One note about what we're discussing: when we talk about just doing the regional events (and I mean beyond 2017, which will be a special case if a host city can't step in), we need to realize that we have a lot of members who aren't in a Code4Lib region.
You might think I'm talking about Alaska, because that's where I lived when I first came to a Code4Lib conference. And that's certainly one place, along with Hawaii, that would be left out. But even living in Pittsburgh, I'm not in a Code4Lib region, that I can tell. Pittsburgh isn't in the midwest, and we also aren't part of the tri-state region that Philly's in. I'm employed (part-time/remote) in the DC/MD region, so if I can afford the drive and hotel, that's probably the one I'd pick right now. I guess? So, even landlocked in the continental US, it's possible not to have a region. More importantly, though: my understanding is that our international members are fairly spread out -- maybe Code4Lib Japan being an exception? -- so, even ignoring weird cases like Pittsburgh, we stand to lose some really fantastic contributors to our community if we drop to regional-only. Just something else to consider. - Coral On Thu, Jun 9, 2016 at 11:31 AM, Mark A. Matienzo <mark.matie...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Wed, Jun 8, 2016 at 6:40 AM, Eric Lease Morgan <emor...@nd.edu> wrote: > > > > > Hosting a local/regional meeting is not difficult and relatively > > inexpensive. > > > While I find the intent to make code4lib more "distributed" through > localized meetings, I find this statement incredibly belittling and > disingenuous. There are a number folks in the community who have organized > local, regional, national and international conferences. Some of the things > that you claim are important, and perhaps easy (space, "strong wifi", etc.) > can be quite difficult to obtain, even for small groups. > > Let’s forgo identifying a fiduciary for a while. What will they facilitate? > > The funding of a large meeting space in a “fancy” hotel? Is that really > > necessary when the same communication & sharing can be done on a smaller, > > lesser expensive, and more intimate scale? DIY. > > > Any of this organizing activity is a form of labor, and it's no wonder why > people get exhausted and sometimes burnt out by organizing conferences. I'm > all for DIY, but DIY is still labor and requires time, capital, and > emotional energy. > > So yes, let's provide more opportunities for people to get together at a > local level, but let's be honest about what it takes. > > Mark > > -- > Mark A. Matienzo <m...@matienzo.org> | http://anarchivi.st/ >
