[TriLUG] 2010 State of the LUG address

[Alan Porter]

2010 State of the LUG Address

The new year is always a good time to reflect on where we are, on
what we're doing well, and how we can do things differently.  Since
Barack Obama and Steve Jobs both chose today to deliver their
addresses, so will I.

When I stepped up to become the Steering Committee chair (actually,
I should say that the rest of the SC members took one step back), I
wanted to accomplish a few things.  Some had grander plans.  But my
goals were simple.  Let's see how we're doing.

(1) GOOD PROGRAMS, DEPENDABLE SCHEDULE

My number one priority this year has been to have to high quality
programs on a dependable schedule.  To me, this is an essential part
of building our community, since it encourages folks to gather
face-to-face on a regular basis.

Looking back, here's what we did in 2009 and recently:

2009-01-08 Justin Parker / VMware
2009-02-12 Cristobal Palmer / CAcert
2009-03-12 Doug Newcomb / Open Source GIS Blitz
2009-04-09 (audience) / Lightning Talks - Indespensible Tools
2009-05-14 Tyler McAdams / LinuxDNA
2009-06-11 Daniel Chen / Unbreaking Linux Audio
2009-07-09 Phillip Rhodes / The Semantic Web
2009-08-13 Allen Freeman / Drupal
2009-09-10 Tarus Balog / Open Source Business
2009-10-08 Simon Karpen & Eric Blau / Linux HA
2009-11-12 Andrew Dunstan / Postgres 8.4
2009-12-10 Brian Phelps / The Beagle Board
2010-01-14 Thomas Munn / Linux-Based Arcade Console
2010-02-11 Richard Hipp / SQLite

I think the proof is in the numbers.  We've been having about 60-75
people at every meeting.  We never have leftover pizza any more.
Even our December holiday meeting was very well attended.  I think
folks are having a good time... or maybe they're just masochists.

But I would like to hear your opinions.  Are there any topics that
you would like to see covered?  Do you have a project or a technology
that you would like to share?  About half of our programs come from
unsolicited volunteers!

(2) HOT-SWAPPABLE STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS

A second goal that I set was to make it easier for the existing SC
members to do all of the various management jobs that we do, rather
than putting each of us into one of the five pre-defined pigeon
holes (defined in our articles of incorporation: Chair, Vice Chair,
Treasurer, Webmaster and Public Relations Officer).  For example,
if someone wants a shell account, any one of us should be able to
do that, without relying on the webmaster to do it.

When I first joined the Steering Committee, I naively thought that
there was some "book of secrets" that told how to do all of these
things.  But most of that was not written down (or if it was, I
never saw it).  Now we have a steering committee wiki, where we have
details about everything from how to create user accounts and print
membership cards, to where to order pizza from, how much to order,
and how to set up the VOIP line at meetings.

This also means that in May, when we have SC elections again, it
should be very easy for newly-elected officers to contribute right
away.  If you're thinking about helping out the LUG, serving on the
SC is a great way to do it.

(3) BASIC SERVICES

I don't aim too high on this one.  The LUG provides email accounts,
a mailing list, and an IRC channel where questions can be answered,
knowledge can be shared, and friendships can be forged.  And sometimes
pranks are played and silliness ensues.  But for the most part, we
keep it civil.  Let's not dwell on the exceptions.

Some others have had more lofty goals, and I welcome those
contributions.  Our "planet" blog aggregator, Linked-In group,
Facebook group and Twitter account are all run by volunteers who
thought those would be good ideas.  Others have experimented with
recording and web-casting our meetings.  If you have other ideas,
let us know (but be warned, our response may be "great -- YOU do
it").

(4) OUR HOUSE IN ORDER

Lastly, I am hoping that we can get our finances and paperwork in
better order.  There has already been plenty of discussion about our
bank account, legal paperwork, post office box, and general state of
disarray that comes with being run by a group of volunteers that
rotates in and out of office.

All of these items are slowly getting back into shape.  Thank you
to the individuals who spend their personal time to do boring stuff
like this for the LUG.

The biggest help in this department has come from our recent sponsors,
both at the "per meeting" level and on a more on-going basis.  WE
THANK YOU!  Specifically, I'd like to thank Tarus Balog and the
OpenNMS Group, Jon Carnes and FeatureTel, and our friends at SunGard.
We've also has some personal donations in "the pizza bucket" and in
the mail.

These contributions make it possible to order pizza when the donations
bucket is not enough to cover costs.  And it helps to bring in speakers
that may need to have their travel expenses reimbursed.

So things are looking up, but there is still some work to be done.

SUMMARY

2009 was a pretty good year for the LUG.  Behind the scenes, we had
some struggles to re-organize, both within the Steering Committee,
and with a re-built server (pilot).  But we managed to keep the
momentum going with good meeting content and a vibrant extended
community.

What can we do to help the LUG succeed in 2010?
  - Suggestions for meeting topics, volunteer speakers.
  - Donations, both to the pizza bucket, and wider sponsorship of meetings.
  - Answer someone's question on the mailing list, monitor IRC for Q&A.
  - Help out in little ways: help set up at meetings, take out the trash.
  - Run for the Steering Committee in May (nominations in April).

Thank you for making TriLUG what it is.

Alan Porter