Star wrote: > (take two: the first version of this e-mail was 10 pages of > reminiscing and whining)
Thanks for taking the time to respond twice :) > Maybe it's time to start expanding the scope of the LUG meetings and > even the GNHLUG site to include more information for the every-day > user. I agree that our models of what people need constantly get outmoded. I'd welcome suggestions. > First thoughts for some topics that ~may~ get some wider audience: > > More workshops and tutorials. Speakers on advanced topics are great! > But you can take a head-count and see that the really advance topics > aren't all that main-stream. How about some more episodes such as the > presentation on GIMP a few months back (bad memory as to who and > when). Máirín Duffy, May 17th, Nashua. The "PastEvents" wiki topic knows all. I'll bet Máirín would be willing to come back if we could give her a clearly defined topic. Talk with Heather about that. > How about some workshops on using FOSS tools for publishing > websites, or production of music or video. Excellent. I think we're going that way. Máirín did GIMP, Jarod Wilson did MythTV, and Christoph Doerbeck did video editing. What else would you like to see? Anyone know a musician or sound engineer using FOSS tools? > Maybe a go or two at some > Idiot guides to developing software on Linux. No so much on the > languages but on the tools like KDevelope, Anjuta, Eclipse, CVS/SVN, > command line tools, etc. Both the Python and the Ruby groups have done "Show me your IDE" nights that have been pretty popular. Perhaps we could ask some of those to a regular LUG meeting. > Most users, or at least the main-stream users (in my opinion) aren't > trying to secure their home network from hordes of rogue hackers > around the globe... they leave that to dLink and NetGear (we hope). > Many of them have absolutely no need to access their systems at home > from their job site in order to complete their job. The use a > computer and its OS/toolkit for extracurricular activities that aren't > related to their line of work. Agreed. What should we be showing them? > I'd also recommend getting the website more involved with the > community. Historically, GNHLUG has been an geared towards the > face-to-faces meetings and gatherings, but life intervenes and > attendance has shown that. I think we can and should produce more out of the meetings that can be fed back to the community and the 'Net, like notes from the meetings and audio and videocasts, but you're talking about leaving the confines of Martha's and going out into the world and... doing what? > Perhaps piloting a Forums area for help > and discussions to either replace or augment the mailing lists. I'm > sure there's enough of us to moderate if necessary. Perhaps from that > work into an "Experts Zone" of some flavor, an online version of the > Apple Store's Genius Bar. I've been kind of resistant to set up another "place" on the web, as I tend to inhabit too many of them already. What could we offer that would make a GNHLUG forum better or distinguishable from other places? > I'd recommend removing the Event-calendar focus off of the front page, > or at least center-stage of it and bring in some more "related news" > or "step-by-step guide to <insert topic here>" kind of middle-fill > areas. Yes, all of that seems to be locatable within the site with > some searching, but it's not the focus... it's not seen. It's always challenging to set up a new "place" but I'd welcome someone willing to marshal the job through. We have a server and some generous bandwidth (thanks to mv.com!) and the sysadmins would be willing to assist the leader in setting this up. Is this something you'd be willing to direct? A point person willing to set it all up, teach us a bit, and badger people to post for a while might be needed to get it off the ground. > Parts of the trick to this is to 1) Show prospective members that > GNHLUG has something to offer those that aren't already experts and 2) > give them a path to explore without having to feel put out or needing > to commit. Sure, it's not ~that~ hard to drive to $LUG_LOCATION and > try out a meeting one time, but it is 3 hours that is in competition > with every major broadcast network, home responsibilities, time with > friends/family, and the outward face currently only really shows more > time to have to consider at first glance. Take a look at a handful of > other LUG sites, just for some thoughts on their design ideas. Links, if you can find a few, would be appreciated! > Okay, enough out of me! No, you've still got eight pages to go to match the first draft :)! Thanks! -- Ted Roche Ted Roche & Associates, LLC http://www.tedroche.com _______________________________________________ gnhlug-org mailing list gnhlug-org@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-org/
