On Mon, Jul 14, 2008 at 2:38 PM, Bill McGonigle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Perhaps it's worth figuring out then whether a SIG/whatever ought to be a > subunit of GNHLUG or merely affiliated with it ...
Certainly, if a group doesn't want to take advantage of any of the things the Legal Entity GNHLUG can offer, there's no point in said group going through that effort. Whether a group wants to do that is, of course, up to that group. At this point, the major thing that the Legal Entity GNHLUG can offer is legal liability. If Bill McGonigle signs out the Manchester Public Library conference room, and the attendees trash the place, Bill McGonigle (personally) gets stuck with the bill. If LE GNHLUG signs it out, LE GNHLUG gets stuck with the bill. [FYI, the "LE" abbreviation is my own, not a term of art. I use it to make a distinction between the entity recognized by law (i.e., the Greater New Hampshire Linux Users Group, a registered non-profit corporation in the State of NH), and the more nebulous, conceptual "GNHLUG" people (myself included) like to ascribe existence to, but which the law does not recognize. For better or worse, the label "GNHLUG" can mean either. Compare and contrast "Wikipedia community" and "WikiMedia Foundation".)] In the future, we may also be able to offer the ability to accept 501(c) tax-exempt donations, or even 501(c)(3) tax-deductable donations. We're working on that. (And by "we", I mean "Ted".) The LE GNHLUG is also the organization responsible for the GNHLUG name, logo, and repuation. We have a certain obligation to protect that. How much of that is a legal obligation or not, I have no idea. But even if we're not legally required to protect the reputation of GNHLUG, I for one don't want anyone to get the impression we're a bunch of thugs. So I think we should protect our good name. So even if someone just wants to call themselves an "affiliate" of LE GNHLUG, I think there should be some kind of process. I shouldn't be able to form the BenScottSIG and say it is an affiliate of GNHLUG on my own, anymore than I should be able to claim I'm an affiliate of BFC Computing. [To forestall VirginSnow: Yes, I know anyone can claim anything they want. We're talking about the practices an organization endorses. If GNHLUG *allows* anyone to be an affiliate, anyone can.] I also think the process should boil down to just "you have to ask permission first". Assuming no objections, it should take all of 30 seconds. That's what I was trying to codify with those four/seven suggested rules I posted. And really, all we need for CYA purposes are 1 and 4. Provisions 2 and 3 I suggested solely to avoid various other organizational failings we've exhibited in the past. (Mainly, a lack of continuity.) I certainly don't mean to encumber the process. -- Ben _______________________________________________ gnhlug-org mailing list gnhlug-org@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-org/
