On 27 Jan 2004 22:13:06 -0500 Bruce Dawson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I'd like to suggest that the groups have created a comfortable > structure and that they feel they don't need Quarterly "global" > meetings anymore. But that they do like (or don't care about) the > infrastructure that GNHLUG set up, and might continue to use it - > especially when one finds a "big name" to come speak. Sorta like BLU, > SwANH, and GNSEG do with GNHLUG. I suppose I should keep quiet because I have not helped out as I should and the current state is the result of people like me not doing anything to help GNHLUG and Centralug grow. However, talk is cheap. While others know the history far better than I, it seems to me that historically, GNHLUG had as its base meetings in Durham and Nashua. that is where the focus had been and where the meetings were held including the "major" meetings. With the increased interest in Linux, more people became attendees, more people wanted meetings of a more local nature, and GNHLUG, to the extent it was anything other than loose collection of people with common interest, decided to create local groups under its umbrella. Some of those have done better than others and I find myself trying to attend local meetings more than the Nashua larger group meetings. For whatever reason it seems to me the Nashua and to some extent the Durham group have reassumed the role of hosting the major meetings. The other local groups to what they can do. The reality, it seems to me, is that without a structure to maintain continuity and persons to be responsible for the organization, GNHLUG and the local groups will forever be informal and hit or miss. I do not suggest this is bad or by this make a qualitative statement. It is a quantitative statement. It might even be best given the time and energy that the participants can bring to the organization. What we do not want, I suggest, is a situation in which good people burn out beating their heads against the wall. Something that has happened more than once and for which I accept my share of the responsibility. The real question is what should GNHLUG be and who is GNHLUG and who get s to decide the who,what, when, where, why, and how of GNHLUG. Until this is defined and we have a group of people with the time and energy to work toward that common goal, GNHLUG and the sub groups will continue as they have been, which may well be just fine. I believe there has never been agreement on that, but I believe there has been a tacit agreement that the less organization the better and the more informal the better. I suppose one could question whether the way a loose collection of hobbyists and activists tend to associate is a good way to promote Linux and OSS now give its higher public visibility. For me, the task and the small segment of the world where I might be able to make an impact is to assist the operation of the Centralug and to support the larger meetings held in Nashua and Durham when I can as the talks from national figures and the "Chrismas" meeting have always been events I looked forward to. Ed Lawson _______________________________________________ Gnhlug-org mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-org
