This is a very difficult issue and surely one that will require some discussion from and with all members tier one and two. While I don't agree with Michael Walters on using gambling fund I do respect his position and feel that any decisions made need to take these types of issues into account. That being said I think Jarrod had some excellent ideas and comments so I will comment on his. Any disagreements I have should not be contrued as an attack on Jarrod directly, simply my opinion on what I feel to be an excellently stated point. Like Jarrod...I am sure we could come up wth hundreds of ideas...but we comments are all I can really add for now.
> > - Promotion of CLUG (i.e. TV/Radio commercials, professional promotion, etc.) While this is tempting I really don;t think thsi would be a good use of any funds recieved. I think the appeal would be limited and the benfits we would get would be limited. In other words the ROI just wouldn't be worth it. If we had an IBM or Novell budget to get propoganda and such out there...maybe...but to many people including myself filter out ads tv...or otherwise in favor of the bathroom a sandwich or reading a couple extra pages in a magazine sooner. The professional promotion has some merit though. I think well-thought out and strategic memberships...partnerships, etc. could go a long way to getting FLOSS in some doors. However, I think this would all have to be part of a larger campaign that or a specific project to be of real value. Its fine if we get in the door but if we just stand in the doorway with nothing to say or anywhere to go, whats the point. > > - Financing prominent guest speakers I like this idea...maybe in conjunction with a particular event that might be in Calgary at the same time...sharing expenses with another group. > > - Possible purchase of a facility for CLUG > > I think that purchasing or renting our own facilities should be low on the > totem as we have such a good relationship with DeVry. Something like this > would depend on a steady flow of cash to maintain as well. Hard to see the > value for this money there, we meet once maybe twice a month (programming > SIG), maybe use it for workshops. I can see the appeal but it's > still mostly unused unless we get really busy. I don't quite agree with all of Jarrod's arguements here. While we do have an excellent reputation with DeVry it would be nice to have a place we can call our own. I have read of many groups that have a variety of locations for just as many reasons. this would obviously require some excellent planning and maybe be an excellent long=term project if the casino thing goes through. I would see such a location being used not only by us, but by other tech groups in the city (CUUG, PHPUG, Java User Group, etc.). We coudl have a meeting room that we rent out for meetings for a small fee but gives a common place for not only us but other groups to network as well. We could also run a sort fo coffee bar with net access and office machines. Thsi would be an excellent opportunity to showcase FLOSS in real world situations and if someone attendied a CLUG meeting, they could actually get to test drive something. One group I heard of runs something similar to this but offers free net access to people that are part of projects or something like that. I would have to track down th article somewhere. In conjunction with a coffee shop it could be a sort of technical resource centre where people could check out books, videos, distros etc or have distrps burned to CD for a small fee. CLUG users could use it as an trading post of sorts where they could offer up components on a consignment basis with a portion of the price going back to the CLUG store. Sort fo like a thrift shop. It could also be used as a place for people to come and build computers...test different things. I realy see no end to this type of facility. I don't think it would be hard to keep it busy...if it was planned well. Could also sell our CLUGiphenalia there as well. Hmmm...maybe it could be a replacement for Nexus? > > I agree with Aaron... being able to throw some capitol of our own at an > event would be cool. I really like this idea. Host our own tech show which primarily focuses on FLOSS companies. Of course...let Microsoft come so they can feel like they are being heard as well...plus there money spends just as good as everyone elses. i have been to a few "tech shows" lately and to be quite honest...most of them suck. They all seem to be shooting for enterprise but miss a huge growing market that is being ignored...the SOHO and S<B market. A few come close but many...Convergence included, really don't get it. > Here's some more thoughts: > > - more CLUG paraphernalia, hats, drinking bottles, pens... whatever > promotional items we deem necessary or cool. This would give us at least > some chance of recouping some of the money laid out to purchase > these items. Awsome idea! I would be all over that...but make sure you have fat guy sizes! > Most of this is out of our grasp currently but I know our members > would love the opportunity to purchase a plush Tux if they could. I want a life sized tux suit that I can wear to my furry fetish meetings. ;-) > - definitely do a server co-locate, then we truly have total > control of our > box, our current hosting solution is fine but if we do want to be able to > offer distribution mirrors to help the community share the load > (and I think > we should) then we would need a dedicated box with scads of storage space. TRhis should be a top priority. Have a dedicated box all decked out with FLOSS stuff with hosting deals for clug members (maybe as part of their membership...could be a way to develop corportae or other types of memberships as well). Have "demo" access available where someone can logon and try ut FLOSS in real life with out the expense. Sort of like a living Live CD if you will. > -sponsoring an OpenSource project. Something new or something established, > doesn't matter. If we can't provide people resources then > monetary would be Great idea! > -pay for Linux courses for our members as some kind of bursary thing > perhaps. Do you see where I am going with this? Alternatively, > expand on the > presentations and make them actual courses with exams that could help our > members go for some sort of certification. Actually subsidizing any > certification would be cool. This is cool too. But maybe in cinjunction with a facility we could look at developing a Linux training/testing centre. Or tying into the professional promotions idea..maybe network with extablish training centres in Calgary (like NEw Era Technology) and get them to offer Linux courses and testing along side Microsoft stuff. I know the owner there and he is a really forward thinker when it comes to thsi type of stuff. As long as he can get a good ROI he is happy and not afraid to take risks. _______________________________________________ clug-talk mailing list [email protected] http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) **Please remove these lines when replying
