[nflug] Meetings - A Brief History of NFLUG and its Future

[Brian Powell]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: nflug-bounces at nflug.org [mailto:nflug-bounces at nflug.org] On Behalf
> Of Cyber Source
> Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2008 8:18 AM
> To: nflug at nflug.org
> Subject: Re: [nflug] Meetings - A Brief History of NFLUG and its Future
>
> OK, another approach to resurrect the meetings, that's a good thing,
> nothing ventured, nothing gained.
>
> Having been one of the past hosts for this group, I'd like to chime in
> here and point out something that I feel was and will become a reason
> for the meetings to fail. I did not see anyone else elude to this in
> reply but from my 10 years or so of experience with this group, not only
>
> has the lack of organization been a problem but moreover the lack of
> MEETING PRESENTERS. Put simply, this group, as most who attend a
> meeting, want to be educated and at the very least, entertained. Hell,
> even free pizza and soft drinks couldn't keep people coming back for
> bplug meetings. Please remember, I appreciated everyones (including
> myself) effort and this new effort. I really would like to see it work
> this time. After all, I'd put our email list of some seriously bright
> and educated users against anyones and I'm proud to be a part of it.
> So, now that I've got that off my chest, here's my .02 on the main thing
>
> to focus on for meeting success.
> 1. A meeting presenter! No meeting should be held without a meeting
> presenter and topic. Without this, the meetings just turn into circle
> jerks with people pairing off into little groups and shooting the shit.
> There's nothing wrong with that, I enjoy it myself, but if that's all
> the meetings turn into, people won't be coming back. That fact has been
> proven over and over.
> 1a. This "presenter", could be the same person, it really doesn't
> matter. As long as we have a topic and someone to present it. that
> should work. Then, guest "presenters" could schedule whenever and with
> whatever they like.
>
> Enterprise or Noob, it doesnt matter. Without a meeting topic and
> someone to present it, they will undoubtedly fail as they have in the
> past.
>
> Good luck to all, thanks to Brian and Mark and anyone else who's gonna
> head this up and let me know when the next meeting is and what, if any,
> we need to do about the email list.
> Peter
>

Peter,

Very valid point! and I agree 100%.

The ultimate goal is to have at least 1 presentation / topic at every
meeting and in some cases possibly even 2 depending on the length and
content of what is being presented / discussed. In addition to this,
time will be allotted at the end of each meeting for "open floor"
discussions.

My personal opinion to successfully obtain this goal is to establish
accountability through the use of Leadership Roles, which is why I
took the approach of organizing Leadership right out of the gate. With
this approach you have a group of individuals who are responsible for
making sure the groups needs and goals are being met (IE.
presentations, etc.,)  instead of one individual, this prevents the
dreaded burn out that often occurs with LUGs as well.

In the LUG I was involved with prior to moving to this area, topics
were presented by guest speakers or individual members on a volunteer
basis, instead of one single person. Each of us have our own unique
skills and passions, what better way to share that passion than to
present about it.

With that being said I have no problem personally taking on the
presentations for as long as needed, until others begin volunteering
to assist or the elected Leadership takes it over, once it is
established.

-- 
Regards,

BrianPowell
http://fedoraproject.org
http://wnylug.org