Ubuntu Toronto Meeting Processes

[Dave Sullivan]

I believe the primary goals of the meetings are: 1) to allow Ubuntu
users to meet each other, 2) to discuss advocacy and promotion, and 3)
to support each other.

That being said, perhaps we need to differentiate between advocacy
discussions, and support discussions. This is why I propose we either:

a) Use monthly workshops as a support-only forum, and add an hour of
support time to bi-weekly meetings
b) Monthly workshops solely for support, and bi-weekly meetings solely
for advocacy and projects

I tend to lean toward the former: have monthly Ubuntu-specific
workshops which are designed to provide the best support possible to
new users, but also include a chunk of time in the regular bi-weekly
meetings for support discussion. I think continuing with the way we
run things now works fine, with the inclusion of a clearly defined
support discussion. That way, we hopefully make newcomers feel welcome
and supported, but we also discuss and work on projects and advocacy.

On 1/12/07, David J Patrick <djp at linuxcaffe.ca> wrote:
> On 12/01/07, Evan Leibovitch <evan at telly.org> wrote:
>
> djp blurted out:
>
> > >> just remember; this should be fun!
> > >>
> > Should it?
> >
> > There is certainly a social aspect of such meetings, but people come to
> > LEARN. And given the technical nature of the subject matter and the
> > newness of the meetings, there's simply a limit on how "fun" you can
> > make a new teacher tell a new student about the inner workings of CUPS.
>
> learning happens best with fun. Even if the matter at hand is as unhilarious
> as cups,
> and there IS a limit on how much fun can be had, we should work to that
> limit.

> > It _is_ necessary to determine if the _primary_ goal of the meeting is
> > instructional or social. Eventually the meetings will settle into their
> > own rhythm and be both, but in the beginning there probably needs to be
> > some structure that is guided by priorities.
>
> I agree. I think we're all pushing for the same thing;
> a clearly defined meeting structure that allow participants to achieve their
> goals in an enjoyable atmosphere.
>
> > The meetings are simply not
> > mature enough to expect them to be all things to all people -- those who
> > want fun and those who need their questions answered.
>
> While "all things to all people" may be a stretch, I think having all
> questions answered and having fun are not mutually exclusive.
> djp
>
>
> --
> djp at linuxcaffe.ca
> www.linuxcaffe.ca
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> 326 Harbord Street,
>  Toronto, M6G 3A5,
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>
>


-- 
Dave Sullivan
dave at dave-sullivan.com
647-235-0328