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

Sat Nov 29 00:01:36 EST 2008

I don't pipe up often, mainly because I no longer live in Western NY,
but if I may, I'd like to pitch forth my two cents.

I now live in Phoenix, AZ, which admittedly, is somewhere in the top #5
cities for IT.  As such the Linux Users Group here in the 'valley of the
sun', known as "PLUG" (http://plug.phoenix.az.us/) is huge, and there
are anywhere from 2 emails to 300 in any one day on it's discussion
lists.  In my experience with NFLUG, which I don't even remember when I
joined, but it was close to 2000, or earlier than that, NFLUG has not
had a whole lot of activity.  Again, I've never been a huge avid
participant, so my remarks are only worth 2 cents, if that.

First, I have checked out WNYLUG, ages ago, and I'm happy for WNY that
something is being done website-wise.  NFLUG.org has never had much
information on it imho, and I am a huge fan of website information
complimenting an email discussion list.  WNYLUG, kept trying to get off
it's feet, and died, and resurfaced... and went away, at least on the
email and website front.  I also don't know if it's the same people
running it now, and not living in WNY anymore, I honestly don't know the
events surrounding the area, except through friends, family and mailing
lists.  So now there's two mailing lists, and I'm intrigued to know as
much history as I now do about NFLUG.  I never had any clue that NFLUG
changed hands so much, and I was around for quite a bit of it, but
perhaps I might have noticed more by attending meetings.  I also
remember BPLUG being started, and my opinion on that was always "Why?".

Next, having seen the two LUG's in WNY and Niagara region of Ontario, I
wonder... and agree... that there isn't enough participation for more
than one LUG.  I think if done right, thought out and planned, WNY and
Niagara region of Ontario should have a single source for their LUG
needs.  Or, maybe Ontario LUG users would want to split off to their
own?  That depends on the border these days I guess... and I'm no
expert, since I'm now closer to Mexico than Canada.  But, does WNY need
more than one LUG?  No, I don't think so.  Phoenix and the surrounding
valley where I live, is huge, and is maintained by one LUG.  There are
smaller college LUG's, and BSD user groups, so the "PLUG" here is also
comprised of members of many other groups of people.  I'd suggest to
NFLUG & WNYLUG (and BPLUG) to look to other groups... How do they do
it?  What aspects of their organizations work for them, that might work
for WNY?

With PLUG, I have a plug-discuss list... a general all around generic
discussion list with on topic and off topic discussions on everything
there is to talk about, yes it even gets out of hand now and then. What
list doesn't?  In addition, there is a plug-devel list, for developers
to discuss their likes; and there's a plug-webdev list, for discussion
on the development of the PLUG website, and even a less often used
plug-apps list for application discussion.  In addition, they have
meetings for the East side of the valley, and they have meetings for the
West side.

So, that said, as windy as my thoughts are... Perhaps WNY should have
multiple mailing lists from one site, not multiple LUG's.  Have a
Northern meeting for those folks in the Niagara region and northern
suburbs of Buffalo & Niagara Falls? Then, a week or two later, a
Southtowns meeting for those in the southern tier, such as Hamburg
Dunkirk, East Aurora and the other southern 'burbs?  Two meetings, mean
you could have two different topics and if people don't mind the drive,
they could attend both meetings.  The other thing is, NFLUG/WNYLUG does
need a good leader, someone who can delegate though.  No one single
person can handle such a large group.  They need people who can arrange
meetings for their area, search for people who can do demo's and speak
on various topics and help with group management.  There are roughly 4-8
people (I honestly don't know how many) that do the majority of the work
for the Phoenix LUG here, so I don't think it's unfair to suggest that
NFLUG, BPLUG & WNYLUG work together and perhaps form that 4-8 person
team of organizers who manage the LUG for WNY.

In short, look to other LUG's, find out what works for them, and ask
about their experiences.  If anyone looks up the Phoenix LUG, look for
Alan Daley, he's one of the core, if not chief organizers of the LUG
here where I live.  I still don't attend meetings here, nor do I pipe up
in discussions all that often, but there is a fair amount of traffic,
much of which I like, and if there's a topic I don't care about, I
delete the email.  There are mailing list archives... and WNY'ers should
be free to do the same.  I would encourage developers speaking up, WNY
is no longer a steel town, that is its legacy; so I would encourage
WNY'ers to grasp all technology, all IT, and run.

WNY is a great area, and will forever be my hometown.  I'll continue to
be a member of the LUG's there, and support WNY with all my heart.  So
here's my one man cheering squad. Go for the gold guys!

Peace,

  Tony E
  "Raptus regaliter"
  jaraeth at phoenixwing.com
  http://www.phoenixwing.com/

Corey Reichle wrote:
> As Steve Balmer said...
>
> "Developers, Developers, Developers, Developer!!"
>
> Ok, stop throwing rocks now :)
>
>
> Nov 28, 2008 09:36:51 PM, nflug at nflug.org wrote:
>
>     On Fri, Nov 28, 2008 at 4:45 PM, ron browning
>     wrote:
>     > Having done a few presentations, I can say the group is vary, vary
>     > diversified and it is hard to do general topics for all. Some
>     topics are off
>     > limits -- i.e. development ( I've been a developer for 40+ years
>     yet the
>     > group isn't interested!) What should be the topics or range of
>     topics? At
>     > what level? This would have to be answered first!
>     >
>
>     Ron,
>
>     Very valid point and hence the suggestion of possibly having 2
>     individual meetings a month with topics catered to different targeted
>     audiences. I will say this, the current members of WNYLUG without
>     including the NFLUG group has quite a number of developers that would
>     be very interested in presentations from someone like yourself. They
>     are very enthusiastic about learning how to begin developing with
>     Linux and Open Source.
>
>
>
>     -- 
>     Regards,
>
>     BrianPowell
>     http://fedoraproject.org
>     http://wnylug.org
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>     nflug at nflug.org
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