Minutes of the AGM
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Peter Russell
Apr 29, 2012, 5:21:03 PM4/29/12
to python-yo...@googlegroups.com
Hi All,
Below is a write up of the notes I made last Sunday. I apologise for
where I've made errors, and I would very much welcome any corrections.
I think I have the gist of the conversations right, but I may well
have got some attributions wrong (reading over them they look a bit
like a converstation between me and Simon).
Because gmail is very likely to mangle the line wrapping, and I don't
have time to reformat, I've attached my rst source and an html version
too. I'll try to put them on the website later in the week.
Sorry they're so long, but we didn't half talk!
Peter
==============================
Minutes of the WYPy AGM 2012
==============================
Present:
* Peter Russell - Secretary
* Simon
* Bernie
* Edd
* Matt - Chair
* Tony
* Daley
* Anzir
* Dan
* Someone else, who's name I've forgotten
Actions are recorded inline with the notes, and summarised at the end.
Opening
=======
Peter asked if Matt would chair the meeting, which he agreed to.
Peter then volunteered to take notes.
Leadership
==========
We had planned to hold a leadership election, but after a brief
discussion it became clear that the two candidates agreed that it
would be best if Peter were leader and Simon vice-leader. As there
were no objections, this was agreed.
Matt commented that he thought everyone should be willing to help out
the leader and vice-leader where-ever possible, which was met with
nodding.
An extremely tasty looking burger was brought to the table, which
transpired to be Edd's. Om Nom Nom.
Meeting Night
=============
We started to discuss whether the second Thursday of every month was
still a sensible night to meet.
Peter suggested that we consider Fridays, as they are a non-work
night, and so work isn't affected by what can be a late night. Matt
said that Fridays were no good for him, but he did say that we should
do whatever works best for the group.
Daley said that the second Thursday of the month is not a good night
for him as it clashes with XP Manchester, which he says is his
favourite of all the groups he attends [Action for Peter: Check out
XPMan].
Bernie said that Thursdays still aren't good for him, but that might
change in future.
Matt suggested holding another web poll to determine the best night
for the group and potential attendees. We discussed using Doodle
again, but that asks people about specific dates, with no option to
poll for recurring events. We also discussed whether it makes sense
to ask people about each week of the month, or just the days of the
week. Daley pointed out that the weeks of the month are significant
as he attends a lot of other similar groups.
Matt suggested that we use a google docs form, which would write
results to a spreadsheet, and volunteered to do so. Peter commented
that one very useful feature of Doodle is the ability to mark dates as
"if need be". [Action for Matt - set up poll]
Simon suggested that if we chose a night which some people cannot
attend, we could keep them in touch with the group by holding
quarterly events on a weekend. [Action for Peter - Arrange quarterly events]
Venue
=====
We discussed whether Old Broadcasting House (OBH) is a sensible place to meet.
Peter said something cruel to Simon. Posterity does not record what,
but perhaps that's for the best.
In general it seemed to be felt that OBH is a sensible place to meet,
but it does have some problems: It is a fair distance from the
station, and we need to have someone arrive before six to let the rest
in.
Peter said that the timing issue is something that we can better
manage now that we have a leader to organise people getting there in
time.
We discussed some pub venues, particularly the Adelphi and the
Wellington. Tony agreed to contact those venues so we can find out
what they could offer us. [Action for Tony - Contact some Pubs, as
potential venues]
Sponsorship
===========
Simon suggested that the PSF might be able to provide some support,
although he didn't know what. However he knows that they're willing
to cover the costs of EventBrite for some paid events. He agreed to
contact them [Action for Simon - Contact the PSF and see what support
they provide to user groups]
Simon also presented the possibility of Canonical providing some
sponsorship. He said that he didn't think that his status as an
employee would make any difference, and he didn't know what they'd
want in return for any help, or what help they could offer, but he
said he'd look into it. [Action for Simon - Speak to colleagues at
Canonical about sponsorship for group.]
