I think you are spot on in a few areas here. What ever happened tot he good ole days of gathering together, telling people your experiences and just having a good time instead of being in a strict environment. Aggressive Marketers have taken away from this "thing of the past". Remember the "Copy Parties" or the "Install Fests" (I know NLUG still has Install Fests). When getting together didn't mean money or how much things cost and sharing ideas and thoughts and putting them on the table for others to digest. Linux has grown in popularity, even my 65 year old mother has heard of it. I think if we stop being strict about it and start being loose and re-grasping those olden days where we would all get together and share ideas, that would appeal to newcomers more so than a aggressive marketing campaign. Word of mouth is very contagious.
On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 11:19 AM, Bill Woody <woody39...@gmail.com> wrote: > I was thinking recently about how NLUG might appeal to some new member > prospects. > > Marketing people will usually point their efforts toward the most likely > prospects. You will rarely see Enzyte advertised on the Lifetime Channel. > You will almost never see Minoxidil advertised at the NHRA Winternationals. > Where are the Linux users and prospective user/members? > > There are eight million colleges in and around Nashville. It is entirely > possible some of them offer computer science classes. Many are offering > courses turning our children to the dark side. Asking an > instructor/department head if they will allow "this flyer" to be posted will > begin to stir interest in both Linux and NLUG. > > For this to have the best chance of working well, look among your ranks for > a member with an advertising graphics background. There are little 'tricks' > to make a flyer more effective. > > The conversation with the college person might get a few announcements made > in computer science classes. Doing a little homework might find some common > ground and, "Wow! Would you be willing to come to one of our meetings and > give a short presentation on that?" > > If you decide to do this, start with a few mid-level colleges and measure > your results. Learn what works before... think system administration. > > Finally, remember to keep a carrot dangled. What is the benefit for coming > once and what is the benefit for coming back. I believe this is the make or > break category. (I'm sure some of you have been to a local Cisco Users Group > meeting.) > > I hope this helps, > Bill > > PS. Having CLEAR directions to the meeting room would be handy. Grrrr. "This > is the Directions to MCN D2221, our old meeting place "Do not consider > trying to get new members until someone can figure out CLEAR directions. > I was so impressed to see maps and pictures. Then I looked at the map. > Worse, I read the directions... > From Cool Hand Luke: > "What we've got here is a failure to communicate." > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "NLUG" group. > To post to this group, send email to nlug-talk@googlegroups.com > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > nlug-talk+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/nlug-talk?hl=en > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NLUG" group. To post to this group, send email to nlug-talk@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to nlug-talk+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nlug-talk?hl=en
