shotgun meeting rules (was: Re: [GLLUG] Is GLLUG active?)
Eric T. Roach
roach@www.voyager.net
Mon, 11 Mar 2002 20:20:39 -0500
Obviously, they've had more experience at this than we have.
Ben Pfaff wrote:
> Matt Graham <danceswithcrows@usa.net> writes:
>
> > We haven't had a meeting since January, since people have wildly
> > disparate schedules so nobody can agree on a good meeting time. The
> > mailing list is reasonably active though.
>
> The following was posted to one of the Bay Area user group lists
> recently. I think it might be helpful for the GLLUG, too.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>>>> "BP" == Ben Pfaff <blp@cs.stanford.edu> writes:
>
> BP> Are we going to have a meeting this month? We didn't have one
> BP> last month AFAIK. Who wants to open the bidding for time and
> BP> location?
>
> OK, so, it's apparent that everyone has forgotten the shotgun rules
> for B.A.D. meetings. I will now repost them, as a reminder to everyone
> as to how the meetings work:
>
> SHOTGUN RULES OF B.A.D. MEETINGS
>
> RULE 1: Each month, the B.A.D. meeting will be on the 2nd Wednesday of
> the month.
>
> RULE 2: Determination for the location for the B.A.D. meeting is like
> calling shotgun for the front passenger car seat. Whoever calls
> the location first, wins, and that's where B.A.D. is going to be,
> period. In case of close calls, "first" is determined by date
> received by the list server machine, and ties go to the runner.
>
> RULE 3: A meeting announcement must be posted by email to the
> B.A.D. list, with the word "ANNOUNCEMENT" in the Subject
> header. It must define a time, a location (with address and/or
> directions by car and public transportation), and use the
> declarative voice ("We are going to..." not "Would you guys like
> to go to...?"). It should not be sent before the previous month's
> meeting has happened (or should have happened).
>
> RULE 4: If you make the announcement, you have to go, you have to be
> on time and preferably early, and you have to make a little sign
> that says "Debian" or "B.A.D." so people know where they're
> supposed to sit. It would be nice if you organized an OpenPGP
> key-signing, but you don't have to.
>
> RULE 5: The preferred region for the event will rotate each month to
> one of three areas: the South Bay, the East Bay, and San
> Francisco. Rotation starts with the South Bay in March of 2002
> and goes from there, in order.
>
> As a courtesy, no announcement in an area outside the preferred
> region should be posted before the 1st Wednesday of the month. If
> no announcement in the preferred region is posted by the 1st
> Wednesday, all bets are off and any announcement will work.
>
> RULE 6: If no one makes an announcement, the meeting will not
> happen. If nobody cares enough to take responsibility and make an
> announcement, and everyone minces around with do-you-think's and
> what-about-this's, we are weak and cowardly and do not deserve
> the title of Free Men and Women, much less a lovely meeting
> together.
>
> RULE 7: Nobody is making you go to B.A.D. meetings. Your dialysis
> machine is not at the B.A.D. meeting. You are not a robot of the
> future who will be stuck in our dimension forever if you don't
> attend the B.A.D. meeting.
>
> If, for some reason, you cannot make it to the B.A.D. meeting, or
> you don't like where it's being held, or Chinese food gives you
> an upset tummy, then Don't Go, and M-x diary a reminder to
> yourself to take some initiative and make the next month's
> announcement.
>
> That's it. 7 simple rules. The Date Rule, the Shotgun Rule, the Email
> Rule, the Organizer Rule, the Courtesy Rule, the Have a Spine Rule,
> and the Take Your Lumps Rule.
>
> Now, as another reminder, here's the non-binding part.
>
> * Good locations for a B.A.D. meeting will have:
>
> * Food
> * Cheap food
> * Good food
> * Alcoholic beverages
> * Non-alcoholic beverages
> * Access for minors and people under 21
> * Separate checks
> * Seats for 10-30 people
> * Room to push tables together, or pull them apart
> * Forgiveness for people coming and leaving at will
> * Something for vegetarians to eat
> * Something for carnivores to eat
> * Enough quiet that we can talk
> * Enough loudness that we're not a big distraction
> * Enough light that we can see the network diagrams we're drawing
> on the backs of napkins
> * Access by public transportation
> * Access by car
> * Nearby parking
> * Easy directions
>
> Obviously, there's no requirement that every location have all these
> things, and most locations won't. And you are the sole determiner of
> where everyone goes: you can call the meeting for a XXX movie
> theater or your own home or a cardboard box under the freeway. But
> it'd be nice to meet these goals.
>
> * Restaurants and cafes that have been historically supportive of Free
> Software and Free Software groups deserve our business and dollars.
>
> * A good time is late enough that people can get off work and drive or
> ride from their region to the region the meeting is in, and not so
> late that the place is going to close, or people have to go home for
> sleep. Think 7-8PM.
>
> * If you think you know a good place to go, announce it. If you don't,
> shut up. When people post do-you-think's and what-about-this's, it
> clouds the waters and everyone gets confused. So don't do that.
>
> * If for some reason you are far outside the preferred regions of the
> rotation, you should think about starting an offshoot group and
> having separate meetings.
>
> * A good meeting attendee will bring money for their share of food and
> drink if they can. If they can't, they will keep their grubby mitts
> off the food and drink. They will also be prepared to participate in
> an OpenPGP key-signing party, bringing their key signature and some
> ID. If they share from common food or drink (such as pizzas or fries
> or pitchers of beer), they will get up and get another pizza or
> basket of fries or pitcher or whatever when the current one runs out.
> They will chip in for what they ate, and pay for what they ordered,
> and remember the tip, and round up rather than down.
>
> * A sample announcement email would look like this:
>
> ---8<---
> From: Evan Prodromou <evan@debian.org>
> To: bad@bad.debian.net
> Subject: ANNOUNCEMENT: B.A.D. Meeting For April 2002
> Date: 24 Mar 2002 08:31:11 -0800
>
> The B.A.D. meeting for this month will be held at Munster's Pizza
> Parlor on April 10th, 2002 at 1313 Mockingbird Lane in Berkeley at
> 7:30PM.
>
> Munster's is at the corner of Mockingbird and Yourtown Street on the
> Number 17 AC Transit line. It is a 2 block walk from the Northside
> BART station.
>
> I will be organizing a key-signing. If you want to participate,
> please send me your OpenPGP public key by noon on April 10th.
>
> See you there,
>
> ~ESP
> ---8<---
>
> Note that this message projects authority, it has all important
> information, and it does not use a question mark anywhere in the
> message or subject line.
>
> * There is no shame in announcing the meeting for someplace that
> B.A.D. has already been before. Heck: if it was good enough before,
> it's probably good enough now.
>
> * If you make an announcement, it's entirely possible that NO ONE will
> come, and you will be left lonely and afraid, standing naked in the
> rain while all of the people you have ever had secret crushes on
> point at you and laugh and laugh and fire ants crawl on your legs
> and chomp your skin.
>
> If you are prepared for this, any other outcome will be icing on the
> cake.
>
> If you are not prepared for this, and you send a vituperative and
> bitter email to the B.A.D. list on the Thursday After, you will come
> off like a fool, and you will have capped your disastrous event with
> a bitter and ugly conclusion. This is not smart, so don't do that.
>
> There we go! All the info needed, and more. Good luck, folks.
>
> ~ESP
>
> --
> Evan Prodromou
> evan@debian.org
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> --
> Regarding a Microsoft/Xerox agreement:
> "This is a match made in heaven.
> Both companies excel at copying other people's work."
> --douglas@min.net <URL:http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=99/05/16/2211252>
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