<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:times new roman,new york,times,serif;font-size:12pt">John's response is quite comprehensive. I would like to point something, though.<br><br>The formality is most likely cultural. Without too much contact with the external world, they are cautious on how they approach people. e.g. notice how most of new immigrants are much more apologetic when we are fresh off the boat. <br><div><br>Responding with the same level of formality will only create a wall.<br><br>One important thing though. While responding in a casual tone, we must avoid using ambiguous words as we cannot assume familiarity with colloquial English.<br><br>I think they are just starting and they are willing to learn what other people are doing.<br><br>e.g maybe they are a bunch of geeks that talk about FOSS and they think LUGs around the world are more formal.<br><br>maybe they are a group
of professionals that are used to a lot of structure and they don't understand well how a bunch of people do certain tasks just because they volunteer to do them without any body else telling them.<br><br>Maybe they already have everything figured out and just want to exchange experiences.<br><br>I suggest responding exactly what they are asking.<br><br>1. How are our meetings organized. Regular meetings, with open Topic selection, Casual environment<br>2. The value we've found on having a portal (kwlug.org)<br>3. How here we have different groups (sometimes cross pollinated) with different focus. e.g. perl users group, Waterloo developers, KWLUG, Ontario Linux Fest, Profesional companies e.g. NetDirect, etc.<br><br></div>Raul Suarez<br><br><div>Technology consultant<br>Software, Hardware and Practices<br>_________________<br>http://rarsa.blogspot.com/ <br>An eclectic collection of random thoughts<div><br></div><div style="font-family: times new
roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><font size="2" face="Tahoma"><hr size="1"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span></b> "john@netdirect.ca" <john@netdirect.ca><br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> KWLUG discussion <kwlug-disc@kwlug.org><br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Thursday, December 11, 2008 10:08:40 AM<br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: [kwlug-disc] Fw: [About KWLUG] Joint Cooperation<br></font><br><font size="2" face="Default Sans Serif,Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><div><font color="#990099">-----kwlug-disc-bounces@kwlug.org wrote: -----<br></font>>Say you got an email like this. How would you respond?<br><br>I think I would respond with a warm email that point outs this:<br><br>0. It's great to see free
and open source software taking root around the world.<br>1. KWLUG is a non-conventional organization, a non-entity.<br>2. Individuals in our group share the same goals as iranfoss , but the mandate of KWLUG (if there is one) is much more narrow.<br>3. As a non-entity KWLUG isn't in a position to enter agreements.<br>4. LUGs in North America tend to be similar non-entities.<br>
5. Our members and members of other LUGs may be interested and may choose to help your organization<br>6. There are other wonderful organizations who are mandated with similar goals:<br> - CLUE<br> - LI.org<br> - EFF<br> - FSF<br> - etc.<br>7. IranFOSS and its members are free to join the mailing lists of several LUGs around the world including KWLUG and take part in discussions.<br>8. If knowing more about our LUG would be helpful, we (or someone?) might be glad to discuss how our LUG is organized and how it is run.<br><br></div></font>
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