Meeting Organization (was Re: [Plug] FAQ)

[Chris Fearnley <cjf@netaxs.com>]

Hi,

Thanks for your feedback.  There have some ``bad'' meetings that went
the way that you describe.

PLUG needs meeting topics.  We have done too much Q&A.  At the last
meeting we (finally) had several people offer to prepare topics for
future meetings.  Thank you one and all!  I hope that everyone else is
considering what topics they would like to present.

LeRoy and I have been too busy to do all of the organizing needed to
make PLUG the success that it should be.  But we are willing (anxious
even) to work with volunteers.  Does anyone feel that they can organize
the meeting speakers and topics?  Do the legwork to confirm the speaker
... and get that information to LeRoy so that he can update the web
page and make the announcements in a timely fashion (it is hard to make
an announcement when you don't know if the speaker is going to show)?
Vale, I was thinking about asking you if this task would interest you.
You have so much energy and are such a strong supporter of PLUG!

Also, it would be great if someone could take notes and prepare and
publish minutes to the meetings.  Any volunteers?

Also, it would be good if those people who are prone to start and
participate in the ``cocktail party jabbering'' would be more
considerate to people like Tom who come for a group experience.  When
we have Q&A, I consciously try to make several passes of the room to
make sure that everyone has a say.  There is no need to start private
conversations during the meeting, just raise your hand!  Please save
the private conversations for after the meeting.  Tom is not the first
person who has complained about this problem.  Happily, I can report
that the last several meetings have gone very well in this regard.

Thanks, Tom for helping to bring these issues to our attention.

On Wed, Jul 21, 1999 at 05:38:37PM -0400, Thomas E. Keiser wrote:
> Jason:
>     I intended to send the message to Laktar off-line, and Netscape was addressed
> that way. After clicking send, it decided that since this was a reply, it should go
> to the group, and changed the addressee. Rather than get into a bunch of flame wars,
> let me simply say that a meeting should be planned, and orderly, and people should
> not just form little groups and chatter. I've run two user groups for many years,
> and though it's sometimes a pain, you need to know what's on the agenda, and do it.
> It's fine to get sidetracked, if everyone is interested in the fork in the road; but
> cocktail party jabbering is not a meeting in my opinion.

-- 
Christopher J. Fearnley          |  Linux/Internet Consulting
cjf@netaxs.com                   |  Design Science Revolutionary
http://www.CJFearnley.com        |  Explorer in Universe
                  "Dare to be Naïve" -- Bucky Fuller

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