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

John Matthews jvmatthe at math.duke.edu
Fri Jan 11 17:06:33 EST 2002


On Fri, 2002-01-11 at 16:46, rpjday wrote:
> fuck it.  this dialogue is clearly a waste of time.

WHOA!

I realize you said you'd brought this up before (and had had a negative
experience back then) but I think that the other guys around here have
it pretty spot-on. You clearly have what we (mostly) all feel is a "good
idea" and a great evangelizing project for TriLUG. At the same time,
ideas are pretty cheap, and it takes someone with personal drive to make
ideas turn into real life events. I think that's what several here have
suggested.

Don't run for the SC. Really. Here's what I'd do:

- I think that lots can be done as just a member of the TriLUG with the
blessing of the SC. Tell them what you want to do. ("I want to get a
group of 5 executives to come in and see TriLUG members give demos of
Linux applications that can help in real-life businesses.")
- Tell the SC what you need from them. ("John, can you give a demo of
how you have integrated Linux at HAHT? Kevin... Bill... etc. Can you
send out a SC-signed email saying we want demonstrations? What month can
I schedule this for?")
- Then get it all together
 * set up the people and the presentations way ahead of time, and make
sure they're prepared professionally
 * recruit some TriLUGGers to pick up the execs and bring them to the
meeting
 * you take control of the meeting, and set the tone. Seats at the front
reserved for execs. Questions from the audience after each presentation.
 * send an email to the list ahead of time emphasizing that this will be
a somewhat more serious meeting than usual, but also that members will
have an opportunity to chat with (potentially hiring) execs afterwards
because you're going to keep the entire set of demos to 45 minutes tops.

None of this requires you to be an SC (as was suggested earlier). We
need someone that has a vision to get this done, and you're the most
obvious person, since you've already got a passion for it. We'll help,
but we need someone to give it form and structure and tell us our
assigned duties.

Just my 2¢

Regards,
matt

-- 
Matt Matthews     \ ph: 919.660.2811        \ Use GNU/Linux  _o) w00t
Duke Univ., Postdoc\ jvmatthe at math.duke.edu  \____________   /\\
Dept. of Mathematics\ http://www.math.duke.edu/~jvmatthe/ \ _\_V




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