On 10/11/05, Ted Roche <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Point of protocol: should we plan on NOT holding regular chapter > meetings that month?
My current, personal opinions: 1. I like the idea of holding occasional state-wide meetings for exceptionally valuable speakers/presentations. 1. a. I like "state-wide" rather then "quarterly" as it better describes what the differentiation is. The distinguishing characteristic here is that the events are special and big and such. The idea of 4/year is incidental. This also allows more flexible scheduling. Having 4/year may not be the ideal. Spacing them out into 3 month periods may not be ideal. 2. I am currently in favor of superseding local meetings in the month of a state-wide meeting. If a state-wide meeting really is a big deal (which would usually translate as a "special" speaker), we should make an effort to encourage all to make the trip. We don't want to "compete" with ourselves, so to speak. It would be poor form indeed to have Mr. Bigshot speak to only five people because everyone else went to the regular bar last week instead. 2. a. If the speaker/presentation isn't a "big deal", or is easily repeatable, etc., then it shouldn't be "big deal meeting". The idea here is unusual value. If we don't have topics of unusual value all the time, that's not a bad thing. Local speakers are fine, too. In other words, we shouldn't have a state-wide meeting and make a big deal about it unless we actually have something worth making a big deal about. (This goes back to 1a; "quarterly" implies an obligation to have one every three months, even if the only topic available is "Introduction to 'cat'".) 2. b. I am only in favor of this if we can provide good advanced notice. I'm thinking a minimum of the prior two months worth of meetings. That way, at the start/end of those meetings, the coordinator can announce that "In $MONTH, instead of our regular meeting, we're having a state-wide meeting on $DATE at $PLACE, about $TOPIC." Two months of advance notice (plus website, email, etc.) should get the word out to all regulars. 2. b. i. Since we obviously don''t have the time for advanced notice in this case, none of this applies to this current presentation. 2. c. If the majority of us can't stand the thought of leaving their locality for a state-wide meeting, we probably should forget the idea of state-wide meetings. No sense doing something if nobody wants it. 2. c. i. There is absolutely nothing preventing people from going to local meetings, after all. If state-wide meetings are not to be, a local group can still have Mr. Bigshot and invite everyone else. 3. I reserve the right to change my mind about any or all of this. I've had plenty of dumb ideas before. :) > I'd like to hear from all on (1) the advantages > (don't have to plan meeting) and 92) disadvantages ... What happened to questions 2 through 91? ;-) > ... how that has worked in the past. In the past, I think it's gone both ways. We've had "big" meetings that were well-attended and displaced some of the local meetings. We've had "big" meetings that did not have the turn-out hoped for. And while my memory is fuzzy on this point, I think we've had well-attended meetings that did *not* displace local meetings. The biggest factor in attendance appears to be interest in the topic. When I spoke on security in Nashua a few years ago, I was surprised at all the people who showed up. Apparently, security is a hot button (no surprise). Linus in 199[56] drew the biggest crowd I've ever seen at a GNHLUG event (again, no surprise). Likewise, the "101 fun things to do with grep" topics appear to draw fewer people. I think the second biggest factor is advanced notice. Again, no surprise. Unfortunately, it's already late for truly advanced notice for 3 Nov. Still, we should do what we can. We should send to the -announce@ list ASAP. I'll update the website. > Further, Ben volunteered to present DNS two weeks later and we > already bumped him from October. Well, I was never scheduled for Oct in the first place, so I wasn't bumped. :) And I certainly won't object to having extra time to prepare. And I kinda doubt anyone was *so* looking forward to a presentation on DNS that they can't wait another month or two. :) -- Ben "Rambling" Scott _______________________________________________ gnhlug-org mailing list [email protected] http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-org
