[Ubuntu Chicago] Oh, It's On.

[Michael D. Stemle, Jr.]

Okay all you shining happy people, listen up!  October 20th we'll have a bit 
of a shindig going on here in Mahomet.  The place is Villa Caffe, and the 
time is 1200-1300 local.  After the shindig, we'll be opening the door to 
computer the greater community to spread Ubuntuey awareness and we'll do this 
until, oh, say, 1700.  I think this will give us an opportunity to network 
within our own group, and I also think it'll give us a chance to do the #1 
thing that LoCos are supposed to do: spread awareness.

DIRECTIONS from southern I-72:
Take I-72 east to IL-47.  Take a left onto IL-47 going north to IL-150.  Take 
a right onto IL-150 going east and the Villa Caffe is on the right past the 
bridge but not as far as the McDonalds.

DIRECTIONS from northern I-57:
Take I-57 south until you get to I-74.  Take I-74 until exit #174, and take a 
left onto Prairieview Road going south until you get to IL-150.  Take a right 
onto IL-150 going west, and Villa Caffe is on the left past the McDonalds but 
not past the bridge.

Let me know if you need any other directions.

** FOR FUTURE MEETINGS **

"So, are we just going to do this in Mahomet all the time now that that 
manchicken jerk just bought a house out there?"  Well little Timmy, I sure 
hope not.  While manchicken will almost always stay within Mahomet if left to 
his own devices, it would be great if some kind-hearted member of our 
Illibuntu community set up a venue elsewhere then manchicken would have no 
choice but to take the show on the road.

NOTICE: I'm all for this being a community thing, and no, I'm not the only one 
whose opinion matters--gosh, could you imagine if it was?  *shudders*--but I 
really think that we should make sure that if we do work with alternate 
venues that you follow these three simple guidelines:

1) DO NOT commit the group to meeting somewhere without first consulting the 
group.  We don't want to look like jerks by booking a conference room 
somewhere and not showing up.

2) DO NOT host an event as Ubuntu-Illinois/Illibuntu (same thing, one's cuter) 
without some sort of agreement within the group that it is actually a 
group-approved event.  I'm not talking about voting or anything like that, I 
just want to make sure that we don't have anybody on this mailing list 
getting surprised by events they've never heard of.

3) MOST CERTAINLY DO NOT put the group on the hook for any sort of expenses 
without first figuring out where the heck the money is coming from.  There 
are a lot of sweet venues out there, and most of them cost money.  Before you 
even pitch a venue to the group you need to first know how much it costs, 
know whether or not network access will be provided for free or at cost, and 
what other possible restrictions there are.  Nobody likes showing up to 
something they thought was going to be free just to find out that they now 
have to pay $5 to help cover the venue.

I would also like to remind folks to be specific about which group they want 
the event to be for.  If you want the event to be in the Chicagoland and 
greater area, you might want to consider working the Ubuntu-Chicago angle.  
Anywhere else in Illinois you'd probably want it to be Ubuntu-Illinois.  I 
know we have some folks in other areas, so lets try and branch out and spread 
awareness in those areas as well.

~ Michael "manchicken" Stemle, Jr. <><