[huskerlug] Re: Future of hlug as a studen organization
- From: adunlop <techworld.mail@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: huskerlug@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:34:54 -0500
On Jul 31, 2009, at 11:57 AM, Charles Leslie wrote:
> I think that what typically makes a community needed is the desire for
> like-minded people to work together on mutually beneficial projects or
> solutions to problems. In this group, I see a general tone of apathy,
> and more interest in bashing Microsoft and having a good laugh than
> really trying to gain more education, or find projects to work on.
> Some more than others, of course, but it's hard to believe this is a
> university based group.
>
> The flip side of that coin is that I know it takes a lot of time and
> energy to volunteer to teach or mentor people, work on projects, or
> give presentations. I know that I personally have a lot of other
> hobbies, work and projects that that give me little time for this,
> however every so often there are scraps of information that come out
> of here that are quite valuable, which is what keeps me holding on.
>
> I also like the thought that there are other people nearby that are
> somewhat interested in the same ideas that I am. When I was learning
> Linux, these kinds of people were more valuable to me than gold. It's
> important to have a place for these people to find teachers and
> mentors, otherwise they'll just give up.
>
> Ultimately, what I really think this group needs to hold it together
> is some kind of project that would inspire even a few of its members
> to get together and work on. Just going out for pizza only
> accomplishes solving the problem of being hungry.
>
> On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 6:23 PM, adunlop<techworld.mail@xxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>>
>> On Jul 30, 2009, at 6:06 PM, Martin Wolff wrote:
>>
>>> When I became president, I didn't want the irregular meetings of the
>>> past so
>>> I decided to have biweekly meetings. This was too much, however,
>>> and it
>>> burned out myself and probably a lot of other people that came to
>>> HLUG.
>>> When I stopped forcing meetings, meetings just went to zero and have
>>> sorta
>>> remained that way as far as I know, despite chatter on lists. Also,
>>> I'm not
>>> sure that LUGs are nearly as relevant these days as they were in the
>>> past.
>>> These days when someone has a question the person asks
>>> ubuntuforums.org,
>>> bbs.archlinux.org, forums.gentoo.org, or whatever their specific
>>> distribution's forum is.
>>> The benefits for being a Recognized Student Organization (RSO) are
>>> less and
>>> less. It used to be that you could get free Pepsi products really
>>> easily,
>>> but now there are new regulations that make it more of a pain. (See
>>> http://involved.unl.edu/soar/pepsi.php ) Room reservation should
>>> technically
>>> require HLUG to be an RSO, however, I quickly found out that not
>>> reserving a
>>> room was often easier than reserving a room because usually you can
>>> just
>>> pick a room in Avery at night and it will be open.
>>> The only problem I could see with dropping the university part of
>>> the
>>> organization would be the future of the remaining funds in the
>>> Student
>>> Organization Financial Services (SOFS) account. I'm not sure if the
>>> funds
>>> are surrendered or not. I need to reread some of the rules. I'll
>>> look into
>>> that tomorrow and find reply to the list with more information.
>>>
>>>
>>> One benefit of separating from the university could be better
>>> meeting
>>> places. For example, meetings could happen at a pizza place, bar,
>>> and other
>>> fun locations.
>>>
>>> Also, I had to rejoin the list to post this and I'm thinking
>>> Freelists might
>>> thread this as a new thread rather than a reply to Carl. I hope
>>> not, and
>>> sorry if it does.
>>>
>>>
>>> Martin
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>
>> My two cents are that we should be focused on the number of people
>> that want to do this first. Having meetings with all of the benefits
>> of UNL are nice, but I'd really like to avoid that being a stopping
>> point if people don't get together.
>>
>> At this point, would it be a good idea to find out what people would
>> like to see from LUG meetings? Martin raised an excellent point.
>> Technical help is freely available on the internet anymore, that's
>> not
>> going to cause a big draw. I know there's at least 8 or 9 people
>> that
>> monitor this mailing list often and probably a lot more that
>> typically
>> don't reply.
>>
>> For me the fun would be bouncing nerd energy off of others, finding
>> out about fun projects, and learning. It wouldn't even have to be a
>> meeting at UNL, a possible meeting place in the meantime could be the
>> Starlite bar, it's nice and usually quiet enough to be able to talk
>> freely. Registering with UNL would potentially bring in new members
>> and offer other benefits. Could that be something we do after say 3
>> successful meetings with 10 members that show up? I'm not trying to
>> downplay any of the ideas that have been brought up so far. I just
>> want to see this happen by any means necessary.
>>
>> Aaron
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>
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>
The mailing list really has nothing to offer currently unless you're
out to bash someone as you noted. I personally know half-a-dozen
people that *would* be interested in this list if that were put to an
end. The OLUG has a vibrant mailing list, meetings, and meetups that
are interesting so there's definitely a desire in the local
community. I also know several people personally that would attend
LUG meetings if they were offered regularly. That part might take a
critical mass to achieve, so starting in a capacity with less pressure
might be a good idea. I'm in favor of just meeting at a bar somewhere
to ease back into things for a while.
As I see it.
1. Ban anyone that posts inane or useless comments. There's no
reason that mindlessly negative comments should be allowed. If you
have a point to make, do so politely and state reasoning. Opinions
are fine so long as they are topical, polite, and reasoned.
2. Continue the monthly lunches at Yia-Yia's or other places.
3. Pick a time and a place for a meeting, something relaxed and
casual for a start. Let people meet and let the interest in the LUG
gradually begin again. Trying to jump straight to a formal meeting
may or may not work, but it will likely require a great deal of effort.
All of that being said, I'd be interested in any kind of a fun project
to work on with other people, anything done to learn is fun. I don't
think that's the problem though and I definitely don't want to wait
for that to get people together. I worry that it wouldn't happen.
Aaron
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