[kwlug-disc] Other KWLUG logistics

[B.S.]

There is LOTS of good stuff here.

However ... the topic quickly degrades (and has) to where it really needs to happen face to face in person, particularly where there can be back and forth and fleshing out of ideas and details. Out of band even. e.g. In essence many of Bob's suggestions amount to workshops (no bad thing), particularly with free form discussion surrounding it. Inherently, the follow on question is: of what type, when, how, ... (face to face may bring efficiencies in working such out).

- no, the absolute answer (42) isn't going to be reached in one sitting.

I don't agree with:
> (The people who are attending KWLUG meetings find them plenty
> worthwhile;) ... it's the people who are no longer attending KWLUG meetings
> who didn't. Of course, those people are not going to be providing

> their input on how to improve things.


Many will. Many list lurkers don't / seldom / no longer attend meetings, for lots of (life) reasons. Doesn't mean they're not interested in KWLUG, nor that they don't have valuable input to share and are so willing. One or short offs they may well participate in, versus long term / regular time commitments.

More basic will be discerning such things as:
- what audience is KWLUG trying to hit?
- what is that audience interested in?
- how do they want it delivered? (e.g. lectures vs workshop vs free form vs ...)
- how are they reached? (e.g. kwlug-announce, twitter, web page)
- how are they discovered / do they discover KWLUG?
- how to mind/monitor all of the above on a consistent basis to ensure continuous audience engagement.

- whither Linux/FOSS in all of this?

I expect there are many audiences / interests, e.g. Linux vs Android, video vs sound, to be intermingled. e.g. A linux-centric meeting per quarter, one android, one <whatever>. Let alone combinations, such as Linux audio song shuffling vs Android video capture and publication. Discerning, delivering, and managing a topic list will be a challenge - thus the face to face / collecting together of those interested and willing to put time in to make it happen.

One thing not mentioned thus far ... content need not come in locally, in person, and individually. Nothing says a youtube 'How to get Kodi up and running.' couldn't be played, with a round table / workshop afterwards, with local Kodi aficionados to hand to help.

Which adds the question, to those posed above, topic selection / scheduling, as determined by ???


This actually reverses things from "what does someone have a presentation for" to "what do people want to see a presentation on" (and what is your favourite youtube link that does so).




