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Nothern VA RUG to meet

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Richard Kilmer

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Jan 12, 2006, 4:29:43 PM1/12/06
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January 25...details can be found here: http://www.novarug.org

I will be posting an itinerary soon, but we will be showing the app
were are working on at InfoEther (Ruby + Flash).

Best,

Rich


J. Ryan Sobol

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Jan 12, 2006, 4:39:44 PM1/12/06
to
It's exhilarating to see all the RUG announcements, like this one.
However, I'm saddened that I still haven't found an active group in
Boston / New England. :(

~ ryan ~

James Britt

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Jan 12, 2006, 4:51:52 PM1/12/06
to
J. Ryan Sobol wrote:
> It's exhilarating to see all the RUG announcements, like this one.
> However, I'm saddened that I still haven't found an active group in
> Boston / New England. :(

Start one.

Really, it's not that hard, and people on this list will (I expect) give
you suggestions and pointers on getting one off the ground.

I've been sort of stunned by the turn out for the Phoenix group, and I
keep hearing from, and hearing about, more people who are interested.

But someone has to start the ball rolling.

Looks like you're elected. :)


Here's one suggestion: Look for a Mac or Linux or some other geek-based
user group, and ask them to ask their members about joining a RUG.

James

--

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http://www.30secondrule.com - Building Better Tools


pat eyler

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Jan 12, 2006, 4:55:50 PM1/12/06
to
On 1/12/06, J. Ryan Sobol <ryan...@gmail.com> wrote:
> It's exhilarating to see all the RUG announcements, like this one.
> However, I'm saddened that I still haven't found an active group in
> Boston / New England. :(


Well, there's the Boston Ruby Brigade (boston.rb) with mailing
list info here:
http://lists.rubygroup.org/mailman/listinfo/boston

They were doing things in late 2005, and at least tried
to organize a meeting in December (a hard time to get people
together).

If yoiu don't mind a longer drive, you might look at:

Portland, ME Ruby Brigade starting up (announced
on the rails list)

the New Haven, CT Ruby Brigade


good luck,
-pate


>
> ~ ryan ~
>
>


zdennis

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Jan 12, 2006, 5:22:49 PM1/12/06
to
J. Ryan Sobol wrote:
> It's exhilarating to see all the RUG announcements, like this one.
> However, I'm saddened that I still haven't found an active group in
> Boston / New England. :(
>

I had the same problem last year in West Michigan, I posted a thing on meetup.com, and the next
thing you knew we had people sign up, and show up to meetings. =)

Meetup.com is no longer free so I dont know if you want to fork out the $10 to $15 bucks a month for
their services, but getting one together is quite easy, especially if you offer free food =)

Zach


J. Ryan Sobol

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Jan 12, 2006, 5:39:34 PM1/12/06
to
All New England Ruby enthusiast please sound off.

I'm from the Nashua, NH area. What part are you from?

~ ryan ~


David Vallner

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Jan 12, 2006, 5:56:51 PM1/12/06
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On Thu, 12 Jan 2006 22:39:44 +0100, J. Ryan Sobol <ryan...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> It's exhilarating to see all the RUG announcements, like this one.

> However, I'm saddened that I still haven't found an active group in
> Boston / New England. :(
>
> ~ ryan ~
>
>

Try finding one in this city then (Bratislava). Although I have a very
nagging hunch there's a whole of two Ruby users around here including me ;P

David Vallner


Matthew Moss

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Jan 12, 2006, 6:03:37 PM1/12/06
to
Yo, I'm in the Boston area (work in Cambridge, live in Allston).

Gregory Seidman

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Jan 12, 2006, 6:24:30 PM1/12/06
to

Any chance of a Metro-accessible location next time? I live in MD, but work
in Arlington. Anywhere the Metro will take me is convenient after work, and
I'd love to meet up with some birds of a feather.

} Best,
} Rich
--Greg

Gregory Brown

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Jan 12, 2006, 9:25:49 PM1/12/06
to
On 1/12/06, pat eyler <pat....@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 1/12/06, J. Ryan Sobol <ryan...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > It's exhilarating to see all the RUG announcements, like this one.
> > However, I'm saddened that I still haven't found an active group in
> > Boston / New England. :(
> If yoiu don't mind a longer drive, you might look at:
> the New Haven, CT Ruby Brigade

Our meetings at new_haven.rb are once a month and you're welcome to
attend, though I imagine that's a bit of a haul.

Still, if you happen to be in the area on the second wednesday of the
month at any given time, feel free to stop by and say hello!

Best of luck finding a group near you. Do try universities, local
LUGs, and other places you might find Rubyists or Rubyists to be
lurking :)


-Greg


pat eyler

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Jan 12, 2006, 11:29:32 PM1/12/06
to
On 1/12/06, Gregory Brown <gregory...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Our meetings at new_haven.rb are once a month and you're welcome to
> attend, though I imagine that's a bit of a haul.
>
> Still, if you happen to be in the area on the second wednesday of the
> month at any given time, feel free to stop by and say hello!

