UBUNTU: [SPAM] Re: ubuntu folks

[Linda Halligan]

Chuck West wrote:

>>  That's what happens with a group that has no leadership or focus.
>>      
>>     
>
>  Ouch. It's very hard for one person to make heads or tails of this LoCo
>  stuff. I appreciate any help I can get. I hear a lot of criticism but
>  very little of the constructive kind. I got the ball rolling but I was
>  hoping at some point I could get some assistance. Frankly I am confused
>  by the process. 
>
>    
>   

Have you seen the rest of the activity on this list? You may be under a
deluge of emails being marked as spam by your server, but I have been
suggesting a lot of constructive things over the past week+ and trying
to get the few of us who are responding on the same page regarding what
we should be doing as a LoCo, which appears to be very ambiguous at this
point. I am also organizing actions to get these points rolling.

Please check out all the threads at
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-us-wa/2009-December/thread.html.

My statement was a direct result of those expressed to me by members on
the mailing list and in the IRC channel about the current status of the
group. It was not a criticism. The last activity I was able to find
surrounding getting the group organized was from last December. To me
that finding indicates a lack of current leadership. However if there
are efforts that are occurring outside the LoCo resources someone who is
new to the group, such as myself, and interested in seeing it succeed,
such as myself, is left completely in the dark. I'm not blaming anyone
for the current state of the LoCo, but I am trying to get the ball
rolling again by speaking up as well as organizing.


>>  I have also taken the initiative to setup an IRC meeting...
>>      
>>     
>
>  I set this up long ago:
>
>  #ubuntu-us-wa on irc.freenode.net:6667
>
>    
>   

That is a channel, which a few of us are already on all the time. I am
talking about having a specific date and time for people to get together
to discuss what they want out of the group and to get a RoadMap and
action plan underway. Please see the updated Agenda and the doodle poll
to choose a date and time for the meeting linked here:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WashingtonTeam/Meetings/CurrentAgenda
 

>>  Essentially, I am being vocal and coordinating because no one else is. I
>>  would heartily welcome input from anyone else, and encourage other
>>  people to take responsibility for things they would like to see happen.
>>      
>>     
>
>  I ran into that myself.
>
>    
>   
>>  https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WashintonTeam
>>  https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WashingtonTeam/Meetings/CurrentAgenda
>>  https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WashingtonTeam/Projects
>>      
>>     
>
>  I had setup https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WashingtonTeam to get started. Yes, and when I was looking into what the WA LoCo was up to I found all of the resources scattered and out of date, so I took the intiative to update the information I could find and proprose projects and activities to re-energize the group.
>
>    
>   
>>>  Also, I am having trouble understanding these emails. why cant we blog 
>>>  instead. 
>>>        
>>>       
>
>  That's what we do at http://olylug.org/ and you might like that for now.
>
>    
>   

As I stated in my last email moving LoCo discussions off the LoCo
resources is a bad idea because people who are new to the LoCo or
looking for current activity will have a much harder time of finding
information and figuring out how they can be involved in LoCo activities.


>>>  maybe im looking 
>>>  too much into it.
>>>        
>>>       
>
>  No, it's a frontier out here. A little like the Wild West.
>
>    
>   

There is actually a fairly extensive wiki document outlining how to set
up a LoCo, as well as many other US and international LoCos to look at
for guidance on how to run a LoCo and what sort of organization we can
have and activities we can do. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LoCoTeamHowto

>> If we can get Chuck to request the official Washington State subforum it
>>  may be easier for some discussions to occur there.
>>      
>>     
>
>  That's probably the next step? Now I have to determine where in the process we are at. I got lost again. I just found this comment, please send mail to chuck at olylug.org or call 360-292-7777 soon!
>
>    
>   
I have sent a few emails to you directly asking for your involvement,
including inviting you to participate in the current threads on the
mailing list, and have gotten very little in response.


>>  And I will be there with an overwhelming amount of
>>  enthusiasm if my schedule allows it.  :-) 
>>      
>>     
>
>  Good, we sure can use it. I think if we relax and stay focused we can do
>  this well. At one point I had a roadmap and I got confused and had no
>  help. I guess the next step is to see where we are on the roadmap and
>  find the next step. 
>
>    
>   
I don't see a RoadMap on the wiki. This is one of the points I added to
the CurrentAgenda for the next IRC meeting.


>  Be very careful what you change on our wiki page please. The LoCo was
>  started In Olympia do to the large percentage of Ubuntu users and it's
>  relationship to Portland's free software community. Yes Seattle is   important too as is all of the state. It would be a shame to rebrand it
>  as a Seattle-centric group and loose it's rich history. Frankly, since
>  the LoCo process has been cumbersome and slow to grow many people
>  prefered http://olylug.org/ for threaded discussions. I would love to
>  see the LoCo become as useful. 
>   
LoCos are statewide and as such should not be centered on any particular
point in the state. Once we have enough traction and are headed in
specific focused direction breaking out into regional groups under the
umbrella of the state LoCo for projects makes sense. But at this point
focusing on any one particular area, whether it be Olympia or Seattle,
to the exclusion of another will only serve to make it harder actually
get this thing moving.

I am willing to coordinate activities, and am in fact doing so, in the
Seattle/Everett area because that is where I am located.

I also have some ideas on how we can gain local traction in a few of the
major metro areas and expand traction through out the rest of the state
with targeted events coordinating with regional LUGs and events per
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LoCoWorkingWithOtherGroups. I have yet to write
out that proposal, as I'd like to see who is interested in participating
before I spend 5+ hours researching and writing out a statewide RoadMap
proposal that will take a few years to implement fully and will require
more than one or even three people behind the effort.


>  There are two ways to approach the LoCo.
>  You can come to help or you can come to be constructive. The later is
>  very uncommon.
>
>    
>   

I think I'm being very constructive in trying to get the group to come
together and agree on a purpose and get a few projects in the works
(that I am willing to spearhead and find the resources to accomplish).
As well as putting putting a fair amount of effort into bringing the
existing resources into alignment with the recommended practices on the
LoCoTeamHowTo document linked above.  And putting together social
networking resources, such as a twitter account and a facebook page to
get people aware of the existence of the LoCo in an effort to get more
people involved who will want to take on some responsibility for getting
the group off the ground and getting projects in the works.

If you think my efforts are wasted I'm more than happy to focus on other
regional groups, and we can go back to having zero activity or expressed
interest in the LoCo as per the last three or more months of the mailing
list, and as far as I can tell the IRC channel as well.

-Linda