Meetup Group?

[Paul Gearon]

I just went to look at the ClojureDC group on meetup.com, which I haven't looked at in a while. I see that Chris and Matt are no longer organizers for the group, and hence it will shut down soon.

Does this mean that there isn't any interest in continuing? The couple of meetings that I attended were quite enjoyable, and the people attending seemed quite interested, so I'd hope that they keep on.

Regards,

Paul

[Matt Yoho]

Unfortunately, Chris and myself aren't really in positions to be organizers for the group any longer. Chris has changed jobs and relocated to San Francisco. I, too, will be heading out to San Francisco in a couple of months due to my job, though those changes are unrelated. We have lost our patrons inside LivingSocial, so we've lost our space there. I apologize for letting my job change cause me to drop out of sight with respect to ClojureDC the last few months.

As for the Meetup group losing its organizers, that's actually a side-effect of having to cancel a stolen credit card, and I let that account slip through the cracks. I have just updated the billing info for the group, so it won't automatically shut down. I would be happy to transfer the Meetup group, the clojuredc.org domain, Twitter account, etc. to someone here who would like to keep the group going after I leave the DC area.

In the meantime, I would be interested in meeting at something like a coffee shop, perhaps every other week, for a hack/code-and-coffee sort of thing, either before or after work, though I don't know of a particularly good venue. As for formal presentations, I simply no longer have access to a venue that provides for that.

I apologize for not having better follow-through on the group; when Chris and I started it, our work, personal lives, and schedules were very different.

If someone would like to talk about transferring ownership of the ClojureDC site and group, please let me know.

Matt Yoho

@mattyoho

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[Paul Gearon]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for letting us know what's going on.

I used to run a group in Chicago, so I understand the issues involved in changing situations. I especially understand that one of the hardest parts of managing a group is finding meeting space. DC seems to be a particularly difficult city in that respect.

I live well out of town, and have no leads on meeting space in the city, so I really can't put my hand up to organize this group. However, I can promise to participate more if someone else is able to keep us going.

Good luck with the move!

Regards,

Paul

[Hugo Estrada]

Thanks Matt for the update.

For those who are left behind, do we have enough interest to keep the group going? At the very least we could meet at coffee shops while we work out finding a meeting space.

Hugo

[Wes Freeman]

I still attend the Reston group regularly. It will soon be metro accessible in theory (Whiele on the silver line is a couple hundred yards away), and every couple months someone from DC asks for a ride from/to Vienna/West Falls Church Metro these days. Here's the other meetup in case people didn't know about it:

http://www.meetup.com/Cap-Clug/events/106108522/

If a DC oriented one starts back up I'd be happy to get a double dose of clojure again. Good luck to you guys in SF. Github sounds like a fun place to work. :) Where'd Chris end up going?

Wes

[Craig Andera]

I for one will participate in the group if it continues. I can't go
every month, and I do try to attend the Reston one as well, which
occasionally impacts my ability to head into DC (can't always get a
hall pass from the wife).

[Paul Gearon]

The hall pass has been a limiting factor for me too. :) (I have to leave mid afternoon to make it in time, and we have young children).

I've been along to the Reston group once before, but it appears to be a very different kind of meeting (though it may be different on other occasions). I like the group in DC and have enjoyed both learning and talking with you guys there. The other thing is that it seems easier for me to get to DC. Driving up to Reston means fighting a LOT more traffic.

So I'll try to make the Reston group, but will certainly make time for the DC group if we can get a venue for it.

Paul

[Jason Gilman]

I might be able to get space at our company's office. It's in a 10 minute walk from the metro in Old Town Alexandria though so it's far away from a more ideal center location. I really wanted to go to more of these meetings but it was hard to get into the city. If it was held at my company's office that would make it easier for me to get to. If that location works for others and someone wanted to take over managing the group I could look into it.  Old Town is really nice to walk through. There's parking in the area too.

[Jason Gilman]

I went ahead an checked with the management and we can hold it at my company's office if it continues.  I love the lack of red tape at small businesses. 