Peter said that The Test People (TTP, employers of Peter, Tony and
James (not present)) were keen to provide sponsorship for the group,
and suggested a number of ways they might be able to do so:
* By allowing their employees to spend some time on WYPy related
tasks, such as organising meetings, sending out announcements etc.
Peter said that he'd asked for three hours a month of his, Tony or
James's time, and could confirm that this is available.
* There is also the possibility of some financial support, probably in
the form of paying for (for example) some Pizzas at meetings, or
some drinks afterwards, but the amount and frequency of such help is
unconfirmed. This would be claimed back after the fact.
* In return for this support, TTP would probably want a logo on the
Group's website, mention at the meetings, and similar.
A motion was put that we accept the offer of time, and if possible
beer and pizza. It was carried unanimously. [Action for Peter - Make
an agreement with TTP regarding sponsorship]
Peter said that one concern he had about accepting sponsorship was
that it might alter our relationship with NTi, who allow us to use OBH
free of charge, and if it became apparent that we had money, or had
access to money, that relationship might change. It was agreed that
Peter (and Simon?) should arrange to meet with Geoff Gifford, our
contact at NTi, and discuss this, and possibly suggest that we should
offer to make NTi a sponsor along with TTP. [Action for Peter -
Arrange to meet with Geoff]
We discussed whether we should try to avoid arrangements that would
involve us accepting money directly, as this would involve needing a
bank account and therefore a whole load of bureaucracy, possibly up to
having to register a company. It was remarked that this probably
wouldn't be all that bad [I don't remember who said it]. Peter asked
what we would do with money if we had it. Simon suggested we could
buy some pet reptiles.
Website
=======
Matt said that he's happy to continue hosting the website such as it
is until it makes sense to move it elsewhere.
Simon suggested that we hold a Dojo evening where we work on a
website. Simon also volunteered to spend some time working on a
better stylesheet for the rst2html output that we've been
using. [Action for Simon - Spend some time working on styling the announcements]
We discussed the offer we've received from a member of the
West-Midlands group, who is working on their website. We agreed that
we should email him with our ideas, and an offer to work with
him. The ideas we came up with were:
* An RSS feed for event announcements only, and another one for all
new content.
* A calendar feed, possibly through integration with Google Calendar
* A system for posting event announcements to various mailing lists,
and possibly also Twitter
* A space for hosting talk slides.
[Action for Peter: Contact the guy]
The question of whether we should be making better use of Google Plus
was raised. It was agreed that it might be useful to make use of the
Pages feature in the short term to supplement our poor existing
provision. However there was no interest in moving to having this as
our primary website, and there was agreement that we should continue
to have our own domain.
There was a brief discussion of what protocols we should be looking at
other than HTTP, for example Gopher, Finger, and a Telnet BBS. These
ideas were roundly thought to be excellent, if anyone has the time :-)
Finally, Simon raised the spectre of having a logo for the group. We
all agreed that this would be a great idea, but not having a graphic
designer or artist amongst us, we didn't think anyone could do a good
enough job for it to be an asset to us.
WYPy or Leeds
=============
The discussion of the logo brought us onto whether we should consider
ourselves a West Yorkshire group, or a Leeds group (Leeds would
suggest Owls, whereas West Yorkshire is more likely Sheep or
flatcaps).
Most of the voices speaking seemed to be in favour of being a Leeds
group. Peter said that he wanted us to reach out to people in
neighbouring towns, and that it was inclusive. However this was
countered by Simon, who pointed out that it was arbitrary to be
reaching out to people in Bradford or Halifax, but not to York, which
is no harder to get to.
We discussed what we might call ourselves if we were a Leeds group,
since WYPy is a pretty good name. Someone (possibly Tony?) suggested
PLUG, for Python Leeds User Group.
Peter brought the conversation to an end by saying that he already
owns two domain names for the group, and didn't much fancy having to
buy another for a while, so he was making an executive decision that
we would leave the name as it is for the coming year.
