[oclug] the rudderless club

[Mike Roy]

Hello everyone:
	I've read, with considerable interest, the comments
by Francis and Chris H. and Bill Strosberg regarding the 
OCLUG board and I agree that all three have made valuable 
observations and pertinent comments.  I think the last two 
OCLUG meetings clearly demonstrate how the board is 
behaving like a rudderless ship.
	During the Oct. 5 meeting, the emcee/host failed to
appear.  Now, there are a lot of reasons why someone
cannot attend a meeting:  a previous commitment, a
business obligation, family issues or a medical
emergency.  It was only good luck, not good 
planning,  that someone stepped in at the last 
minute to 'host' the meeting.  And that is my point -
the OCLUG did not have a 'plan B' to fall back on, in
other words, there was no mechanism in place to
accommodate 'hiccups' such as someone not 
showing up at the meeting.
	The Nov. 2 meeting is even a better example
of the OCLUG board lacking a clear direction.  The
scheduled speaker reneged on his commitment to
deliver a talk at the meeting because, according to
his own post, his talk was not publicized on the
OCLUG board.  On that one issue he may have a
point but I think is it unfair to say you're going to
do something and then, at the last minute, decide
you're not going to live up to your commitment.  
Here again, the evening was saved by some
knowledge people giving interesting talks at
the last minute - another example of a complete
lack of planning on the board's part.
	There have also been suggestions that the
club should be split to accommodate the newbies
entering the Linux world.  What a stupid idea.  How
would you feel if you walked into a room and were
told you 'weren't welcome' because your computer
knowledge and skills weren't up to the same levels
of the 'experts' in the room?  
	For a newbie, Linux is complex enough on the
best of days without making the newbie feel
unwelcomed because of his level of expertise,
or lack of it.  The Oct. 28 installation tutorial at Exit
Certified for Linux newbies is the type of activity
I welcome.  This is what OCLUG should be doing
more often - using the considerable skill and
knowledge of its membership to educate those
of us that don't have that knowledge.  There are
people at the meeting that have forgotten more than
I'll ever know about linux - and that's OK.  I don't
expect to understand every word of every presentation
but neither do I expect to be ignored simply because
I'm not a 'techie'.
	If the board wants to attract new members so that
the club will grow and prosper as it promotes the virtues
of Linux, then there has to be a meaningful and highly
visible effort by the board to encourage new members
and to address the needs of those members who do not
share the same level of experience and expertise of those
technically-inclined members.
	Oh, yes, before anyone says that I should do more 
than just comment on the shortcomings of the board, I
am giving serious consideration to running for a seat on
the board during the next election.
Cheers,
Mike