[Craig Andera]

Alexandria is fine by me. Indeed, it may even be somewhat easier.

In.

[Hugo Estrada]

Alexandria is fine.

[Paul Gearon]

Google Maps tells me that this is quicker for me to get to as well.

Paul

[Craig Andera]

Relevance is willing to provide support for the meetup: we'll buy the
pizza and remotely help with the organization. I've cc'd Lynn, who is
(among other things) our amazing events coordinator.

Jason, if you want to contact Lynn directly, you guys can sort out who
needs to do what. Feel free to pull me in as necessary.

Also: thanks to Paul for pushing on this, and especially to Jason for
securing a location!

[Paul Gearon]

Well my wife really wants me to avoid a regular conflict that we have with the 3rd Tuesday of the month, so I'd like to see a change, if possible. However, for this month I'm sure I can talk her into it.  :-)

(If another day suits people, then please let me know. I don't want to have to miss occasionally due to conflict).

Meanwhile... do we want to meet in 2 weeks? Does that suit people? Would that work for your company Jason?

If so, then what about things to do, speakers, etc? I've learned some interesting things about interop with Java parser generators to create streaming parsers, which I could turn into a short talk, if anyone's interested. Anyone else?

Paul

[Craig Andera]

Two weeks is week of Clojure/West. So I won't be able to attend. But
generally speaking, my attendance will be spotty, so if that day works
for people, go for it!

As before, I'm happy to talk about Clojure stuff, or about Datomic,
when I'm able to attend.

[Michael Fogus]

I'm happy to talk about just about anything also, but like Craig my
attendance will be spotty. Thanks for pulling this together everyone.
It's nice to have more Clojure love.
:F

-- http://blog.fogus.me
-- http://github.com/fogus
--

[Jason Gilman]

I'm checking into the possibility of meeting in two weeks. There might be some logistics to work out.  How many people typically attend?

[Paul Gearon]

Doh. I should have remembered that. (The organizer for Clojure/west works with me).

I can't attend Clojure/west myself (due to rea$on$ that I'm $ure people can gue$$). That being the case, is there another time this month that will suit people? I'm not available for the next few Thursdays (I'm teaching the local elementary school how to program with Scratch), and Wednesday next week (the 13th) is the Reston Clojure meetup. Any other day will work for me.

Paul 

[Craig Andera]

The two times I was there, attendance was in the 20-30 range, IIRC. I
suspect 15 is a more likely steady-state number.

[Hugo Estrada]

Any day but Wednesdays for me.

[Wes Freeman]

Whatever you guys do, I'd appreciate it if you not schedule it on the same day as the Reston Clojure meetup. :P Ideally it would be like an even 2 weeks apart, but the same day thing is key.

Thanks,

Wes

[Paul Gearon]

That sounds fine by me. I'd like to make the Reston one occasionally as well. They're scheduled for the second Wednesday of the month.

Tuesdays continue to work for me. If people like the 2-week spacing with Reston, then we could aim for the 4th Tuesday of the month? If we do that, then we can avoid a conflict with Clojure/West this month, and would even give any local attendees an opportunity to report on what happens out at the conference.

So how would people be with the 4th Tuesday? Jason, would the room still be available?

Regards,

Paul

[Jason Gilman]

Tuesday's will generally work great for me and the company. That Tuesday is already booked unfortunately.  Could we do the first one day off on that Monday or Wednesday?  That would be March 25th or 27th.

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[Paul Gearon]

I'll get in quickly and set my preference to the 27th, since my wife has the 25th set aside for her book club.

Pual

[Jason Gilman]

I was able to rearrange my schedule for the 26th.  Let's plan on doing it that Tuesday then.  6:00 - 8:00 pm so it should be at the same time.  I'll obtain pizza and drinks (we're directly above a Bertucci's). And I'll definitely take Think Relevance up on their generosity.  

Who would like to speak?

[Paul Gearon]

Hi Matt,

Way back at the start of the Meetup Group thread you said:

If someone would like to talk about transferring ownership of the ClojureDC site and group, please let me know.

