my slides from the quarterly meeting last night (text)

[Rob Lembree]

Hi everyone,

   This is the set of slides that Paul Lussier and I came up
with and presented last night at the quarterly meeting.  As
promised, I'm making them available on the list, with some
commentary intermixed (the slides don't tell the whole story).

   I'm posting this to both -discuss and -org so that everyone
sees it,  but would prefer to carry on discussions about this on
-org, so that those who don't care don't get barraged with mail.

   As you know, I've replaced Bruce Dawson as co-chair, along
with Paul Lussier.  We've spent time with those on the gnhlug-org
mailing list, coming up with how we'd like to see GNHLUG progress,
and these slides cover what we see is a good course for the 
organization to take.

   Our plan makes all attempts at preserving the organization as
it stands, because as it stands, it has a tremendous amount of
value to our members, and a culture that fits well with what we
do, and the people involved.  We have fun, we all learn, and it
should stay that way.

   We do think that there are a lot of people who'd like get into
the community to advance Linux, and a lot of Linux advocacy and
education that can be done, and that the LUG can provide the
framework for that to happen.  An excellent example of this is
how the seacoast LUG's done a lot of entry-level Linux education
for the UNH community.  

   This is by no means an edict, in spite of the fact that we're
"benevolent dictators", but we've put a lot of thought into this,
and believe that it's the best direction for the LUG.

So here it is.


	
	The State of GNHLUG ;-)
	Rob Lembree, JumpShift, LLC
	lembree at jumpshift.com
	Paul Lussier
	pll at lanminds.com
	
	co-chairs, GNHLUG
	
	
	
	
	GNHLUG Mission:  Linux and Open Source Education and Advocacy
	
We need a mission to guide us.  When we do things, we should measure
it against the mission.  When we look at what we've done, we should
see if we've lived up the mission.  I think that this mission statement
is pretty much what we've been doing all along, but perhaps limited
in scope to existing members in many cases.
	
	
		Steps toward the goal
	
	* Do what we do now, but do it better	
	* Regularly scheduled and publicized meetings

This is important.  People won't take the organization seriously
if we're not reliable with our schedule and quality of talks.
Planning in advance and publicizing will let "outsiders" benefit
from our meetings as well.

	* Community outreach (aside from meetings)
	* Talks
	  - Schools, governments, business organizations, libraries...
	  - Install-fests
	  - Cooperation with other organizations
	
To some extent, we've been doing this, but it's been a handful of
people.  It'd be great to have more organization in doing this,
making it easier for folks to volunteer to do talks, installfests,
etc.  The idea is to lower everyone's time commitment by getting
more people to do smaller tasks.
	
	
	
		Some things needed...
	
	* Formalize the organization
	  - Move away from benevolent dictatorship
	  - Need more than a handful of people ~on the hook~
	* 501(c)(3) filing
	  - Requires formal organization
	* Linux International membership
	  - Requires 501(c)(3)
	* Drive to fulfill the mission
	

Note how these items build on one another.	

	
		   Formalizing
	
	* Critical to Preserve the organization's culture
	* Develop a charter (Ben Boulanger leading this)
	* Formalize membership
	  - Not yet sure what this means!
	* Formalize elected positions
	* Sign up people to lead tasks (accountability)
	  - Publicity
	  - Local LUG leadership (doing this now!)
	

We're asking people interested in being part of the group
that defines this organization to join the gnhlug-org list
now, and provide constructive commentary.  If you want to be
part of writing a charter, please contact Ben Boulanger now.
I've asked him to complete the work by the vernal equinox
(first of spring).

Regarding membership, we don't believe that the email list is
s good membership list.  Some people on the mailing list don't
really care who's leading the organization, they view the list
as a great technical resource, and that's it.  Others care a lot,
show up to meetings, and get involved in the more active aspects
of the organization. 

We'd like to hear from people how we should structure membership. 
It's been suggested by a few people that we have free "associate
members", and "voting members", which will vote for the next
set of leaders.

	
		  The Linux International tie
	
	* LI charter allows not-for-profit members
	* LI wants to act as a catalyst for LUGs
	  - Supply LUGs with talks, speakers
	  - LUGs to respond in kind with talks, speakers
	* LI looking for ~super~ LUGs
	  - Those that want to go out into the community
	  - Those that have commitment to the technology
	

At the same time that we were going through the exercise, maddog
was thinking of how to do make LI more valuable to the Linux community
and working with LUGs plays a key role.  We can be sort of a
prototype for how this works if we want to.

	
		  Not-For-Profit Filing
	
	* Requires names, addresses of officers
	* Requires a charter
	* Number of members (perhaps member list)
	* Allows for tax-beneficial donations
	  - We can use money for publicity (postage, etc.)
	  - Donation of demo equipment, etc.
	 
There are a lot of benefits, with the only drawback being that we
have some organization.

	
	
		Linux is a meritocracy.
	
To get recognized in the Linux world, you need to contribute.  This 
holds true for LUGs too.  One goal of getting out there as a LUG is 
to give our membership some visibility and recognition for being
smart Linux people.  Do a talk to a chamber of commerce meeting, and
you're the closest expert they have!  You get personal satisfaction,
have fun, learn something, and make great business contacts at the
same time.  By sponsoring this sort of thing, the LUG makes these
opportunities available to our members.

	
		   Volunteer!
	
	* Join the gnhlug-org mailing list
	* Suggest talks for meetings
	* Suggest talks for outside organizations
	* DO some talks (or at least WRITE some!)
	* Think of ways that GNHLUG can improve
	* Make things happen
	
This says it.
	
		      Summary
	
	* GNHLUG represents a large repository of talent and enthusiasm
	  for Linux and Open Source
	* Using this, GNHLUG can play an important part in the adoption
	  of Linux locally
	* We can not only serve our own needs, but bring the Linux
	  message to others
	* We need volunteers to make this work


Lacarnum inflamare!


-- 

Rob Lembree
29 Milk St.			            JumpShift, LLC
Nashua, NH 03064-1651                lembree at JumpShift.com
Phone:  603.577.9714
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