LowerAlabama.rb

[Michael Ivey]

Hi folks, I got tired of saying "I should do this..." and decided to
go ahead and do it.

LowerAlabama.rb => http://groups.google.com/group/loweralrb

So far, it's me. It may always be that way, but the hackfests are
awesome. :)

Any suggestions for how to move it along are welcome.

[Winston Tsang]

Hi Michael,

Here are a few ways you can get this started.

* Go to the local businesses and let them knew about the group.  Ruby/Rails businesses should definitely be the main focus but others are sure to be interested.

* Start up a Ruby/Rails training course to help kick things off.  From our experience in spring of last year, this would definitely kick things off.  Advertise through other local groups (Linux, .NET, Java, Computing Societies) to help spread the word.  During the training course, see where everyone heard about the training course to give an opportunity for other groups to plug their special interest groups.

 

Hope that helps.

Winston Tsang

[Eric Hodel]

Experience suggests that the optimal meeting rate is weekly. If
people know they can show up every week, they'll come every fifth.

Experience also suggests that lots of informal structure is
beneficial. Having to ask a question in front of a large group is
intimidating, but asking the person next to you is not.

If you have a presentation, be sure to include lots of hacking/
socializing time.

--
Poor workers blame their tools. Good workers build better tools. The
best workers get their tools to do the work for them. -- Syndicate Wars

[Jon Garvin]

Eric Hodel wrote:
> Experience suggests that the optimal meeting rate is weekly. If
> people know they can show up every week, they'll come every fifth.
>
>

That may be true for very large groups, but my experience with smaller
groups differs significantly. If there are only 3 or 4 people in the
group, each going to a different 5th meeting, then they never see each
other.

From my experience monthly is optimum. People often have busy schedules
with lots of other commitments, and a weekly meeting could easily be
seen as too much of an additional commitment, that they won't come at
all. Or, if they know that they can always just go to next weeks
meeting, they're more likely to skip one... which leads to skipping the
next too, and then another. Skipping meetings then becomes a habit, and
before long they've forgotten about the group completely.

However, if they know that if they miss one, they'll need to wait an
entire month before the next one, they're more likely to ink it into
their planner and schedule other things around it. End result, meetings
are more like events to look forward to than obligations to commit to,
and almost everyone sees each other at almost every one.

If a number of members really wanted to meet weekly, then I think I'd
organize it such that there was a monthly official/formal/presentation
meeting, and informal/hobnobbing/social gatherings the rest of the time.

--
http://www.5valleys.com/

[Winston Tsang]

Something else to consider...

What days/times do other groups meet at?  You might want to schedule a date that is far enough away that people don't feel like there are conflicts.

Here is Ann Arbor, MI, the majority of the groups meet in the first 2 weeks of the month.  Ruby, ACS, Python, Java, etc.  That's been a bit of a problem for some.

Our group, SouthEast MI (SEMI.rb), meets on first (or second if there is a holiday) Monday of the month.  This is due to the student component.  We meet on the Campus of the University of Michigan and want to make ourselves as approachable to students as possible.  Since Finals, and Major Holidays are toward the end of the month, we try to meet in the beginning of the month.

-Winston