Time of Meetings
================
A conversation took place regarding what time meetings should be.
This was a finely balanced matter. Peter said that he thought it was
important that people could come after work from outside Leeds, and could eat
before arriving. He said he didn't think it was reasonable to start
talks much before half past seven.
Daley responded that he doesn't struggle to get to the meetings in
good time, and that by making the meeting start later we risk people
have to leave for trains before the end of a talk. He said that this
had happened to him before.
Simon raised the issue of when we end, saying that it might be
important to tell people when meetings are going to finish, so that
they can arrange to meet in the pub. He also said that we should be
clear in our communications about the start time. Up until now we've
been putting the earlier time of 6.30 before the time the talks start
(7.30).
Leeds Groups Group
==================
Someone [who?] suggested that we should try to collaborate with other
groups in the area for cross promotion, and sharing ideas. We could
have a mailing list for local announcements, and occasional meetings
of group leaders. Peter said that he would try to get in touch with
some of the other groups and suggest this. [Action for Peter - Contact
other Leeds and West Yorkshire tech. groups to arrange a group of groups]
Outreach
========
We discussed what we could do to promote the group besides the cross
promotion that would come from the group of groups. One idea was to
try to promote the group to Leeds students.
Next Meeting
============
The next meeting will be on the 10th of May. Simon volunteered a talk
entitled "The Twisted Toolbox - A case study."
Actions
=======
Peter
-----
* Go to XP Manchester, it sounds like fun.
* Arrange quarterly events.
* Make an agreement with TTP regarding sponsorship
* Arrange to meet with Geoff
* Contact the guy about the website
* Contact other Leeds and West Yorkshire tech. groups to arrange a
group of groups
Matt
----
* Set up poll for date
Tony
----
* Action for Tony - Contact some Pubs, as potential venues
Simon
-----
* Contact the PSF and see what support they provide to user groups
* Speak to colleagues at Canonical about sponsorship for group.
* Spend some time working on styling the announcements
* Write talk for the next meeting.
Below is a write up of the notes I made last Sunday. I apologise for
where I've made errors, and I would very much welcome any corrections.
I think I have the gist of the conversations right, but I may well
have got some attributions wrong (reading over them they look a bit
like a converstation between me and Simon).
Because gmail is very likely to mangle the line wrapping, and I don't
have time to reformat, I've attached my rst source and an html version
too. I'll try to put them on the website later in the week.
Sorry they're so long, but we didn't half talk!
Peter
==============================
Minutes of the WYPy AGM 2012
==============================
Present:
* Peter Russell - Secretary
* Simon
* Bernie
* Edd
* Matt - Chair
* Tony
* Daley
* Anzir
* Dan
* Someone else, who's name I've forgotten
Actions are recorded inline with the notes, and summarised at the end.
Opening
=======
Peter asked if Matt would chair the meeting, which he agreed to.
Peter then volunteered to take notes.
Leadership
==========
We had planned to hold a leadership election, but after a brief
discussion it became clear that the two candidates agreed that it
would be best if Peter were leader and Simon vice-leader. As there
were no objections, this was agreed.
Matt commented that he thought everyone should be willing to help out
the leader and vice-leader where-ever possible, which was met with
nodding.
An extremely tasty looking burger was brought to the table, which
transpired to be Edd's. Om Nom Nom.
Meeting Night
=============
We started to discuss whether the second Thursday of every month was
still a sensible night to meet.
Peter suggested that we consider Fridays, as they are a non-work
night, and so work isn't affected by what can be a late night. Matt
said that Fridays were no good for him, but he did say that we should
do whatever works best for the group.
Daley said that the second Thursday of the month is not a good night
for him as it clashes with XP Manchester, which he says is his
favourite of all the groups he attends [Action for Peter: Check out
XPMan].
Bernie said that Thursdays still aren't good for him, but that might
change in future.
