[Discuss] the state of VLUG meetings at present

[Matt Harris]

As someone who has only attended a few times...

It would be nice if there was notice/agenda posted to the list
detailing what would be covered in the next meeting.

This may already be happening and I'm just crazy ...


On 10/10/07, Rajiv Khaneja <rajivk at sparklit.com> wrote:
> Well, I've never actually attended a VLUG meeting but 6-8 people seems
> atrocious  Personally, I don't want to attend a LUG meeting to view a
> presentation unless it is very high quality.  Perhaps the solution is not
> more presentations but  fewer yet higher quality presentations.  Find other
> activities to schedule when presentations aren't available.  A structured
> formal Q&A of the "experts" might be a good idea.
>
> Another idea might be to invite businesses to participate.  Many businesses
> (including my own) use Linux in interesting ways and I'm sure an invitation
> to discuss their Linux implementations would be well received.  Personally,
> I'd love to expose my business to bunch of Linux professionals.
>
> I definitely agree with the point 4 (welcoming people).  Attending a club
> should feel welcoming.  We don't want people to feel like outsiders at a
> party they weren't invited to. Making sure people have a good time is
> probably the most important thing of all.  If people have fun they will
> return if they feel like an outsider they won't!
>
>
> On 10/10/07, Larry Gagnon <lggagnon at uniserve.com> wrote:
> >
> > My comments below are in no way meant to denigrate anyone, least of all
> > any club member or club officer, they are simply observations with some
> > possible suggestions about what we might do to improve the situation, and
> > of course, I throw this out to the discuss-list for some ideas and
> > discussion, so that together, we can maybe improve our meetings. If anyone
> > disagrees with my observations or suggested ideas please don't hesitate to
> > say so! If you want to do this in private call me (382-1266).
> >
> > I have been a member of VLUG for about 3 years now, and I enjoy going to
> > the meetings to learn and discuss and (sometimes) to contribute where I am
> > able. Over that period of time though I have noted the following:
> >
> > 1) a distinct drop in attendance from about 25-30 members and guests to
> > now often less than 6-8 people
> > 2) a distinct lack of effort to prepare for or arrange presentations
> > 3) presentations (not so bad recently) which were pitched way above the
> > heads of obvious newcomers/ newbies and/or poorly presented, often without
> > even a proper introduction
> > 4) sometimes a lack of welcoming "discussion" or club information for
> > newcomers
> > 5) a distinct lack of attention payed to the presenter and his or her
> > presentation by a small element of attendees.
> >
> > OK. Now I've said it, and I don't really think any of my observations
> > above are way off the mark. So in doing so I have these suggestions below.
> > How we might implement them is something altogether different but I
> > thought I would start this now because our AGM is coming up next month and
> > perhaps we can discuss these points further at the AGM and prior to it on
> > this list.
> >
> > 1) Attendance drop:
> > - advertise VLUG (which is not presently happening)
> > - make newcomers more welcome and provide interesting, consistent
> > presentations
> > -
> > 2) Lack of Presenters:
> > - possibly two members to work on finding people for each month
> > - set every third month as a free-for-all discussion and/or install-fest,
> > not requiring a formal presentation - but have a definite moderator, who
> > leads the evening
> > - canvas places where people may be using Linux for interesting work (eg
> > Hertzberg Institute of Astrophysics) to give presentations that may not
> > necessarily be fully Linux related
> > -
> > 3) Poor Quality Presentations:
> > - have a presentation by an expert on how to give presentations!
> > - a moderator at each meeting intervenes if presenter is "loosing hs
> > audience"
> > - all members to get a demo on how to use the projection system
> > - projection and wifi system prepared beforehand and working prior to 7PM
> > -
> > 4) Lack of Welcoming
> > - formalize the meetings so that we don't look like a ragtag bag of geeks
> > - prepare a newbie pamphlet (already done in the past??)
> > - re-instigate the raffle of Linux text books ?
> > - 2-3 members designated to welcome newcomers, find out their interests,
> > experience, etc.
> >
> > 5) Lack of Attention to Presenter
> > - not much to say about this. It is rude, but it is also a free world!
> > - I guess having more and higher quality presentations might be a solution
> >
> >
> > Comments and discussion and ideas greatly appreciated.
> >
> > Larry Gagnon
> > _______________________________________________
> > Discuss mailing list
> > Discuss at vlug.org
> > http://ladybug.vlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
> >
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>


-- 
Matt Harris
(250)-588-2275