Looks like the 17th at 7:30 is applicable to most KLUGers. I'm under the assumption that KLUG has for a time been without a venue and is perhaps low on numbers. I therefore think the first meeting should not be so much a big bang designed to make newbies feel welcome as a basic checking out of the venue / resources, getting to know each other, and then discussing possibilities for future meeting / events etc. In a word: direction. Sure, I got a few complete newbies who could certainly do with some help at the install level (some of the things they are trying are just plain stupid for "first install" and others are potentially tricky hardware issues)... ...BUT I won't be inviting them to the first meeting(s). There's too much possibility of us being frustrated by their crappy hardware choices, or pointless debates of "can Linux do everything I do on Windows" bunfights. I think the time would be better spent just looking at what's available for our own use in the new computer lab, sharing personal visions and perhaps making known our personal areas of interest so that we become well grounded and equipped in our ability to evangelise the Open Source penguin effectively. There could be other issues, perhaps bugfixing the computer lab's LAN for example, which may need to be sorted before leading newbies in blind. The room may be smaller than you think, so you'd be wise to check it out first. At this point I have not thought through how to make room for anyone bringing in their own machine. Yadda yadda. That sort of thing. As for having a [regular] topic to talk about... that depends on the style of LUG you guys want to run. A few years back I used to attend the WLUG in Johnsonville. That place was totally buzzing. They did not have their own computers, just power sockets and tables for us to bring our own. Sometimes there were talks and presentations but whether there was or not, the best time was when everyone just walked around with coffee questioning and answering what each other about what each was doing with their own machines. We would steal a few cool hacks from each other or experts would give newbies hands on assistance troubleshooting issues. Occasionally someone might announce a big weekend event like a Quake3 LAN tournament at a certain house or whatever. The WLUG venue got so jam packed we ended up moving to a big building in Wellington City. I was talking to a man who was originally pretty much at the centre of WLUG. I asked him about him no longer attending that particular LUG. He said that nowdays there's less informal than it used to be and it's grown a bit too big and too organised (some new feature every week) for his liking. I guess the short lesson to learn here is that each is to their own as far as what they think a "good" LUG should be. We don't HAVE to have ongoing regular "bleeding edge" presentations if they don't suit. Perhaps that's the sort of thing the first meeting should look into... see what we've got first and whether it's ready to launch? I'm rambling. Must stop. Summary... Meeting at the moment looks like it's set for Wednesday next week (17th August) at 7:30pm. Venue is at Thomas Kennedy Junior Academy in the white house at the corner of Menin and Glen Rd, Raumati South. The school covers the corners of two small blocks. Gold coin donation appreciated. I'll see about grabbing some coffee. The computer lab is on the West (beach) side of Glen Rd, the smaller of two buildings on the section. Meeting basically so that you get to look at the pretty room and its computers and say "oooohhhh" and then the mess all over the place left by my students and say "ahhhhhh....." I will set up KLUG user accounts on the boxes in the room. I don't know if anyone wants to give a presentation (yet). If anyone's super keen to go, then let's have the suggestions. There are Linux boxes for use and also a central machine with a projector. Otherwise, perhaps we should keep flexible for the first meet? I have backup stuff to play with if there's a real need. 'nuff said from me for now. Lance. Steve Withers - swithers at mmp.org.nz wrote: >On Wed, 2005-08-10 at 16:31, klug.member.lancer at xoxy.net wrote: > > > >>I think it would be a good idea also for us to have a "current members" >>meeting at least to look at this place while it's a fresh topic. That >>way you will know what to aim for in terms of how large an audience to >>attract and capabilities in as far as how many can be seated in front of >>the screen etc. I'm suggesting Wednesday of the coming week (that would >>be 17 August). I can probably bring along "Revolution OS" DVD (*yawn?*) >>for show as well as let people see how the network is set up on the >>boxes in the lab. Would this be a good time for people? >> >>Lance. >> >> > >Sounds OK to me - great, in fact.....thought tonight would be too short >notice for me (if that is what you were suggesting). > >If we want a meeting in August, we could put if off until next >week...and then resume first-Wednesday in September. > >The format of the meeting is worth thinking about. The old format was >sort of "show-and-tell" and somewhat impromptu - the assumtpion being >that if people didn't bring anything interesting, they better damn well >be interested in what people DID bring. > >It didn't always work....and often left newbies feeling way out of their >depth....as we seemed to burn them off fairly quickly. > >Comments? Or am I one of the very to have ever attended a meeting? :-) > >Steve > > >------------------------------------------------------------------- >To remove yourself from this list, email klug-request at linux.net.nz >with "unsubscribe" in the body of the message. > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------- To remove yourself from this list, email klug-request at linux.net.nz with "unsubscribe" in the body of the message.
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