[oclug] the rudderless club

[Brad Barnett]

On Wed, 3 Nov 2004 20:49:16 -0500
"Warren A. Layton" <zeevon at debian.org> wrote:

> On Wed, Nov 03, 2004 at 08:20:38PM -0500, Brad Barnett wrote:
> 
> > In the wider scope of things, though, the above statements are a
> > complete cop out.  When someone volunteers to do a job, they have
> > given their word.
> >  When someone gives their word, they should honour it.  Decisions are
> >  made
> > based upon the fact that people have given their word.  Expectations
> > are in place, and rightly so.
> 
> Well, things aren't always static. I had been organizing the monthly
> meetings from February until June and was able to devote quite a bit of
> time to it. July was our outdoor meeting organized by Kyle, and the I
> was away in August.
> 
> I came back in September and found a job that has demanded a lot of my
> time and effort, and has added a lengthy commute by bus to my schedule.
> My volunteer work for OCLUG has suffered as a result. I'm fortunate that
> the other board members stepped in and got something set up for the
> October and November meetings after I left them in the lurch at the last
> minute. If those meetings were disorganized, it was because I gave them
> insufficient time to properly organize things.
> 
> That said, it looks like things will be improving. December's meeting is
> already being planned and will be announced well in advance. Our biggest
> problem is always finding speakers for our monthly meetings and
> ExitCertified tutorials. If you want to make OCLUG run more smoothly,
> consider taking the time to speak at either one of these venues. If you
> have something you want to talk about, either send an e-mail to
> oclug-board at lists.oclug.on.ca or post your talk (and your name) on the
> Wiki page at http://oclug.on.ca/wiki/HelpPlanFutureOCLUGMeetings
> 
> I hope this message helps explain why the past two meetings haven't gone
> as smoothly as most of you would have liked. We're volunteers, but
> sometimes real life gets in the way. Even a tiny little bit of extra
> help would make a huge difference.


Warren,

My comments were not directly aimed at you, but at volunteer effort in
general.  I think everyone can appreciate the fact that you've just
recently gotten a job, and may be working long hours and quite happy to do
so.  This is why I stated that understanding has to come with criticism.

I think the only criticism that can be levelled at you is precisely what
you name above, simply not notifying people of your overload soon enough. 
While people may not have filled the void you left, without you notifying
people there was no chance of anyone doing so, if they could.  Sometimes
the hard part of committing to something is realizing when you can't.