[TriLUG] just to clarify a few points about meetings ...

[rpjday]

  i just want to make sure folks understand what my issues
were with recent trilug meetings, so let me clarify a few points.

  first, this wasn't just an observation about last night's 
meeting -- a lot of the more recent trilug meetings rapidly
broke down into a rambling, unfocused conversation involving
the speaker and random members of the audience. this inevitably
drags the meeting out waaaay longer than it should be, and
it's pretty hard to keep people's attention if the conversation
keeps wandering off-topic.

  more than one person pointed out that, well, ok, but last
night was an exception since it was more a meet 'n' greet, state
of the LUG get-together, and that it *should* have been more
free format and interactive.  sorry, but you shouldn't confuse
free format and interactive with rambling and unfocused.  even
a social get-together should have a clear agenda so people know
what is expected of them and what's about to happen.  (i didn't
see much value in hashing, and rehashing, the fact that trilug
made money pulling down wires for HAHT.  we all know that
happened.  it was on the mailing list, and described in detail
at at least two previous meetings.  why, oh why, are these
things beaten to death?)

  regarding the flowe speaker, i had *no* idea there was going
to be a flowe presentation.  there is no mention of that on the
web page.  frankly, the first hint i got was when i looked down
at my laptop for a few seconds, looked back up, and suddenly
there was someone other than kevin speaking.  what the heck?
who's this?  and he did a pretty fair job, considering how
minimally he was introduced and what little build-up he got.
why no advance warning of this?

  a number of people (eg., chuck, ben) have said they like the
notion of getting out, just having a social evening.  fair
enough, but the way the meetings work these days actually
*minimizes* the potential for social interaction.  too many
meetings have dragged on to the point where the speaker is finally
wrapping up at the same time we all have to vacate the premises.
where's the social interaction?  as chuck pointed out, apparently,
out in the parking lot.

  so what's the solution?  simple.  have an agenda, get rolling,
and stick to it.  eat the pizza, have the trilug chair get
trilug-related stuff out of the way, and get to the speaker.
invited speakers should get 30-45 minutes to say what they 
want and, in my opinion, all the official business should be
done by 8:30 at the latest.  this gives *plenty* of time afterwards
for people to mingle without being rushed out the door.

  and if i can take one great, big giant step backwards, this is
directly related to something i mentioned a couple of years ago,
when i asked just what trilug's intended audience was going to
be.  i posted that there were at least two possible audiences
trilug could try to appeal to.  on the one hand, there were the
geeks.  on the other hand, there were the corporate executives
in the area who might be considering linux for part of the
corporate infrastructure, and wouldn't it be just peachy keen
if we could act as local evangelists.

  for daring to express such heresy, i was thoroughly flamed to
the point where i needed new underwear.  and it seems clear which
direction trilug has chosen to go -- it caters pretty much
exclusively to the local geek/techie population.

  there is precious little to appeal to, say, the local influential
corporate executive who might be considering linux to come to a
trilug meeting.  i market to these people and, believe me, they
are not the slightest bit interested in investing three hours of
an evening to, first of all, sit there for 45 minutes hearing how
the pizza is just about to get there, then hear geeks constantly
interrupt the chair with geek jokes.

  i've been a loyal trilug member for a couple of years now.
i've invested my share of time in helping out.  i served on a
panel discussing training.  i sponsored one meeting's worth of
pizza.  i just about pulled my hair out getting eben moglen to
give us all a free talk.  and i've donated boxes of books and
various pieces of hardware to other members.

  but this is where it ends.  while i value the chance to socialize
with other techies, my business demands that i spend my time 
"selling" linux into corporations, and making a living off of that.
and, as far as i can tell, trilug is not making any effort to
evangelize locally.  which is too bad since, given the number of
people at the meetings recently who are looking for work, a little
evangelism could really go a long way.


rday