[KLUG Members] KLUG lack of donations, volunteers, members

[Adam Williams]

> Keep in mind that most "First Contacts" with KLUG, and possibly Linux, too,
> will come right here in the mailing lists, so here is where they will
> form the first impressions of KLUG, and possibly the Linux community
> in general.

All I can tell you is that people who attend meetings for a first time
typically get welcoming e-mail, etc... as we have someone who is very
studious about monitoring such things.

Response to such messages on the list is more hit-n-miss.  We don't
(unfortunately or not) have anyone who does that task specifically. 
Even with ~240 subscribers we have AT MOST two dozen active posters. 
Where all the rest of the those ~220 people's mail goes I have no idea
(although I do keep getting SPAM concerning a trans-dimensional warp
generator....).

KLUG officers may be otherwise occupied with some crisis or management
tantrum (most are IT people after all) or simply away on vacation,
etc... (as several have been lately).  So a message that does not ask a
very specific question may just slip by.  I know, persoally, that
whether I reply to a list message depends very much on when it happens
to arrive, and what else comes into my INBOX immediately afterward -
such is my life.

I'm sorry you felt slighted - I can tell you that anyone interested in
participating in KLUG is indeed welcome.  So please except my
post-mortum welcome.

As for KLUG needing more volunters & donations - this is always the
case.  We are not teetering on the brink of collapse or obscurity, in
fact quite the opposite.  No other LUG I know of manages weekly meetings
with specific topics scheduled at least six months out.  We are an
incorporated 501c3 and actually have a bank balance (again very unlike
most LUGs I'm aware of).  We have by-laws, a mailling address, etc... 
The documents available on our FTP site provide a superb survey of Open
Source related topics (IMHO), one of the best LUG resources available -
period.  But all this has taken a *HUGE* amount work from *MANY* people
over the years (how many LUGs have even managed to survive for years?). 
I get frequent e-mails from people all over the world saying they've
used items from the KLUG site, have heard of KLUG, or wish they had a
KLUGish LUG in their area.

But the work is never done, so we always need more people & resources. 
The more established we are the more opportunities are available to us:
Oracle's event in GR, Ximian sending a speaker, Novel coming to present
their new Open Source strategy - these are just the obvious examples. 
To exploit these opportunities takes time (from people) and other
resources (money, for one).  When KLUG can aggresively exploit these
opportunities (IMHO) the entire Open Source community, both local and
global, benefits.

Personally, I derive an immense benefit both privately and
professionally from Open Source.  So I feel it absolutely neccesary to
give something back - and since I'm not much of a developer (you REALLY
don't want to see some of my code) participating in KLUG is an avenue to
pay that debt.

My frustration would almost be the exact opposite of yours.  As program
director for several years now I've been surprised by two things.

1.) The lack of feedback.  Do people find the KLUG meetings useful?  Are
they interested in the plate of topics we present?  How much of the
stuff on our schedule interests them?  What would they like to see
presented?  How could the meetings be improved?  Every *three* times I
ask I receive *maybe* one response.  Now I know that geeks are a
savagely opinionated bunch, so where are all the opinions?

BTW, thanks to all the people who have replied to program director
messages - just in case I didn't personally respond to your message when
you did - I read and consider every one of them.

2.) Failure to appreciate.  Part of KLUG's success (and I think we are
an unequivicable success) is due to the genuine caliber of its
early/founding members.  KLUG had the rare opportunity to begin life
with a pre-installed brain trust, some of our founding members are true
masters of their craft.  People like Bob Brown, Bruce Smith, Stu Gillis,
John Bridleman, Dirk Bartley, Magoo and others who are now gone - they
deserve alot of the credit for what KLUG is - in my opinion, they
deserve a standing ovation for creating one of the most active LUG's in
North America.

Just my three and a half long-winded cents.