[ale] RESEND: ALE meetings, leadership

[Eric Z. Ayers]

(In case you missed this the first time.  I sent it on Sunday, but some 
folks pointed out to me that the clock on my computer was set to May. 
Thanks - I'm back in real-time now.)

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [ale] ALE meetings, leadership
Date: Thu, 03 May 2001 02:25:30 -0400
From: "Eric Z. Ayers" <eric.ayers at mindspring.com>
To: ale at ale.org
Reply-To: eric.ayers at mindspring.com
To: ale at ale.org, ale-announce at ale.org, ale-admin at ale.org


Summary:

* Thank you to Jere McDevitt of Home Depot for coordinating space
      for the past year for our montly meetings.  Unfortunately,
      we are not going to be able to continue to meet at Home
      Depot Corporate Headquartsrs.

* We are looking for a new space to meet starting in September.
      So far, we have had an offer of space at Emory University
      Law School.

* The ALE leadership needs some fresh blood.  Me and my fellow
     'ale-admin at ale.org' list members are soliciting folks to
     help lead the group.  Please volunteer by sending email
     to ale-admin at ale.org.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

* First of all, I would like to thank Jere McDevitt for his support of
     the Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts (ALE) over the past year.

     Content-Type: applause/wild
     Length: long

     Jere was responsible for procuring the meeting place and
     taking responsibility for the actions of the group while we met at
     Home Depot corporate headquarters.   Jere had to attend every
     meeting and lock up the space.

     We aren't being "kicked out" of the meeting space for something
     obnoxious, like installing a real operating system on their
     projection system (hmmm, they might have appreciated that),
     but rather, Jere will be unable to attend every meeting and
     we were unable to find another Home Depot employee to step into
     Jere's role for another six months.


* The call went out at the last meeting to find another place to
     meet, starting in September of this year. Those arrangements are
     still being made.  We've had several  suggestions on where folks
     would *LIKE* to meet on the mailing list.  Geographically, I
     think Kansas City would be the most central place judging
     from the responses of members, or maybe Hawaii, if you count the
     ALE member  from Japan.

     Practically speaking, if the group is to continue to have physical
     meetings, the group must find a place in or near Atlanta that is
     both large enough (up to 100 attendees), inexpensive enough
     (free, anyone?) and most of all willing to accommodate the
     members of the group one evening a month.

     Some corporate entities besides Home Depot have offered in the
     past (New Horizon's Learning Center and Multi-User Solutions
     offered a year or two ago), but we didn't need the space
     at the time, or the venue was not large enough to accomidate 100
     people.

     We've had one offer this go round from Harold Bieber
     of the Emory University Law School to meet there (thanks Harold.)
     Vernard Martin and Chris Farris, both members of the
     'ale-admin at ale.org' mailing list, are trying to
     work out arrangements for meeting.


* I feel the group is at a crossroads. Obviously, the mailing list
     is still very active, and there are a lot of neat ideas flying
     around there. Meeting attendance is strong at 40-60 people per
     meeting.  However, at one time, we averaged over 100 per meeting,
     and garnered enough enthusiasm to support a massive annual
     Linux event in Atlanta.

     When this crisis with the meeting place came up, it
     became pretty clear that we needed some new enthusiasts involved
     in leading the group.  Unlike Jere, I have not been able to
     attend many meetings in the last 12 months.  Due to professional
     and personal commitments,  I am not going to be able to be
     effective at continuing to lead the group in the same
     capacity as I have been for the past 7 years.

     There are still others on the 'ale-admin at ale.org' list
     doing other work.  I mentioned Chris and Vernard.
     Sue Bauer-Lee does the monthly meeting announcements.
     Greg Hankins maintains the mailing lists and handles free
     stuff that people want to give away at the meetings, and
     Robbie Honerkamp holds the 'ale.org' domain name
     registration on the group's behalf.

     ALE needs someone or some people to fill in for the roles of
     Jere and myself:

      - Securing a meeting place for the group on an ongoing basis.
      - leading the meetings (or making sure there is someone to
               lead the meetings.)
      - Maintaining the web site
      - Finding and co-ordinating speakers for meetings
      - Answering email to ale-admin at ale.org

     If someone has strong ideas for leading the group into
     new directions, this is your opportunity.   At a minimum,
     it just needs someone to answer a few emails, edit the
     website, and make a few phone calls every know and
     then. But without that minimum amount of work, the monthly
     meetings just aren't going to happen.

     You don't have to be the most knowlegeable about Linux or
     have attended every meeting in the past, or even keep up with
     all of the email on the 'ale at ale.org' mailing list.  Please
     volunteer by sending a message to ale-admin at ale.org.

Regards,
-Eric (and the rest of ale-admin at ale.org)

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