----- Original Message -----
> From: Bob Jonkman <bjonkman at sobac.com>
> To: KWLUG discussion <kwlug-disc at kwlug.org>
> Cc: 
> Sent: Wednesday, November 4, 2015 2:06 AM
> Subject: Re: [kwlug-disc] Other KWLUG logistics
> 
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
> 
> On 03/11/15 03:34 PM, Paul Nijjar wrote:
>>  While I am busy spamming your inboxes, a few other things have come
>>  up that I would like to throw out to the list:
>> 
>>  0. A while ago we scheduled KWLUG social meetings. Were they 
>>  worthwhile? Should we schedule another one?
> 
> Yes! I was going to suggest that when we were contemplating new
> presentations, but suggesting a social event when asked for a
> presentation topic seemed cheesy.
> 
> In the past we've had potlucks (or a kindly sponsor sprung for pizza),
> but what would people think of having a social night at The
> Firkin-Tannery, and forgoing attendance at the regular meeting
> altogether? I realize that some people are philosophically or fiscally
> opposed to eating & drinking for money, so perhaps this is not a
> sufficiently inclusive idea.  We can indicate approval or disapproval
> with a +1 or -1 (or indifference with 0), no reasons required:
> 
> Firkin-only: +1
> Potluck: 0
> 
> 
>>  1. Bob Jonkman proposed round table discussion meetings, and we
>>  held a few. Were they worthwhile? Should we schedule another one?
>>  If so, should the discussion have a theme or should it be free
>>  flowing?
> 
> I like the free-form idea, which can take discussion in directions
> where organized events fear to tread. That's good for a half-session.
> 
> I'd also like to try a "Lightning Talks" night, where people have 
> 10
> minutes to present an idea (with or without slides), followed by 10
> minutes of Q&A. Like round table discussions, this is also based on a
> format I learned at GTALUG. We can probably squeeze five lightning
> talks into one evening, or three into a half-session. If you've got a
> Lighting Topic then add your name to the queue, once we have five (or
> three) people we add Lightning Talks to the schedule (hopefully not
> too far in the future). What is this "queue" of which I speak? Perhaps
> updating a page on the kwlug.org site, or posting a message on the
> mailing list, or filing it in Paul's prodigious memory...
> 
> 
>>  2. Once again I received feedback that KWLUG is not very friendly
>>  to new/nontechnical users. I agree with this criticism, and we have
>>  been facing it for years. How should we address this and (maybe
>>  more importantly) who has the energy to do so? In my dream world we
>>  would organize "beginner-friendly" activities, but I do not know
>>  what those activities would look like, and I do not know who would
>>  do them.
> 
> These people who want to see more new/non-tech presentations, are they
> the people who are actually new or feel overwhelmed technically? If
> so, what do they want to see?  Nothing is impossible, we can schedule
> an installfest night, or a "How Do I" clinic night (like roundtable
> discussions, but people with problems bring their devices and we break
> out into small groups to diagnose/fix those problems).
> 
> Also, we haven't had a swap night in a while. Most of my junk isn't
> worth the silicon it's forged from, but others may have usable stuff
> to give away...
> 
> This give me an excuse to insert one of my favorite aphorisms:
> 
> Stuff: Junk we keep.
> Junk: Stuff we throw away.
> 
> 
>>  3. Last night somebody ran into trouble because of our tattered
>>  door sign. [...]
> 
> Sorry, I'm of no help here.
> 
> 
>>  4. Turnout has been dropping at meetings. The last few meetings
>>  have averaged 12 people or so. There are three related issues here:
>>  (a) how do we increase turnout, (b) how do we make KWLUG more
>>  worthwhile for attendees, and (c) who has the energy to put into
>>  KWLUG to make it more worthwhile? (This point will open all kinds
>>  of wormy cans, so I am hesitant to mention it. But I feel it is
>>  important to say out loud.) Note that solutions that boil down to
>>  "Paul should stop being lazy and put a lot more effort into
>>  promoting/organizing the LUG" will probably not be implemented.
> 
> The people who are attending KWLUG meetings find them plenty
> worthwhile; it's the people who are no longer attending KWLUG meetings
> who didn't. Of course, those people are not going to be providing
> their input on how to improve things.
> 
> KWLUG is the only user group I attend which has 2-hour, formal,
> lecture-style presentations every time (yes, we have half-sessions,
> but they're rare and unusual snowflakes). Perhaps 2-hour presentations
> are too much, both for presenters and the audience. With a 2-hour
> presentation you're going to get into the underbelly of whatever topic
> you're presenting, whether or not it's a useful daily skill.
> 
> Contrasting that with most other user groups I've been to, the formal
> presentations are never more than a half hour, maybe three of them in
> one two-hour night.  Is this a format we could adopt?
> 
> The Waterloo Web Makers Meetups were like that, and always held in
> restaurants or hotels with food and drink available during the
> presentation. It was pointed out to me  at WWMM that humans are social
> creatures who express their sociability by sharing food and drink, or
> at least eating and drinking together.
> 
> I know we've tried this before, but the venue we used was unfriendly
> to those who didn't consume mass quantities (and pay for it).  Perhaps
> we can try this again? Suggestions for venues are welcome; I suggest
> the atrium at Duke of Wellington (who aren't very good at keeping
> reservations), or maybe one of the new eating establishments that's
> looking to boost their clientele. I'd check @NewEatsKW for new places:
> https://twitter.com/NewEatsKW
> 
> Perhaps we could have a pre-social event. We meet for dinner at 5:30pm
> at a local burger bar or pizza joint, then go to the KWLUG meeting at
> 6:30pm. If this is successful, perhaps we can move the start time of
> the meeting to 7:30pm, and have two shorter, less formal sessions.
> 
> I think it would help if we announced the pre- and post-social events
> more prominently in the meeting announcements and web site. I think
> we've been giving the impression that we're just a bunch of
> propeller-beanied bit twiddlers, and who wants to hang out with them?
> Instead, if the truth came out that we're an approachable bunch who
> know how to have a good time we might attract more people who are
> otherwise intimidated.
> 
> There are other UGs that are entirely social events held at
> restaurants, with no formal presentations at all. I'm not suggesting
> KWLUG adopts that format, but it seems to work well for those LUGs
> doing it that way.
> 
> And there are UGs that provide sponsored food and drink at their
> presentations. Is anyone willing to abandon KWLUG's absolute
> independence of corporate influence and embrace corporate sponsorship?
> 
> I've been told that people don't value things that are
> Free-As-In-Gratis. Perhaps it's time to have an attendance fee or
> annual membership, which could be put towards snacks and beverages at
> meetings...
> 
> 
>>  One more:
>> 
>>  5. Should I put laptop repair day events on the KWLUG website as a 
>>  potentially newbie-friendly activity? I have been refraining from 
>>  doing so because I do not want to abuse my administrator powers
>>  with work-related stuff, but if we think it would be a good shared
>>  activity that is less intimidating for new users then I can put it
>>  up.
> 
> Yes, absolutely put it on the KWLUG site. I've been including Laptop
> Repair Clinic announcements on the KWLUG Twitter feed
> https://twitter.com/kwlug/status/661778394607030272 and adding it to
> the Watcamp calendar.