First of all Thanks Frederick for such an amazing article "Recipe for a
Successful Linux User Group"
I think it is a complete cook-book :-)

Thanks Harpreet for the mail and your fine analysis of our group's activities
based on the the above mentioned article. I am really glad that you took time.
And frankly that's what is needed. Your observations are correct. Let me also do
some more analysis and address your concerns:

> > 3. You need a regular meeting location.
> > 4. You need a regular meeting time.
> > 5. You need to avoid meeting-time conflicts.
>
> Some time back i saw an old poll on the yahoo-group regarding montly
> meeting of LUG. Had there been any meetings in the past and was it a
> regular feature?? Why were they discontinued?? Shouldn't we revive it??
> I agree many people here are busy people with office work n stuff ...but
> we all can find out some time ...maybe once a month or once in two
> months . I believe that would be great .

Meetings and networking across the group are very important. And that is one
thing we have yet to bring into a momentum. We have had some isolated meetings
of group members in the past but I won't call these proper organized meetings
except the 1st Anniversary party that we had organized last year. It was
attended by a good strength of members and we had a lot of discussions on so
many things (you can still see the pictures of that occassion on SunnyLUG
geocities site). Himanshu took time out from his busy schedule and travelled all
the way from Jaipur to attend. We had decided to have reglar meetings. I should
say it is rather me who could not get the physical meetings organized because I
am currently in England. And wil only return back in August. And I would be glad
if some one can take lead and organize the meetings till I return back. However,
I all other things (except the meetings part) have been moving smoothly.
Himanshu's help has been instrumental all through. The membership has crossed
the 125 mark, out of which 99 are active (these figures are based on membership
for mailing list). I am answering queries from people who want to join the group
as well as pursuing potential members on almost a daily basis. But a group means
a team and we need team spirit and a very active participation from at least
local members to get the meetings successful. Whe I am around we can use
facilities from AFRI, ad I shoule be able to get permission form our Director
and can organize meetings. So the problem of venue should solve. And I think
that will surely work out. The other thing that I would like to point out is
that we have a fairly huge membership of people from outside Jodhpur. It is very
good and makes SunnyLUG so enriched by expertise from all over. SunnyLUG though
is a LUG for Jodhpur but the philosophy here is to be a wide open group for
anyone interested from around the globe to be an integral part of it. We already
have members from not just different parts of India but around the world. And I
feel that surely is an asset. In todays world, geographical boundaries do not
pose a limitation, which is good.

>
> > 9. You need to get on the main lists of LUGs, and keep your entries
accurate.
> i'am not sure about that ..... are we there , moderators ?

Yes we are listed (and updated) at:
1. Linux Users Groups Worldwide (http://lugww.counter.li.org/index.cms)
2. Linux For You's LUG Corner (http://www.linuxforu.com)
3. dmoz.org
4. google directory listing


> > 10. You must have login access to maintain your Web pages, as needed.
> > 11. Design your Web page to be forgiving of deferred maintenance.
> > 12. Always include the day of the week, when you cite event
> > dates. Always check that day of the week, first, using gcal [2]
> > (or cal). gcal is your friend.
> > 13. Place time-sensitive and key information prominently near the
> > top of your main Web page.
> > 14. Include maps and directions to your events.
> > 15. Emphasise on your main page that your meeting will be free of
> > charge and open to the public (if it is).
> > 16. You'll want to include an RSVP "mailto" hyperlink, on some events.
> > 17. Use referral pages.
> > 18. Make sure every page has a revision date and maintainer link.
> > 19. Check all links, at intervals.
>
> we can take care of the website ..... I would love to volunteer if the
> moderators wish or need

Thanks for volunteering. You are always welcome to contribute. The
geocities.com/sunnylug site is going well, getting good traffic. And the website
is regularly updated as well. However, the plans to revamp and relaunch it are
in the offing. In fact a forum section has been initiated but have not been made
public yet as it needs more testing. Once that is taken care of, member
interaction will become much more organized and logical.

I appeal all the members to contribute and be active in discussions on the
mailing list and come out with suggestions. I see a very near future when we
will be holding regular meetings of at least local members.

-Tarun




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tarun Kant, M.Sc., Ph.D. -o)
Scientist C /\\
Biotechnology Laboratory _\_V
Forest Genetics & Tree Breeding Division
Arid Forest Research Institute
New Pali Road
Jodhpur 342005 India
Phone: +91-291-2722269 ext. 162
Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/bobkant/
I'm Registered Linux User # 284692
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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