On Wed, Mar 21, 2012 at 10:53:06AM -0400, Jeffrey Taylor wrote: > For whatever it's worth, my involvement would be increased if the location > were more centralized. I don't know about others, but travelling from Hull > to Algonquin has a limited appeal. I have been making the trek out to Woodroffe for the last several years, because I believe in the importance of the community and simply because I love riding (I'm sure there is some pride in there too.). I can't say ChancesR is my favourite hangout, since I prefer real beer... Having said that, I keep thinking that a more centralized location would help the group. I really loved room A130 at the Rideau (Lees Avenue) Campus. The campus now belongs to the U of Ottawa and has been acquired as a student project space. I think it would be great if we could find our way back there. The Lees transitway station is *right there*. Another factor in losing people I suspect is the day of week meetings are held hopping around. One huge void I see is the attrition in Linux professionals from our group. I know there are lots of very competent Linux professionals in this area who no longer have an interest in OCLUG because it doesn't serve their needs. > Also, a hackathon sounds pretty interesting. I've been toying with the idea > of starting a 'hack space' with more space/tools than the current Ottawa > hackspace offers. This would be a decent balance and would certainly get my > attention(and I imagine others as well). I'd like to see more cooperation with the ModLab hacker space hosted by ArtEngine in Arts Court: http://www.artengine.ca/community/modlab-en.php > Jeff > > On Wed, Mar 21, 2012 at 9:41 AM, Rob Echlin <rob [ at ] echlin [ dot ] ca> wrote: > > > The Annual General Meeting of the Ottawa Carleton Linux Users Group > > will he held April 5, 2012 at Algonquin College, Room T130, Building T. > > starting at 1900. > > > > Below is the proposed agenda for the 2012 AGM. There are two important > > items that we ask members to think about in advance. > > > > 1) Nominations for Board members -- we always need capable volunteers to > > serve on the board. > > > > 2) Town Hall discussion on the future of OCLUG > > > > While we remain an active group, the nature of our activities is changing. > > In particular, with Linux much more widely used and appreciated, along with > > active forums for help and discussion, there is less incentive to > > participate > > in a "live" meeting. Notably, the 2011 AGM did not manage to provide a full > > slate of board members. During the year we added one Board member who had > > indicated willingness at the AGM, but needed to check availability, and > > John > > Nash participated (non-voting) to provide continuity. This is, however, a > > less than desirable situation. > > > > The Board therefore proposes that the AGM hold a discussion to provide > > direction for > > - adapting OCLUG to the realities we are experiencing. These afflict > > many volunteer organizations at this time. > > - finding volunteers to help run events or to carry out specific tasks > > > > Some ideas for events that are a little different from our norm: > > > > - A User Group Festival, in a hall where many Ottawa user groups can > > offer information tables and chat with each other and anyone who > > comes out. A great day for this is Software Freedom Day on Sat Sept 15. > > - a hack-fest, possibly with Group 51, with the hacking activity displayed > > and > > explained. > > - Small, local meetings to help people with computer problems as a way to > > find new members. Our outreach has been limited in the last couple of > > years, > > apart from the Leavitt Memorial Seminar and (possibly) IPv6 Summit. > > > > We are also exploring how we can do a better job of advertising our > > activities, > > and John Sebastian Taylor is leading this effort. > > > > Sadly, we do need a Plan B if there are too few nominees. It is not > > entirely > > clear what the legalities are if we proceed to an election and there are > > too > > few Board nominees to provide quorum. Hence it would be better to decide a > > course of action during the AGM BEFORE the election if we know there are > > too > > few nominees. Our constitution requires that our assets be passed to a > > similar > > organization -- finding one could be difficult. It may also be possible to > > appoint some trustees who would monitor a (paid) service to maintain > > mailing > > lists and web site for Linux-related events in Ottawa for some period > > (e.g., > > 5 years). There appears to be fairly solid interest in and usage of the > > mailing > > list, for example, but there is a need for some management thereof. > > > > We could also revise our organization to do fewer things using fewer > > people, > > such as small meetings with no speakers, fewer meetings per year, or some > > merging of activities with other groups like Computers for Communities. > > > > The discussion of the future of OCLUG is intended to either rejuvenate the > > group or else wind it up in an orderly way. > > > > == AGM agenda outline > > > > 1) Financial report > > > > 2) Annual report > > > > 3) Future of OCLUG > > > > 4) Election > > > > 5) New business > > > > 6) Adjournment > > > > ============================ > > > > 7) Games > > > > 8) Beer SIG > > > > -- > > Rob Echlin > > _______________________________________________ > > Linux mailing list > > Linux [ at ] lists [ dot ] oclug [ dot ] on [ dot ] ca > > http://oclug.on.ca/mailman/listinfo/linux > > > _______________________________________________ > Linux mailing list > Linux [ at ] lists [ dot ] oclug [ dot ] on [ dot ] ca > http://oclug.on.ca/mailman/listinfo/linux slainte mhath, RGB -- Richard Guy Briggs -- ~\ -- ~\ <hpv.tricolour.net> <www.TriColour.net> -- \___ o \@ @ Ride yer bike! Ottawa, ON, CANADA -- Lo_>__M__\\/\%__\\/\% Vote! -- <greenparty.ca>_____GTVS6#790__(*)__(*)________(*)(*)_________________