Dear members, It was really great that so many of you turned up (easily one of our larger turnouts) yesterday at a less-than-20-hr notice. We couldn't help it, this being the first time the formalities took much more time.
I would like to propose certain procedures to ensure we have larger turnouts and far more successful meetings in future. [1] At every meeting, we'll try to get hold of the speakers for the next meeting, and if possible announce this at that meeting itself. NOTE: Some efforts were made to this end yesterday. [2] If for some reason, #1 above is not possible the process of getting hold of speakers should start right after the minutes of the concluded meeting is posted. [3] We start off the meeting by 5:30 and continue till 8:30 (making it 3 hrs instead of 2 hrs) Advantage: People who have to leave early can get about 2hrs as does the people who come in late. [4] Meeting coordinator(s) -- as it has been evident from past experience a single person left in-charge of meetings are not such a good idea and putting too much pressure on the person, while make the process of organising the meeting less than transparent. Therefore I propose that at least 2 (3 would be better IMO) people are in-charge of conducting the meetings. [5] From next meeting onwards, speakers should be ready with their slides/speaking notes at least 5 days before the scheduled meeting date. These slides should reach the meeting coordinators + webmaster + LUG coordinator by the aforementioned deadline, for review and any possible revision. [6] A clear (read "bulleted") talk synopsis is to be posted by each scheduled speaker at least 10 days before the meeting -- This posting should go to the meeting coords, webmaster, LUG coord, and immediately made available on the website. [7] If for some reason the meeting is not kicked off on time (say, equipment trouble/setup taking too long), that time should be utilized for a BOF (Birds of Feather aka open discussions) sessions rather than wasted in waiting for the meeting to get underway. [8] Formation of a semi-official LUG core group. To capture and utilize the potential and energy of people. Please understand that while there is hardly a lack of enthusiasm among our members, not everyone is placed to contribute time, energy and effort to take this LUG forward to new heights. The core group should IMO be composed of people who are enthusiastic, responsible and technical or otherwise capable/willing to contribute a minimum quantum of time & energy behind the LUG or a regular basis. [9] No further waste of time/energy with discussions over formation of a Registered Society till we have a regular avg turnout of 50 members at each meeting. I have a few more ideas, but I'll discuss those only if this is going to be a fruitful discussion with definite result. Thanks --Indra -- To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the body "unsubscribe ilug-cal" and an empty subject line. FAQ: http://www.ilug-cal.org/node.php?id=3
