On Thu, Mar 22, 2012 at 10:32:08AM -0400, Bill Strosberg wrote:
> On 12-03-22 10:05 AM, Richard Guy Briggs wrote:
> > Another factor to consider is a question of demographics of
> > participants. If we are looking at a seniors' club, then parking is
> > going to be more important and perhaps not too late. If we are looking
> > at a students' club, then centrallity and transit are going to be
> > important since fewer youth are placing the value in owning motor
> > vehicles in the last 5-10 years than the 50 before that, which is
> > partly due to the disruptive technologies we meet to discuss. Perhaps
> > I am nostalgic for societies that value intergenerational
> > collaboration, but I think it makes sense to make an effort to
> > accomodate both in this particular area of interest. Does it make
> > sense to restrict ourselves to Linux specific topics, or open source
> > software (and perhaps hardware?) in general?
>
> From a club viability perspective Richard is right (as usual). I share
> the same nostalgia for intergenerational collaboration. Given the
> geography, culture and climate of Canada, I think it is going to take a
> long time to wean ourselves off personal vehicles. At 51 guess I'm now
> a senior? I spend around an hour most days on my bike in the summer, so
> I don't feel like one.
I was thinking more of the retired set who (may not) have more time on
their hands. There is wisdom to share, whether or not the younger
generations value it. I got great value from attending OCUNIX meetings
in the 1990s, recognizing the wisdom in the room.
> I wonder (having done no substantive research) how well collaborative
> Open Source communication technologies work for large scale meetings?
> (25-50 live participants?) Video conferencing for Board meetings may
> alleviate some physical attendance pressure. I use telephone based
> conference calls very frequently for client meetings as geography
> prevents face to face meetings.
This can be very valuable for some specialized or dispersed communities,
but meatspace is equally important.
> There may be a lot of value in investing in working with disruptive
> virtual presence meetings, as the scope of possible members may
> increase, and the geographical lines drawn may become less relevant.
> Being able to "watch" club presentations after their "live" broadcast
> would be far more interesting than reviewing presentations without the
> audio, the questions, the responses and the community. From 20,000
> feet, this is where I think "social" applications should be - I hate the
> reality that an American corporate entity run by a miserable spoiled
> brat "owns" all the interpersonal communication between today's youth.
> Open, free and non-commercial social participation using the Internet as
> backbone would be far more acceptable to me than freely allowing
> corporate America to mine my son's traffic and sell him to the highest
> bidders.
I suspect this has less value for our group and may well help to destroy
it due to the intrinsic geographical nature of our group. I have
witnessed and perhaps contributed to the demise of such a geographically
based group by offering and providing an online communications forum.
> Just a thought. Certainly would be far more eco-friendly than driving
> my fossil fuel dinosaur belching it's planet killing crap.
So walk, ride your bike, take the bus, or bring a friend to the meeting
with you. The latter will kill two birds with one stone. :)
With enough interest (which is our current major battle) having seperate
meetings in Ottawa, Kanata and Orleans would address some of that.
> Although I certainly would miss the Beer Sig!
And this is a very important point. My observation is that advocacy
groups that have a strong social component tend to remain cohesive and
are better able to evolve with the needs and times than those without.
> Bill
slainte mhath, RGB
--
Richard Guy Briggs -- ~\ -- ~\ <hpv.tricolour.net>
<www.TriColour.net> -- \___ o \@ @ Ride yer bike!
Ottawa, ON, CANADA -- Lo_>__M__\\/\%__\\/\%
Vote! -- <greenparty.ca>_____GTVS6#790__(*)__(*)________(*)(*)_________________
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