The future of pdxruby

[Sam Livingston-Gray]

Hey, all-

In case you missed it, Brent Miller posted the following in the #meeting-structure channel in our Slack:

Hi y’all! I think we need to have a tough conversation about the meetup, sponsorship, and consistency. Last week was a real miss on the organizing side, and the attendance showed it. I can’t continue to justify using NR’s funds (~$800/event), and the space (a rare large meetup space in this city) when the attendance isn’t there. We’ve had enough such misses over the past year that I’m now having to fight to keep the sponsorship alive, and frankly I’m out of time and energy to do so. I hate to do this, but I have to impose some minimum requirements on the group in order to keep the sponsorship alive. 

 

We need 30 people to show _consistently_. In recent times, 30 has been a high water mark; when we’ve been organized, had speakers, and done the marketing work, we’ve been averaging closer to 25 attendees. 

 

I’ve secured 2 months of runway to turn this around. If we can’t get the numbers by the September meetup, the group will have to find a new home and new sponsors. If we can make it work by September, we will then need to keep above that minimum. 

 

This is going to be a tough challenge for the group to address. It’s pretty clear to me that we’re stuck on an old formula that no longer works: one leader, one monthly session with talks. We should look at both of those and question if they’re really the right thing for where this community is today.

Jesse Cooke followed up with this:

First off, thanks for your years of sponsorship and personal dedication, @foliosus. It has been invaluable to the group. I think we should get a business meeting on the calendar soon to discuss next steps.

This can't have been easy for Brent; he's been an extraordinarily reliable supporter of the group for so many years.  I think our run at New Relic is probably the longest period of stability we've ever had with regard to venues.  Thank you, Brent!

So, with all that in mind... let's schedule a business meeting.  Anybody got a space we can meet?  And, are there dates/times that folks would like to propose?

[Jesse Cooke]

I can get space at CENTRL Eastside. We can meet down in the lobby after hours, or I could potentially get a meeting room upstairs.

As for a time to meet, please PLEASE not next week ;) I'm slammed with work.

Jesse

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[Sam Livingston-Gray]

How about Tuesday the 23rd or the 30th?

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[Jesse Cooke]

23rd works better for me. I don't think I can get a meeting room that evening, but I'm working on booking the lobby like we used a few months ago.

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[Sam Livingston-Gray]

7pm?

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[Jesse Cooke]

I'd personally prefer an earlier start, but can manage 7pm. CENTRL Eastside is a go.

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[Kirsten Comandich]

Tuesday the 23rd works for me! Any time works. Thanks for getting this going!

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