Gregory, even though that was aimed at Ryan, I'll keep it in mind when
planning trips back east to visit my folks. :)

>
> Best of luck finding a group near you. Do try universities, local
> LUGs, and other places you might find Rubyists or Rubyists to be
> lurking :)
>

Ryan, As James Britt recommended, starting a group might be a good
way to go. Check out local web design, linux, agile, or XP groups for
people who might be interested. It doesn't take to many people to get
something rolling, we started the Seattle.rb with just three of us.

One other thought -- while it might be too far to go hit the New_Haven.rb,
boston.rb, or the new Portland group on a regular basis, it might be cool
to get the different groups together once in a while for a bigger activity,
maybe a Saturday of hacking and presentations topped off with an rbbq.

happy hacking,
-pate

>
> -Greg
>
>


--
thanks,
-pate
-------------------------


Phil Tomson

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Jan 12, 2006, 11:39:16 PM1/12/06
to
In article <43C6CF70...@neurogami.com>,

James Britt <jam...@neurogami.com> wrote:
>J. Ryan Sobol wrote:
>> It's exhilarating to see all the RUG announcements, like this one.
>> However, I'm saddened that I still haven't found an active group in
>> Boston / New England. :(
>
>Start one.

I second the suggestion.

>
>Really, it's not that hard, and people on this list will (I expect) give
>you suggestions and pointers on getting one off the ground.
>
>I've been sort of stunned by the turn out for the Phoenix group, and I
>keep hearing from, and hearing about, more people who are interested.
>
>But someone has to start the ball rolling.
>
>Looks like you're elected. :)
>
>
>Here's one suggestion: Look for a Mac or Linux or some other geek-based
>user group, and ask them to ask their members about joining a RUG.
>

Or another: find your local Perl mongers group and volunteer to do a talk on
Ruby and or Rails. I did that here in Portland a few years back.

I started PDX.rb back in 2002 and most of the time it was me and 2 or 3 other
people. That is, until this past April when we did a joint meeting with the
Portland Perl Mongers on Rails. Since then our attendence has generally
ranged from about a dozen to 30+.

Rails is making it quite easy to find people who want to attend a RUG.

Phil

J. Ryan Sobol

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Jan 13, 2006, 12:50:33 AM1/13/06
to
Sweet. I visited a friend at MIT just this past weekend. I should
move closer to the city soon. :-\

~ ryan ~

J. Ryan Sobol

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Jan 13, 2006, 12:54:03 AM1/13/06
to
Thanks for the invite. I'll keep it in mind. :)

I've been scoping out the colleges around the area for signs of
groups who embrace the nerd-side. Most of them a commuter colleges
and thus the students tend to be disjointed from one another. Still,
there's a chance...

~ ryan ~

J. Ryan Sobol

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Jan 13, 2006, 12:58:55 AM1/13/06
to
Although I enjoy leading an initiative, I still feel pretty green to
the language and don't yet feel comfortable starting a Ruby-focused
group on my own. Perhaps if I had the assistance of some experienced
Ruby hackers...

~ ryan ~


On Jan 12, 2006, at 11:29 PM, pat eyler wrote:

> On 1/12/06, Gregory Brown <gregory...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Ryan, As James Britt recommended, starting a group might be a good
> way to go. Check out local web design, linux, agile, or XP groups for
> people who might be interested. It doesn't take to many people to
> get
> something rolling, we started the Seattle.rb with just three of us.
>

> happy hacking,
> -pate


Brian Buckley

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Jan 13, 2006, 8:18:07 AM1/13/06
to
Last night the Maine group had a Ruby meetup in Scarborough, ME (south of
Portland). Nick Stuart did a nice demo and discussion of Rails.

I drove up for it from Hampton, NH.

-Brian

James Edward Gray II

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Jan 13, 2006, 8:39:56 AM1/13/06
to
On Jan 12, 2006, at 11:58 PM, J. Ryan Sobol wrote:

> Although I enjoy leading an initiative, I still feel pretty green
> to the language and don't yet feel comfortable starting a Ruby-
> focused group on my own.

Why not?

Leading the group doesn't require you know much of anything about
Ruby. It requires you be the contact point and planner. You ensure
that meetings are scheduled and content is ready for them. This is a
service you can provide for those that do know Ruby better than you,
which in turn allows you to learn from them. All it takes is a
little drive...

> Perhaps if I had the assistance of some experienced Ruby hackers...

"If you build it, they will come." ;)

James Edward Gray II

Yohanes Santoso

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Jan 13, 2006, 9:16:53 AM1/13/06
to
Gregory Seidman <gsslis...@anthropohedron.net> writes:

I work about 10 min. from the Dunn Loring metro station and drive a
4-seater sedan. I could pick you up along with two other people from
the station, and drop you back when done.

