[chiglug] "Windy City Linux Users Group" on meetup.com

Bonnie King misterbonnie at gmail.com
Tue Aug 25 22:15:20 UTC 2015


Steve,

Can you suggest any meetup alternatives? Please not Facebook.

I'm not really sure what your point is about typical
meetup quality, but ChicagoLUG is a well-run meeting held in a
space dedicated to the event. The organizers have been using
meetup.com for announcements and RSVPs.

I'm willing to contribute to the cost, if we do create a separate
meetup for ChicagoLUG.

On Tue, Aug 25, 2015 at 4:21 PM, Steve Litt <slitt at troubleshooters.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 25 Aug 2015 14:46:29 -0500
> Jim Campbell <jcampbell at gnome.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> I get a lot of notices about Windy City Linux Users Group Meetings on
>> Meetup.com, but most of them are for meetups of a few people at a
>> restaurant or donut shop. Do you think we should have a separate
>> ChicagoLUG meetup group? I don't know of anyone other than Mike McCune
>> who goes to both sets, and it might clear things up for our group and
>> reduce email noise.
>>
>> I'm not sure if it would be worth the hassle, but thought I'd start w/
>> asking what people thought.
>
> Meetup: Not a fan.
>
> First, read their TOS, specifically indemnification. If you have a
> house or other assets, think about it. You post something, somebody
> takes offense to what you post, sues Meetup, and now *you're* paying
> Meetup's legal bills while the the lawyers you pay for defend *Meetup*,
> and possibly throw *you* under the bus.
>
> Second, most Meetup meetings are just what you describe: A few people
> getting together in a restaraunt and offtopic gabbing. And it's
> *always* a noisy restaurant where nothing technical can be
> discussed by more than the four people in closest proximity. A
> presentation: Forget it.
>
> Maybe Meetup meetings are usually this way because the barrier to entry
> for forming a Meetup group is so low that it's done by people without
> the energy and leadership skills to attract people who volunteer to put
> together a website and mailing list and acquire a meeting place.
>
> To me, most Meetup groups suppress technologists' natural inclination
> to network and form user groups. People figure "oh, there's a Meetup
> group, so I won't form one." So instead of meeting lots of go-getters
> who can help them learn tech and serve as contacts and recommendations,
> they go to an overpriced, underquality loud restaraunt and try to
> listen to the table's conversation.
>
> I'm in Orlando (GoLUG), and if there were such a Linux Meetup group in
> Orlando, I'd go there with GoLUG cards and recruit their membership to
> GoLUG meetings, where we have presentations and discussion in a real
> room with no music. I'd be doing everyone a favor except those with a
> lot of ego in the Meetup game.
>
> By the way, GoLUG, and every other LUG I've belonged to, has a "meeting
> after the meeting" in a restaraunt, so those who want to socialize can
> do so. Best of both worlds.
>
> Seriously, if I were you guys, I'd recruit the Meetup guys to come to
> your real LUG's meetings.
>
> To me, Meetup inserted itself into the natural inclination for Geeks to
> gather, and Meetup's help was never needed.
>
> SteveT
>
> Steve Litt
> August 2015 featured book: Troubleshooting: Just the Facts
> http://www.troubleshooters.com/tjust
>
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-- 
Bonnie King
773-799-4608




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