[TriLUG] Palmer for another SC term; proposed amendment to the bylaws

[Alan Porter]

I agree with Roy that a new policy or by-law will not change our gender
imbalance by itself.  I never expected it to.

However, I do think that having a published policy will (1) show
sponsors that we are professional enough to meet up to their standards
and (2) show some lurkers that maybe we don't put up a lot of crap from
troublemakers.

Story time...  One long-time LUG member told me that he had quit coming
to LUG meetings about 8-9 years ago because there used to be a
sopho-moronic* atmosphere that included loud heckling and lots of inside
jokes.  He later attended one meeting and noticed that the group had
matured a bit, and now he's back regularly.  Having a written policy
that basically says we welcome civilized people is a way to show that we
have matured as a group.

I'd prefer to go so far as calling this policy the "welcome policy", to
emphasize the good behaviors that we're trying to promote and to make it
sound less punitive... but I understand that there is a benefit in
emulating known-working policies of others.

Thanks for the change.

* yes, I just made that term up.

-- 
# Alan Porter