gossamer axe wrote:
If you want to get new users to Linux, more of the meetings need to be more
newbie oriented. There are only two LUGs in San Diego, the other is
business oriented now. Though the presentations on Backula were fantastic,
it's not geared towards the newbie. Most computer users want to get flash
working with their web browser, be able to view videos their friends send
them, download pictures from their digital camera, get their usb scanner
working, upload music to their mp3 player, rip/encode their own CDs, burn
CDs/DVDs and how to fix minor problems when things go wrong. It may seem
trivial to the guru's in the group, but most users don't do much more than
what I've stated above. I setup Slackware on my Mom's laptop, she can watch
videos on youtube, get her email, she knows all of her downloaded files go
to /home/user and she's happy. Occasionally she finds something that hasn't
been setup, but it's usually not too difficult to fix.
Advertising is another thing, someone mentioned lower attendance at the
meetings. There has to be a way to get more advertising out there for the
meetings. San Diego based web sites, free add in maybe the Reader and other
similar publications? I'm not sure where the group advertises outside of
Computer Edge.
I'm by no means a Linux expert, but the topics I've stated above, even I can
give a presentation about them. I also believe that advertising the
meetings in non-computer publications might help attendance.
all this: imo
-Judy
I agree with Judy, but maybe you have the tools to keep everybody happy.
I found the group through That Technical bookstore, when they suggested
an installfest that was there. What if you kept the meetings more or
less as they are with an occasional talk aimed at beginners, added help
for beginners learning linux to installfests and advertised them more.
You could even add a short talk to an installfest like Basic Linux
Backups or Basic Linux Security or Putting Together a .profile.You could
try to get beginners signed up for the Newbie's list and post some notes
there a couple days later.
The advertising is the key thing. The Reader is free advertising, but it
hasn't helped much with recruiting new morris dancers. Somebody has to
pay attention and put the advertisement into the Reader about a week and
a half before the installfest. This can be done online and you may even
get an online ad too. The general rule is to get the ad in before the
end of Friday Business Hours for the following Thursday. You only get
one ad per event on the Thursday immediately before the event. You could
even put the talk title into the ad.
Cheers,
Marieke
--
KPLUG-List@kernel-panic.org
http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
