<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, May 22, 2019 at 11:41 AM Rick Moen <<a href="mailto:rick@linuxmafia.com">rick@linuxmafia.com</a>> wrote:</div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr"><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
There was a brief period when the page's claim about a Noisebridge Linux<br>
Discussion meeting 'usually on Wednesday evenings' at Noisebridge's<br>
Turing classroom was kinda-sorta-maybe accurate. I went a couple of<br>
times -- long years ago. The first time, I found Maestro and one other<br>
guy poking at some tiny control-less hardware appliance utterly unknown<br>
to me, and the first thing that happened was they both turned to me and<br>
asked me how it worked. The question was more than a little<br>
dumbfounding. (Mind you, the page says nothing at all about how to<br>
motivate someone inside Noisebridge to buzz you into the street<br>
entrance, so I had quite a time making a fool of myself on the Mission<br>
Street sidewalk before I could even walk up and find the alleged<br>
Noisebridge Linux Discussion meeting at all.) The two guys' poking at<br>
the device continued for maybe half an hour, but never resulted in it<br>
doing anything, and at the end ISTR that Maestro revealed the device<br>
being some sort of gadget that imitates and communicates with existing<br>
wireless networks. Notably absent from this entire session was any<br>
Linux discussion. Then, everyone wandered off. As this was my first<br>
visit to Noisebridge, I wandered around the various spaces for another<br>
15 minutes, then went home.<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div>Interesting. I went there once or twice
to see if the LUG meeting was on (it wasn't) and <br></div><div>had no trouble walking
in. The door was unlocked and I let myself in. I asked<br></div><div>one of the folk there about the LUG meeting and he said that the group hadn't met</div><div>regularly in some time, but I was welcome to stick around and see if anyone</div><div>showed up. After waiting 30-40 minutes, I then left. I was rather annoyed that</div><div>I'd spent the time getting over there and then waited for anyone to show up and</div><div>effectively wasted half of my evening.<br>
</div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
On a subsequent Wednesday, I went again at just barely after 6 pm, and<br>
there was nobody at Noisebridge in the Turing room. Other people at<br>
Noisebridge (only a couple on that occasion) had no knowledge of a Linux<br>
discussion group. So, I waited for about an hour, fortunately having<br>
brought reading material, then went home. I inquired when I next saw<br>
the regulars, and Maestro said (paraphrasing very vaguely from memory)<br>
'Oh, we met for a few minutes and left.' Having tried twice and found,<br>
on occasion #1, no Linux discussion, and on occasion #2, no people, I<br>
didn't try a third time.<br>
<br>
On Jan. 2, 2016, Jim Stockford posted to this mailing list, on a brief<br>
thread with Subject header 'Linux Noisebridge events ... not going on':<br>
<br>
As I'd tho't the notices were down, and because<br>
the attendance had been zero or one for months, I<br>
saw no need to email the list or mention cessation<br>
to the people attending the SF-LUG meetings.<br>
<br>
I replied (<a href="http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/sf-lug/2016q1/011601.html" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/sf-lug/2016q1/011601.html</a>):<br>
<br>
Well, letting BALE and the Google Calendar folks know would have been<br>
useful, to help them maintain accuracy.<br>
<br>
...and immediately removed the recurring item about a Noisebridge Linux<br>
Discussion meeting from BALE.<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div>That seems like a reasonable suggestion. I seem to recall someone <br></div><div>on list awhile back (but after 1/2/16) tried to get the meetings started up again <br></div><div>by posting about it on list saying he'd be there if anyone cared to show up.</div><div> Apparently no one did and after a few weeks seemed to feel like he got a less than <br></div><div>friendly reception from the NoiseBridge folk. Eventually he stopped posting about <br></div><div>the meeting and up until this thread, was the last I'd heard about it.<br></div><div> <br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
At the risk of indulging a joke that our excellent friend Jim doubtless<br>
got -really- tired of, fifty-three years ago: 'It's dead, Jim.' But<br>
also see below.<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div>Heh. <br></div><div><br></div><div>Magic 8-Ball (<a href="http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Linux_PR/newlug.html" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Linux_PR/newlug.html</a>) says:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<br>
6. You need to make sure that meetings _happen_ as advertised,<br>
without fail.<br>
<br>
One LUG in my area fell apart largely because the president set an<br>
aggressive meeting schedule, and then failed to show up to unlock the<br>
meeting room. Would-be attendees then looked up the next meeting date on<br>
the Web, showed up, found a locked door, and (soon) give up on the group<br>
entirely. So, if possible, have multiple people arrange to show up<br>
early. Also, post signs/flyers near the meeting site.<br>
<br>
If you need to cancel or reschedule an event that you've already been<br>
advertising as "upcoming", don't simply remove the original listing on<br>
your Web pages: Continue to list it, _prominently marked_ as <br>
cancelled/rescheduled.<br>
<br>
That was CCSF LUG, by the way, whose president I politely advised that <br>
advertising a _weekly_ LUG schedule seemed risky and should be<br>
reconsidered. She didn't, and the group pretty much immediately fell<br>
apart because people kept showing up and finding nobody, which convinced<br>
them that CCSF LUG maybe _used_ to exist but no longer did, at which<br>
point it became nearly impossible to overcome that impression which<br>
became a self-fulfilling prophecy.<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div>Which is a shame. I attended a couple of their meetings long ago and it</div><div>seemed like a knowledgeable and good group of folk. And once again your</div><div>comments seem reasonable. However I've come to find out (and maybe you <br></div><div>have too) that people running meetings where the leader doesn't show up or <br></div><div>is two hours late seem to really hate to be reminded of this fact. I remember a non-computer <br></div><div>group I used to belong to where this happened (meeting started 2 hours late and <br></div><div>after most of us had already left) and I emailed one of the organizers about it and <br></div><div>got a couple of rather nasty replies, to the point I finally had to block their email <br></div><div>address. And to the best of my knowledge, that group also no longer meets. <br></div><div>Go figure.<br></div><div><br></div><div>-th<br></div></div></div>