Matt suggested holding another web poll to determine the best night
for the group and potential attendees. We discussed using Doodle
again, but that asks people about specific dates, with no option to
poll for recurring events. We also discussed whether it makes sense
to ask people about each week of the month, or just the days of the
week. Daley pointed out that the weeks of the month are significant
as he attends a lot of other similar groups.
Matt suggested that we use a google docs form, which would write
results to a spreadsheet, and volunteered to do so. Peter commented
that one very useful feature of Doodle is the ability to mark dates as
"if need be". [Action for Matt - set up poll]
Simon suggested that if we chose a night which some people cannot
attend, we could keep them in touch with the group by holding
quarterly events on a weekend. [Action for Peter - Arrange quarterly events]
Venue
=====
We discussed whether Old Broadcasting House (OBH) is a sensible place to meet.
Peter said something cruel to Simon. Posterity does not record what,
but perhaps that's for the best.
In general it seemed to be felt that OBH is a sensible place to meet,
but it does have some problems: It is a fair distance from the
station, and we need to have someone arrive before six to let the rest
in.
Peter said that the timing issue is something that we can better
manage now that we have a leader to organise people getting there in
time.
We discussed some pub venues, particularly the Adelphi and the
Wellington. Tony agreed to contact those venues so we can find out
what they could offer us. [Action for Tony - Contact some Pubs, as
potential venues]
Sponsorship
===========
Simon suggested that the PSF might be able to provide some support,
although he didn't know what. However he knows that they're willing
to cover the costs of EventBrite for some paid events. He agreed to
contact them [Action for Simon - Contact the PSF and see what support
they provide to user groups]
Simon also presented the possibility of Canonical providing some
sponsorship. He said that he didn't think that his status as an
employee would make any difference, and he didn't know what they'd
want in return for any help, or what help they could offer, but he
said he'd look into it. [Action for Simon - Speak to colleagues at
Canonical about sponsorship for group.]
Peter said that The Test People (TTP, employers of Peter, Tony and
James (not present)) were keen to provide sponsorship for the group,
and suggested a number of ways they might be able to do so:
* By allowing their employees to spend some time on WYPy related
tasks, such as organising meetings, sending out announcements etc.
Peter said that he'd asked for three hours a month of his, Tony or
James's time, and could confirm that this is available.
* There is also the possibility of some financial support, probably in
the form of paying for (for example) some Pizzas at meetings, or
some drinks afterwards, but the amount and frequency of such help is
unconfirmed. This would be claimed back after the fact.
* In return for this support, TTP would probably want a logo on the
Group's website, mention at the meetings, and similar.
A motion was put that we accept the offer of time, and if possible
beer and pizza. It was carried unanimously. [Action for Peter - Make
an agreement with TTP regarding sponsorship]
Peter said that one concern he had about accepting sponsorship was
that it might alter our relationship with NTi, who allow us to use OBH
free of charge, and if it became apparent that we had money, or had
access to money, that relationship might change. It was agreed that
Peter (and Simon?) should arrange to meet with Geoff Gifford, our
contact at NTi, and discuss this, and possibly suggest that we should
offer to make NTi a sponsor along with TTP. [Action for Peter -
Arrange to meet with Geoff]
We discussed whether we should try to avoid arrangements that would
involve us accepting money directly, as this would involve needing a
bank account and therefore a whole load of bureaucracy, possibly up to
having to register a company. It was remarked that this probably
wouldn't be all that bad [I don't remember who said it]. Peter asked
what we would do with money if we had it. Simon suggested we could
buy some pet reptiles.
Website
=======
Matt said that he's happy to continue hosting the website such as it
is until it makes sense to move it elsewhere.
Simon suggested that we hold a Dojo evening where we work on a
website. Simon also volunteered to spend some time working on a
better stylesheet for the rst2html output that we've been
using. [Action for Simon - Spend some time working on styling the announcements]
We discussed the offer we've received from a member of the
West-Midlands group, who is working on their website. We agreed that
we should email him with our ideas, and an offer to work with
him. The ideas we came up with were:
* An RSS feed for event announcements only, and another one for all
new content.