YS.


J. Ryan Sobol

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Jan 13, 2006, 10:01:33 AM1/13/06
to
I knew about the Scarborough event last night, but unfortunately, it
conflicted with a commitment that I couldn't break. It's definitely
something I'd consider attending, like the New Haven event.

~ ryan ~

J. Ryan Sobol

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Jan 13, 2006, 10:37:04 AM1/13/06
to
On Jan 13, 2006, at 8:39 AM, James Edward Gray II wrote:

> On Jan 12, 2006, at 11:58 PM, J. Ryan Sobol wrote:
>
>> Although I enjoy leading an initiative, I still feel pretty green
>> to the language and don't yet feel comfortable starting a Ruby-
>> focused group on my own.
>
> Why not?
>
> Leading the group doesn't require you know much of anything about
> Ruby. It requires you be the contact point and planner. You
> ensure that meetings are scheduled and content is ready for them.
> This is a service you can provide for those that do know Ruby
> better than you, which in turn allows you to learn from them. All
> it takes is a little drive...

Thanks for the pep talk, James. However, I should mention that I've
been on the ground level for a half-a-dozen clubs / organizations:
initiative is one of my strengths. From my experiences, I've
observed that my start-ups tended to have a difficult time convincing
people to stick around longer than a meeting or two when the club's
leaders weren't seasoned veterans. Conversely, we couldn't find
places large enough to hold meetings for my start-ups that had
experienced people at the top. From this, I've concluded that most
people come to their first meeting expecting that some of the
organizers to be at their skill level or higher.

That's why I don't yet feel comfortable starting a Ruby-focused group
on my own.

~ ryan ~

Gregory Seidman

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Jan 13, 2006, 11:03:56 AM1/13/06
to

Wow, cool! I'm out of town this weekend (and sending this email from my
cellphone), but I'll send you an email to arrange specifics next week.
Thanks!

--Greg

pat eyler

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Jan 13, 2006, 11:32:43 AM1/13/06
to
On 1/13/06, J. Ryan Sobol <ryan...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks for the pep talk, James. However, I should mention that I've
> been on the ground level for a half-a-dozen clubs / organizations:
> initiative is one of my strengths. From my experiences, I've
> observed that my start-ups tended to have a difficult time convincing
> people to stick around longer than a meeting or two when the club's
> leaders weren't seasoned veterans. Conversely, we couldn't find
> places large enough to hold meetings for my start-ups that had
> experienced people at the top. From this, I've concluded that most
> people come to their first meeting expecting that some of the
> organizers to be at their skill level or higher.

Maybe you can use this to your advantage. What about trying to start
a Learning Ruby group. You could try running a reading group around
Programming Ruby, or Learn to Program with Ruby. After several
meetings you (the group) might be interested in morphing it into a
full blown Ruby Brigade.

A group like this might be able to draw some folks from other
computing groups in the area. While I'm not a fan of meetup.com,
I think they're a good place to trawl for potential Ruby Brigade members.
You might also check out www.gnhlug.org which seems to have a
number of not linux specific things going on. Perhaps posting to
the Rails list would help as well, it often seems that folks on the
Rails list forget/don't know that ruby-talk exists.

>
> That's why I don't yet feel comfortable starting a Ruby-focused group
> on my own.

Well, hopefully you can find/gather a small core and turn it into a
Ruby Brigade.

>
> ~ ryan ~
>
>
>


--
thanks,
-pate
-------------------------


Michael Trier

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Jan 13, 2006, 2:14:40 PM1/13/06
to
At RubyConf there was an individual, I believe from San Diego, that said he
had a lot of experience with starting user groups and was willing to assist
anyone that had questions about the process. He might be able to assist you
with planning and details. Does anyone remember who that was?

Michael Trier

Paul Duncan

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Jan 13, 2006, 2:22:12 PM1/13/06
to

Barring any unforseen natural disasters or flying luminescent pigs,
I'll be there.

Do you need any help covering the cost of pizza, beanies, etc?

Also, I agree with a post later in this thread: Reston is a bit out
there for a NoVA meetup. It seems like a venue in the Fairfax area
would be more Metro-accessible, and closer to the major NoVA roads (495,
66, and 50).

Anyway, see everyone on the 25th!

> Rich

--
Paul Duncan <pa...@pablotron.org> pabs in #ruby-lang (OPN IRC)
http://www.pablotron.org/ OpenPGP Key ID: 0x82C29562

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pat eyler

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Jan 13, 2006, 2:26:04 PM1/13/06
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well, there are 12 of us listed here:
http://www.43things.com/things/view/92040

I'm not sure who said it at RubyConf though.


>
> Michael Trier
>
>


--
thanks,
-pate
-------------------------


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