Calgary Public Library and do free one hour presentations > on topics like Gimp, Open Office, etc. 1 in 10 will come to a InstallFest. > 2 in 10 will come to our regular meetings. 4 in 10 will come out to > COSSFEST. Another promotional opportunity is the Chamber of Commerce > breakfast meetings for small business or the not for profit societies of > which many are in a single building downtown. > > This has been brewing in my mind for a while now and since COSSFEST is > over and I had a bit of time to think, I know this is doable. Election > platform - not really, I am considering not continuing on the exec (it isn't > allot of hard work, but personally it takes too much time and not delivering > the satisfaction of what I like to see in the community). Am I committed to > Linux and Open Source -- yes, but as usual looking for the bang for the buck > whether it is money or time. > > I am sincerely hoping that people will jump on this thread and help flush > this out. Is it the absolutely the solution - no, anything can be improved > upon. I neither think that I am the smartest in the group nor the dumbest, > but like many have the heart in the right place but still failing to find an > avenue to turn it into something better. > > For all of you that are looking at what's in it for me - absolutely > nothing if that is the first thought and everything if it is successful. > Informing begets adopters, adopters begets evangelists, evangelists begets > decision makers -- all of which creates a better environment for both the > community, the environment and CLUG. Like I have said to some of you > before, it doesn't change things in my working lifetime, it will be a start > in the right direction for my kids. > > Regards, > > Kin > > _______________________________________________ > 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 >
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