On 7/31/14, 15:35, Derek Balling wrote: > Well, we're going into our tenth year or trying to find something in the > intersecting venn-set of [a] useful, and [b] people are willing to pay for, > and [c] achievable. > > With little to no success. > > D Speaking for yourself of course. There are roughly 250 people every year who find the conferences valuable enough to pay for them. There are quite a few people who find the mentoring program valuable (I don't know the exact number). There is an unknown number of people who find a $45 discount to LISA pretty valuable. We don't get feedback on them, but there is likely some number of people who find value in the discounts and the health insurance and the free eBook from O'Reilly (I used that one myself) and the handful of other benefits LOPSA offers.
Should/could LOPSA be doing more? You bet! Personally, I would love to see LOPSA offering more member benefits of value, a free sysadmin magazine or Safari subscription for example. I would love to have an on-line forum where we could have both peer-reviewed technology reviews and product evaluations. It would be great if LOPSA could release position statements on industry issues. We might even try doing something crazy like videoing the local group meetings and making them available on-line for members. And I think LOPSA should have a jobs board so we can connect our members with employment opportunities. All of those things above have one big thing in common (ok, a couple require money) -- they all need someone to drive the effort forward. LOPSA is an all-volunteer organization, and the LOPSA board can't do everything. We need champions to rise up and drive the things they want to see happen. We need more volunteers. It's nice to sit around on the mailing list and say that you want LOPSA to be both a car wax and a dessert topping. But until someone comes forward with a proposal to do it, there are only nine people on the Board to try and do everything it takes to run the organization. I don't know of any case where someone has come forward and said "I think LOPSA should do 'x' and I'm willing to help make it happen" where the Board hasn't done what it can to help move that idea forward. > > On Jul 31, 2014, at 6:34 PM, Atom Powers <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > >> The problem isn't that we are giving away the main value for free, it is >> that our main value is a free thing. IRC and mailing lists are free to >> setup and free to use; if we start charging people for them we do nothing >> but push people into other mailing lists and IRC channels and then we loose. >> >> Instead of charging for a free thing lets find something valuable to charge >> for. >> >> >> On Thu, Jul 31, 2014 at 3:30 PM, Derek Balling <[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> >> >> On Jul 31, 2014, at 6:18 PM, Tracy Reed <[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> >> > On Thu, Jul 31, 2014 at 09:18:28AM PDT, Will Dennis spake thusly: >> >> I value the mailing lists (and much less so the IRC) but those are >> really the >> >> only two things that LOPSA (National) provides that are of any use to >> me >> >> (i.e. I'd be sad if they went away.) Not sure though it takes a nat'l >> >> organization to run a mailing list and IRC channel tho ;) >> > >> > This seems to be the most commonly values LOPSA benefit. And mailing >> lists and >> > IRC channels are also essentially free to provide. I go to my local >> LOPSA >> > meetings occasionally but only for the socializing and technical >> presentations. >> > But I get that sort of thing from the independently organized Linux >> User Group >> > also. Plus there are lots of independent technical meetup groups to >> go to for >> > that. >> > >> > We shouldn't ignore the fact that if LOPSA cannot find a legitimate >> way to >> > provide value to its members (paywalls are not legit IMO) >> >> And, respectfully, I disagree. >> >> When I was on the board, we heard this time and time again: the real >> value I get from LOPSA is the mailing lists, or IRC. It's been a >> recurring theme in this thread over and over again. >> >> If the MAIN THING you do that provides actual value, you're giving away >> for free, and you're expecting people to pay out of the goodness of >> their hearts, or guilt, or whatever, you're doing it wrong. >> >> The lists and IRC *are* the main value proposition of LOPSA today. They >> have been - literally - since its inception... for almost a decade. We, >> as an organization, can't stand around willing it not to be so. It is >> how it is. >> >> We are entering LOPSA's tenth year of existence this fall. Myriad other >> "value propositions" have been posited thus far, and none have come >> close to providing the value that the lists and IRC do. >> >> D >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Discuss mailing list >> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >> https://lists.lopsa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss >> This list provided by the League of Professional System Administrators >> http://lopsa.org/ >> >> >> >> >> -- >> Perfection is just a word I use occasionally with mustard. >> --Atom Powers-- > > > > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.lopsa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss > This list provided by the League of Professional System Administrators > http://lopsa.org/ -- Dan Rich <[email protected]> | http://www.employees.org/~drich/ | "Step up to red alert!" "Are you sure, sir? | It means changing the bulb in the sign..." | - Red Dwarf (BBC)
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