* A calendar feed, possibly through integration with Google Calendar
* A system for posting event announcements to various mailing lists,
and possibly also Twitter
* A space for hosting talk slides.
[Action for Peter: Contact the guy]
The question of whether we should be making better use of Google Plus
was raised. It was agreed that it might be useful to make use of the
Pages feature in the short term to supplement our poor existing
provision. However there was no interest in moving to having this as
our primary website, and there was agreement that we should continue
to have our own domain.
There was a brief discussion of what protocols we should be looking at
other than HTTP, for example Gopher, Finger, and a Telnet BBS. These
ideas were roundly thought to be excellent, if anyone has the time :-)
Finally, Simon raised the spectre of having a logo for the group. We
all agreed that this would be a great idea, but not having a graphic
designer or artist amongst us, we didn't think anyone could do a good
enough job for it to be an asset to us.
WYPy or Leeds
=============
The discussion of the logo brought us onto whether we should consider
ourselves a West Yorkshire group, or a Leeds group (Leeds would
suggest Owls, whereas West Yorkshire is more likely Sheep or
flatcaps).
Most of the voices speaking seemed to be in favour of being a Leeds
group. Peter said that he wanted us to reach out to people in
neighbouring towns, and that it was inclusive. However this was
countered by Simon, who pointed out that it was arbitrary to be
reaching out to people in Bradford or Halifax, but not to York, which
is no harder to get to.
We discussed what we might call ourselves if we were a Leeds group,
since WYPy is a pretty good name. Someone (possibly Tony?) suggested
PLUG, for Python Leeds User Group.
Peter brought the conversation to an end by saying that he already
owns two domain names for the group, and didn't much fancy having to
buy another for a while, so he was making an executive decision that
we would leave the name as it is for the coming year.
Time of Meetings
================
A conversation took place regarding what time meetings should be.
This was a finely balanced matter. Peter said that he thought it was
important that people could come after work from outside Leeds, and could eat
before arriving. He said he didn't think it was reasonable to start
talks much before half past seven.
Daley responded that he doesn't struggle to get to the meetings in
good time, and that by making the meeting start later we risk people
have to leave for trains before the end of a talk. He said that this
had happened to him before.
Simon raised the issue of when we end, saying that it might be
important to tell people when meetings are going to finish, so that
they can arrange to meet in the pub. He also said that we should be
clear in our communications about the start time. Up until now we've
been putting the earlier time of 6.30 before the time the talks start
(7.30).
Leeds Groups Group
==================
Someone [who?] suggested that we should try to collaborate with other
groups in the area for cross promotion, and sharing ideas. We could
have a mailing list for local announcements, and occasional meetings
of group leaders. Peter said that he would try to get in touch with
some of the other groups and suggest this. [Action for Peter - Contact
other Leeds and West Yorkshire tech. groups to arrange a group of groups]
Outreach
========
We discussed what we could do to promote the group besides the cross
promotion that would come from the group of groups. One idea was to
try to promote the group to Leeds students.
Next Meeting
============
The next meeting will be on the 10th of May. Simon volunteered a talk
entitled "The Twisted Toolbox - A case study."
Actions
=======
Peter
-----
* Go to XP Manchester, it sounds like fun.
* Arrange quarterly events.
* Make an agreement with TTP regarding sponsorship
* Arrange to meet with Geoff
* Contact the guy about the website
* Contact other Leeds and West Yorkshire tech. groups to arrange a
group of groups
Matt
----
* Set up poll for date
Tony
----
* Action for Tony - Contact some Pubs, as potential venues
Simon
-----
* Contact the PSF and see what support they provide to user groups
* Speak to colleagues at Canonical about sponsorship for group.
* Spend some time working on styling the announcements
* Write talk for the next meeting.
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