[Discuss] the state of VLUG meetings at present

[pw]

Andrew Willard wrote:
> Larry Gagnon wrote:
> 
>> Comments and discussion and ideas greatly appreciated.
> 
> Everything you said is true. I will add a comment... or two...
> 
> Who exactly is going to organize/do all the above mentioned items?
> The only people in the past few years even remotely interested in
> keeping the club going "have" been attempting to keep the meetings
> going, have maintained the server, have kept our brochures at local
> businesses... I say have because those individuals are tried of doing
> everything. Getting anyone else to do anything is like herding cats.
> 
> For anyone that has/is part of an organized club the story is normally
> the same... a small minority keep the fires burning while everyone else
> sits back and does nothing, or very little, but enjoy the fruits.
> 
> 
> For those of you willing to come forward and DO something, the annual
> general meeting is scheduled for the November monthly meeting. Those
> of you wishing to run in the election should forward your name and
> the position you would like to me.


Why not make voluntarism part of the probationary period for each
member. Assign them a job when they arrive. Make them feel useful
and involved and they will become part of your community.

To make this a fair change to the club, even existing members should
start fresh with a probationary period as well. Never expect the troops
to do anything that you are unwilling to do yourself.

Many sports teams allow members to post an annual bond, over and above
the regular fees, that is refunded if members volunteer to do a certain
number of hours of work through the year. You could try that, although
it tends to up the financial bar a bit for people with lower incomes.

Advertising has been mentioned. This has always been a problem for
any user group in that anything above flyers is expensive. VLUG
should do a 'waynes world' for linux on public access each week.

Peter