[Ubuntu-us-wisconsin] Why the inactivity?

[Ian Weisser]

> On 05/01/16 09:19, Ian Weisser wrote:
On Sun, 2016-05-01 at 10:03 -0500, Simon Quigley wrote:


> > The wiki page to gather location data is a helpful step to
> > indentify concentrations. Clever!

> I think this was a good idea except for the fact that some people may
> not want their location in a public database. I'm fine with it, but
> others may not be. So we can only gauge so much. LoCo members, do any
> of you think this is a *bad* idea or do we all agree that this is
> beneficial?

It's beneficial. Zip Codes and Town names are unquestionably public,
not Personally Identifiable Information (PII). We really only need an
approximate location, and the member is not required to be truthful --
if somebody is really worried about disclosing that their username is
in Middleton, simply claim to be in Sun Prairie instead.







> > 1) Help enthusiasts find upstream projects to help

> Are you saying to help members contribute to projects such as Debian
> and further upstream? This is what you are implying?


Don't read too much into it.

At the minimum, it merely means helping the occasional stray volunteer
who wanders into us looking for, say, Debian, to find their way to the
right place. It has happened.

On occasion, we get a member who does contribute to an upstream
project, and wants to recruit new participants from among our members.
They envision a sub-LoCo team devoted to that project. It has happened.
It's not a big deal. It means zero additional burden for the LoCo. The
goal simply means that such collaboration is explicitly okay.

The reason it's a goal is so that the concept will get exposed to
members. "Hey, I never thought of that. I should try that."





> > 2) Teach enthusiasts how to contribute to Ubuntu (testing, bug
> > triage, documentation)

> I think this is one of the goals the LoCo council set up for us.
> Because I've heard about teams like the Ubuntu Beginners Team and the
> Ubuntu Youth team that no longer have a place because we have LoCos. 


Yes, it's one of Ubuntu's original purposes for LoCos. That's why it's
on the list. It's also one right way to give back to the OS that we
use...and many Ubuntu teams (like the Documentation Team) are rather
desperate for more help.

The reason it's a goal is that most members have no idea how to edit
documentation or Triage bugs. One proper role of a LoCo is to train
those skills and occasionally run a Jam.

Correction: Ubuntu Beginners and Ubuntu Youth were created after LoCos.
They became moribund and died for reasons unrelated to LoCos.



> I would really love to participate in helping people get their Ubuntu
> membership, so I've been writing a blog series[2] to help people, but
> I think this is really good to do as a whole LoCo. This should be
> something we discuss.


Most Ubuntu Members that I have met would have contributed anyway.
Indeed, they were contributing anyway, and need to be prompted to
finally apply for Membership.




> > 3) Coordinate and support the Ubuntu-related events of local LUGs
> > and/or upstream projects.

> We have people from Minnesota here, and I strongly believe
> coordination with the LoCos in the midwest would help us and them a
> lot. While I think you are implying coordination with the local LUGs,
> which I am all for as well, we should really collaborate with other
> LoCos.


What kind of collaboration with other LoCos? 
What's going on with them? I haven't seen nor heard anything.



> > 4) Assist local Ubuntu users with support and installation help

> I've installed most of the Ubuntu flavors and Ubuntu many times, so I
> would be glad to assist with that, but I'm not good with end-user
> support most of the time. This is something to discuss for sure.


I do end-user support in the Forums and the LUG. Once or twice a year,
a user just can't communicate well online, or simply cannot follow
instructions, or is so frustrated over something simple that the
easiest answer is to tell them 'Look, just take your machine to a LUG
meeting and let them fix it in 20 seconds.' 

The reason it's a goal is that it's expected of us. We are the local
face of Ubuntu. It doesn't mean running our own free help desk. It
means referring users who contact us to an appropriate online forum,
LUG meeting, or LoCo event that can help them. 




> > 5) Conduct Ubuntu-themed events so fellow enthusiasts can meet and
> > have a good time

> I like this idea. While it's too late to have a party for 16.04, one
> for 16.10 definitely isn't out of the question.


Reminder: Milwaukee LUG *is* having an event to celebrate 16.04.
However, no cake or drinks - we're doing an UpgradeFest. Bring in your
old 12.04 (or 10.04, or 14.04) machines and backup/upgrade them with
the clever oldsters in the room to help if something goes wrong. May
14th and June 11th meetings.

This is the first Ubuntu-specific event the Milwaukee LUG has hosted,
and I'm proud that over the past two years we have shed a lot of the
old distro-wars FUD and anti-Ubuntu rancor from the LUG's culture.

An event doesn't need to be a Release Party.
An event doesn't need to be standalone.
An event simply needs to attract members and users. It can be appended
onto another event that they were already attending. Indeed, that's how
UbuCons started.

The reason it's a goal is that meetups are explicitly part of the LoCo
Council guidelines.
 


> > 6) Spread word of Ubuntu to people and organizations; grow new
> > users. 
> 

> I agree, but this shouldn't be our first priority when we are at this
> stage. :)



The goals are not listed in any particular order. The reason it's a
goal is that, like support, it is expected of us whether we actually do
much of it nor not.

Others have chimed in that they tried evangelism and tired of it (me
too). New, enthusiastic evangelists pop up occasionally. This goal
merely explicitly authorizes an evangelism sub-team within the LoCo.

There is an implication that the LoCo leadership will supervise to
ensure the LoCo and Brand guidelines are properly followed. There is
also an implication that others in the LoCo will provide support to
evangelist-related projects (like a mass-install). 


Cheers, 

Ian