[dvlug] Fwd: Is there a meeting at Cafe La Scala today?, etc. ...

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Oleg (oleg at yoleg.com):

> In response to Rick: I've thought about it and you're right, meeting should
> not be cancelled just because no-one RSVPs. After all, people might forget
> to post or check and show up anyways.
> 
> But it would increase the chance that someone like me (busy person who
> lives far away) would show up to a meeting if we knew for sure someone was
> there. An hour or more of driving, bridge toll, parking fees, $5 drinks,
> and missing out on conflicting events don't seem worth it just to get some
> work done on my laptop.
> 
> But if nothing else, I can ask again on the mailing list if anyone is
> planning to show up. It worked great for last Friday; thanks again for
> that. I went instead to the Vallejo Art Walk, which only happens on second
> Fridays and thus conflicts with DVLUG.

It may not be obvious, but LUGs that rely on 'Is anyone coming?'
postings can easily get caught in the nobody-went-first trap, where
nobody goes because no single person wants to be the first to say 'I'm
going, for one'.

This syndrome got so bad at Bay Area Debian around 2002 that my friend
Evan Prodromou created his famous 'Shotgun Rules' list, which has been
linked ever since then from the front page of http://bad.debian.net/ .
The essence of the 'Shotgun Rules' is that you're discourage from
sitting around saying 'Is anyone else calling a meeting?'  Instead, 
if you wish there to be a meeting, step forward and 'call shotgun'.

(Bay Area Debian differs slightly from DVLUG in that it has a tradition
that each meeting shall occur only if a specific person arranges one.)