Subsequently, we had Craig come back with the generous offer from Relevance:

Relevance is willing to provide support for the meetup: we'll buy the
pizza and remotely help with the organization. I've cc'd Lynn, who is
(among other things) our amazing events coordinator.

 

I know that Meetup.com requires a group organizer, and that a fee is involved. I think that it's really worthwhile staying attached to Meetup.com, as it provides a well known central place for people new to Clojure to find us.

I see that you've paid that fee in order to keep the group going. I really want to say thank you, especially since you're moving away. We're also going to need to add someone as an organizer, so that future billing will be attended to, and to keep the meetup.com page up to date. I can volunteer for this, though it sounds like Craig also raised Lynn's hand? :-)

Thanks to both you and Chris for getting the group going in the first place. While I'm at it, I want to say thank you to Jason. I know from my own time organizing these groups that venues are hard. If you just show up in a coffee shop then attendance is low and it rarely works well. Having some office space makes a big difference.

Regards,

Paul

[Paul Gearon]

Hi Lynn,

This hasn't shown up in the Google Group. You may need to subscribe to post messages. (I'm replying via a gmail account with the hope that it goes straight to the group, but I can repost if it doesn't).

https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!forum/clojuredc

You'll see the discussion that prompted this at the top of the list (Thread subject of "Meetup Group?")

Responses inline...

On Thu, Mar 7, 2013 at 3:12 PM, Lynn Grogan <ly...@thinkrelevance.com> wrote:

Hi All!

As Craig mentioned, I'm happy to help in any way possible from Durham, NC. This hasn't been officially announced yet, but Clojure/conj 2013 will be in Alexandria, VA, so I'm also really excited about keeping this group going so we have an energetic local crowd when the conference rolls around. 

That's exciting news. I'll keep an eye out for the announcement.

 

Just so I make sure I have my facts straight...

Meetup Group: ClojureDC

Former Organizers: Matt Yoho, Chris Maddox

New Organizer: Needed (this person will have Lynn's assistance)

As I said, I'm keen to see the group doing more, so I'm volunteering. If people are happy with that, (or if they'd prefer someone else) then Matt or Chris will need to add new organizers.

Caveat for Lynn's benefit: The other members of the group already know that I live out of town. It takes me about an hour to get up there. (luckily, the location of Jason's office avoids the major traffic bottlenecks for me)

Location: Alexandria, VA

Upcoming Venue Space: Jason Gilman's Office (jason....@gmail.com) - Company Name?

Usual Meetup Date: 3rd Tuesdays

This month it will be the 4th Tuesday. I'm hoping that this will end up as the regular date. There has already been one other request for the 4th week, as it gives us even spacing (every 2 weeks) with another group that is nearby.

 

Usual Meetup Focus: Hack Night

Actually, no. At least, not in the ones I've been to. The Reston group has this focus. Of the ClojureDC meetings I've been to there have been presentations and koans. I think this was well received, and I liked it myself. I expect that it will stay the same, at least for the moment, though it's possible that the group may choose to change focus in upcoming meetings.

 

Please correct me if I've gotten anything wrong :) 

It sounds like you guys might want help with listing and promoting events, ordering food, lining up speakers, etc.  I'd love to set up a Skype call with whomever might want to serve as the proxy DC organizer to get the ball rolling for the next Meetup group. I'd love to see this group keep going!

So would I. Things were understandably quiet over December, but we've taken a while to get things moving again, and I'd like to see that change. Even if no one else showed up, I'd still be happy to show up at Jason's office and hang out with him talking Clojure. Luckily, I'm pretty sure there are other people who'd like to come too.  :-)

Paul

[Lynn Grogan]

Here I am! I didn't see this as a Google Group message. Thanks for the updates, Paul, it sounds like you guys have the ball rolling for the next ClojureDC event. Let me know how I can help (and where I can send the pizza or other delicious food deliveries!). 

Cheers, Lynn