On 12-03-23 01:48 PM, Richard Guy Briggs wrote:
"a few extra minutes" In my case, 120 minutes. What's your time worth? Where is the centroid of this region's population? In particular, where is the centroid of interested persons without private motor transportation?
Time is the most limited and valuable commodity I have. I'm certainly willing to give some of it to support people like Richard who live by their principles. Ten or fifteen minutes on my part to save Richard two hours is a courtesy I'm willing to support. Like me, he has kids, wife and a home to keep running, so I know what his "spare" time is worth.
This being said, Richard's case is exceptional (as is he) and there may be other ways to make things work. In the past I provided rides to people needing them - and making an effort to pre-arrange shared travel may be more effective than trying to keep everyone happy. Given demographics and employer locations, I'm willing to concede that the east end is not the technical hotbed found to the west. My neighbourhood is heavily RCMP, Military, CSIS, CSE etc. - but not many free spirited Linux anarchists, nor do I think meetings would be well attended here. Suburbia - few students, not really starter homes, etc.
I'm glad to see discussion traffic here. It is important for people to care enough to write.
The board and the legal "structure" of OCLUG is necessary and critical to having professionals and experts involved. I've sat on a few boards (both profit and non-profit) and as a Director you can not afford to accept the liability this kind of positions incurs without the legal structure in place. Even a student with no assets should be aware that a Directorship brings responsibility with it for government filings, organisational events and member actions. Randall put a lot of effort in so OCLUG could operate and have people involved. A lot of things like regular meetings, corporate involvement, banking and sponsorship absolutely require legal non-profit status.
-- Bill