Texas LoCo Team discussion

[Lee Sharp]

I have been quiet for the last few posts, but feel a need to respond. 
Please keep in mind that I am responding to things as I understand them. 
  I believe (and hope) that the message I received is not the one people 
intended to send!

Daniel Stone wrote:

 > The idea of an umbrella team is what I thought we were attempting to
 > achieve. Many areas have existing teams and they should not get
 > discounted in any way.
 >
 > In my understanding the concept of a TexasTeam was more for guiding the
 > end user to resources (hopefully nearby them) and building communication
 >  between existing teams to help the state as a whole.

This is what I thought as well.  I support this concept.  However, I 
have reservations about what I am seeing in practice.

 > The term hierarchy really should be left out of the equation because in
 > concept a hierarchy gives the basic feel of one being greater or less
 > than another.

Not to mention some hard feelings from when long established LoCos were 
"Told" we could not be official since we did not encompass the state. 
This still genders some bad will from a few of us.

 > To have to remember mail tags seems a little extreme. Setting even more
 > rules for the new user. Not to discard that discussion but if someone
 > wants to join the list we should be available and have answers if they
 > indeed write the list. Having the tag system to start would have the new
 > and unknowing confused why they could not get a reply.

In Houston we have a list, a Wiki, a FaceBook, and a Myspace.  Frankly, 
I keep up with the list, occasionally remember to update the Wiki, and 
skip the rest.  Now you (not really you singular, but "you" plural in 
the purely planning stages) want to funnel all of our stuff that we 
already have in place, and that works, through yet another system?  I 
think I will pass...

(Note that this is my initial impression, not what the LoCo of Houston 
has decided...  Just giving you a feeling for how some of these messages 
have been received down here, by at least one of us.)

 > Whatever you choose to call them TNT's, LoCo's, LUG's, or Regions they
 > support members of a like area. The TexasTeam LoCo is just the same.
 > TexasTeam is for the state and is here to help the end user find a
 > resource.

Ditto.  We call ourselves the Ubuntu Houston LoCo.  We will still call 
ourselves that later.  Several years of habit kinda sticks...

 > Meetings of the TexasTeam as a complete entity may be extremely hard to
 > attain. Rather small events in separate locations that address the state
 > as a whole.

 > Even at UDS there were only select people that showed up for the
 > meeting. This may have been due to one persons schedule being more open
 > or one being closer than another but in any event it happened and good
 > discussions existed.

This brings up another problem I have noticed.  I consider myself fairly 
clued in.  I was quite surprised to find out how much was "Decided" in 
Dallas without so much as a peep on this list!  Now we are having a 
second meeting, in a different place so more people can attend... Now 
where is it again?  This is the primary problem with a Texas team.  It 
has a center.  It is generally where the most active people are, and so 
if you ain't there...  If you want input from more of Texas, have a 
second meeting in Austin, or Houston, or San Antonio...  Or, have Team 
Dallas II, and watch everyone else just do there own thing.

(Again, I am sure this is coming across strong, and I do not mean to 
offend people, but I am upset.  Hopefully I am helping all of you to 
understand why.)

 > I believe that the function of a state team offers many advantages over
 > the city teams that are in place currently. One of them being larger
 > projects can get assistance and as people have the time they can join
 > and help different regions or different LoCo's using a common channel.

This only works if the larger team is inclusive.  At the moment, I do 
not feel included.

 > I would like to cordially invite anyone to attend a meeting in Arlington
 > this is going to be one of the topics discussed. I will also be
 > discussing current projects that others and myself are involved in.
 >
 > http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1336262

This could be part of the problem, and why I do not feel included.  Why 
is the discussion so fragmented?  We have a list...  Updates are handy. 
  Every time I get on Ubuntu forums I have to check all the threads I 
follow, so I do not do it too often.  E-mail, however, I am on all day.

 > You can register your attendance either in person or from remote here
 > https://edge.launchpad.net/sprints/uta-1nuet/+attend
 >
 > Thank you for your time. I look forward to watching and helping this
 > team grow.

I am interested.  I wanted to go to UDS as well, but could not get the 
time away, and will not be able to again.  So someone pleas take notes.

             Lee