[GLLUG] Let the meetings commence!

[asenchi at asenchi.com]

Unfortunately I didn't get this before the meeting, I don't remember the names
that were there, but hopefully you made it.

If not, meetings will be held at 6:00pm on every Thursday at the location
specified on the website.  In the future you can use the calendar on the
website to find times.

Thx.

On Thu Sep 02, 2004 at 05:41:54PM -0400, Phillip Hofmeister wrote:
> 
> Hopefully someone gets this before the meeting...but when is the
> meeting?  What time?
> 
> On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 at 11:42:49PM -0400, Charles Ulrich wrote:
> > Greetings GLLUG members,
> > 
> > It looks like school is now back in full swing and after a brief hiatus, 
> > the Greater Lansing Linux User group will be having meetings again 
> > shortly.(1) We're looking for maximum participation this year, so a 
> > small group of us have sat down and tossed around a few ideas. But we 
> > need your help! Let us know which ideas you think are great and feel 
> > free to ridicule us for the crappy ones.
> > 
> > Item 1: Meeting Times
> > ---------------------
> > For starters, we're looking at holding the meetings weekly. Yes, weekly. 
> > Holding the meetings monthly as before meant that if you had to miss a 
> > meeting, you'd have to wait two months before another one came along. If 
> > you had to miss two meetings in a row, then it would be 1/4 of a year 
> > before before you got to attend another! Holding them every two weeks 
> > was also an option, but confusion might arise as to whether the meetings 
> > were held literally every other week or the 2nd and 4th week of the 
> > month (for example). Weekly meetings means that you can basically pick 
> > and choose the meetings you wish to attend and better fit them into your 
> > schedule. This means we'll have more time for fun stuff, chit chat, and 
> > we'll likely see a much wider variety of people instead of just the 
> > hardcore few that attended most of the monthly meetings.
> > 
> > Item 2: Organization
> > --------------------
> > Most (all?) of the past meetings have typically been organized and run 
> > by two people: Jeff and Roger, with occasional help from others. They've 
> > done a terrific job but agree that weekly meetings would be too much for 
> > them to handle on their own. Thus, the consensus is that we'd like to 
> > build a little more organization into the group. We'd like to have at 
> > least the following positions:
> > 
> > - President
> > - Vice President
> > - Secretary
> > - Treasurer (Possibly, depending on what projects we do.)
> > - Publicity Director (Marketing the LUG, basically. In community 
> > newspapers, radio announcements, etc.)
> > - Presentation Director (In charge of soliciting / scheduling 
> > presentations.)
> > 
> > Each position should probably have an alternate and all positions will 
> > be filled on a volunteer basis. We likely won't go through the trouble 
> > of creating a whole voting process unless it's deemed absolutely 
> > necessary. More positions will be added as we need them. You can even 
> > volunteer yourself for a position that doesn't exist yet as long as you 
> > can demonstrate that it would serve the group in a practical way.
> > 
> > And, since the question will inevitably come up, there is no plan at 
> > this time to charge for dues or even solicit donations.(2)
> > 
> > Finally, there's been some question as to whether the group should 
> > become an official non-profit. We really don't know anything about the 
> > process and what the various pros and cons are. If anyone has experience 
> > in creating or managing a non-profit, we'd greatly appreciate your input.
> > 
> > Item 3: Presentations/Activities
> > --------------------------------
> > Well now that we've got 10 to 12 hours per month set aside, what shall 
> > we do with them? We've been tossing around ideas. Here are a few:
> > 
> > - Presentations on software or gadgets
> > - HOWTO presentations
> > - Linux beginner classes (Like the LPI classes earlier this year.)
> > - Installfests
> > - Show-and-tell (Expound upon the wondrous virtues of your favorite app. 
> > Sure to create some fun flame wars.)
> > - Trivia (Geek Jeopardy?)
> > - Pot-Lucks (Just food and chat.(3))
> > 
> > The beginner classes would likely be held about once a month. The rest 
> > is anything goes at this point. This is where we need the most help. 
> > We've months and months of meetings to fill! There are only two 
> > presentations so far on the docket, but no firm dates other than Real 
> > Soon Now, We Promise, Really We Do. More information on those will 
> > follow shortly.
> > 
> > For meeting ideas, the Kalamazoo LUG meeting history page would be a 
> > great place to start (http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/presentations/) or 
> > just browse the web and see what other LUGs are doing.
> > 
> > Item 4: Location, Location, Location
> > ------------------------------------
> > Most of the meetings have traditionally been hosted by Roger at 
> > Atmosphere Annealing, Inc (AAI). It's a nice place and the people in 
> > charge there have been more than generous in allowing us to meet there, 
> > but if the meeting attendance ends up as large as we envision, we're 
> > probably going to have to find a new location. We'd like to have a 
> > backup plan ready and in-place for when or if that happens, so PLEASE if 
> > you have any ideas on where we could meet in the Greater Lansing area, 
> > we'd appreciate them. The ideal location would have the following 
> > features, but we would of course be flexible on some of them depending 
> > on the situation:
> > 
> > - Comfortably holds a capacity of at LEAST 40 to 50 people
> > - Located in or extremely close to Lansing or East Lansing
> > - Free or very cheap
> > - High-speed Internet access (we'll bring the firewall and network)
> > - Available most Thursday evenings
> > - Don't have to reserve the room months in advance
> > 
> > Item 5: Next Week's Meeting
> > ---------------------------
> > The next GLLUG meeting will be held on Thursday, September 2 at 
> > Atmosphere Annealing. See the GLLUG web page for directions. If you want 
> > your say as to how we should continue to operate the LUG, THIS IS THE 
> > ONE MEETING TO ATTEND. We'll be discussing and making decisions on all 
> > of the topics I've covered in this message and no doubt many more. After 
> > this meeting, we'll want to head right into the presentations and 
> > activities so as to get the ball rolling as soon as possible.
> > 
> > So tell your friends, tell your family, tell your felines that the 
> > Greater Lansing Linux User Group is back and on the waddle.
> > 
> > Charles Ulrich,
> > Acting Secretary For The Time Being, Most Likely In The Future As Well
> > 
> > 1. I guess Penguins hate the dog days of summer.
> > 
> > 2. However, you will be recognized by your fellow geeks as a Enduring 
> > Symbol of National Heroism if you ever bring a few pizzas to a meeting.
> > 
> > 3. Do not bring any food made out of penguins or daemons, please. Except 
> > Penguin Mints as those are not known to contain actual penguin. Or mint, 
> > really. Mostly just raw caffeine.
> > --
> > http://bityard.net
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > linux-user mailing list
> > linux-user at egr.msu.edu
> > http://www.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user
> 
> -- 
> Phillip Hofmeister
> _______________________________________________
> linux-user mailing list
> linux-user at egr.msu.edu
> http://www.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user

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