It's time to think about the upcoming meeting (Sep14), so I thought it
might be appropriate to offer a few (<who-me-few?>) words summarizing
the Aug10 meeting experience.
<topic1>
--------
That meeting was billed as an experiment in short presentations.
I led off and discovered that if you want to fit into 15 minutes, you
(or at least I) can't take the time to actually _explain_ anything (or
add historical context, or other luxuries) -- it has to be mostly
'show', and only the briefest 'tell'. I was embarrassed that I ran to
about 30 minutes. Some friendlies told me that the talk on our wiki was
nevertheless useful, but I think there are definite lessons for me.
Jim Doyle did better at keeping his discussion focused on his topic
about Online Shopping, and Tracy Reed did especially well at introducing
WebDAV as a file sharing mechanism and fitting into his targeted time.
After three presentations, we were already past 8:30 as I recall, so we
decided to go right to the raffle. Carl Lowenstein graciously agreed to
defer his talk on installation partitioning to another time.
----
My personal conclusions:
- some people are better than others at giving a useful presentation in
15 minutes.
- some topics might need ruthless narrowing to fit into short timeslots
- perhaps some topics shouldn't be squeezed
- maybe short should be redefined (micro, mini, moderate)
----
<topic2>
--------
Another experiment for this meeting was handing out of suggestion forms.
here are some notes from/re the questionnaire
----
4 were handed in
2 were signed
Almost all checked almost all checkboxes!
only 1 person left off advanced (only 1!)
1 person circled beginner with annotation "I am"
no one checked or wrote in anything for other
1 person left off security
1 person left off finding apps (and advanced)
1 person left off using apps and web decvelopment
1 person left off shell (only 1!)
Two people wrote comments
1 seems like he maybe felt obligated to respond:
I come for Linux info in general. I hope to see something
during the meeting specifically about Linux.
1 seemed more purposefully composed:
My personal preference is that the meeting either be open discussion
or a Q&A format. However, it is obvious to me that most attendees want
prepared alks. I much prefer the mini-talks like we had today. The exact
length of the talks isn't critical to me. Maybe they should be 15 min
talks with 5 min Q&A. Or maybe 20 min talks with 10 min Q&A.
It was difficult taking notes in the dark
----
My (jgs) personal afterthoughts on the form itself:
add a place for date & sig/email line marked optional
add a rating box for "enjoyed todays meeting/activity" 1-10 maybe
give more thought to additional info (eg lists, ..) and maybe change the
checkboxes to indicate strength of interest (1-3?)
----
<topic2a>
---------
I handed out questionnaires at the following installfest and got a few
replies there.
Interestingly, these had quite a different _flavor_.
3 people turned in forms and one replied with a 2 page commentary via
email.
The forms emphasized interest in install & config topics beginner-level
presentation, with one of those adding interest in intermediate-level,
security and shell. The other added interest in programming and web
development. One said he liked the short topics, and mixed levels
(presumeably he was at or knew of the general meeting). Another asked
for complete linux solutions for business giving examples Plone,
OpenXchange, Asterix.
The mail-in reply emphasized primary interest in the installfests as a
regular attraction ("knowledge on demand" was his memorable
description). His past experience with general presentations was that of
being overwhelmed, but nevertheless thought simple presentations had
potential, and offered some suggested topics and general ideas --
tending to tips, warnings, /strong warnings/, and special projects (eg
howtos, especially for getting peripherals working).
----
<topoic3>
---------
So what's on the table for Sep14?
Requests? Suggestions? Volunteers? ..
..jim
PS. I think we need to reassure old-timers and deep-geek/bofh types,
that the experiments with short simple presentations and the discussion
of broadening our appeal to general users does not mean any abandonment
of in-depth and advanced presentations. We may wish to shoot for more
variety, though. For example, combining a short/simple first-course
_and_ a long(er)/deep(er) entree on the same meeting.
..j
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