Commission to Reform WPLUG
The Commission to Reform WPLUG (CRW) is an informal group created to draft proposals that fix long-standing problems in WPLUG. It was created on December 9, 2012.
Contents
Purpose
WPLUG is struggling to compete against other technology groups. CRW's purpose is to expedite the reform process so that WPLUG can become competitive again as soon as possible:
- Update the bylaws
- Chart a new direction for WPLUG
- Explore ways to make WPLUG less formal/political
- Bring WPLUG's resources up to par with current technological standards
Operation
CRW has no membership requirements. If you decide to join, add your name to the membership list on this page.
Each month, CRW gathers its best ideas into a "reform package" that is formally proposed during the following month's WPLUG general user meeting. Ideas can be proposed or voted on at any time, but it is recommended to propose ideas outside of meetings and vote on them during the meetings so that people have time to think before they vote.
If an idea is approved by a majority of CRW members, it will be added to the current reform package.
Since CRW is not an official WPLUG organization, it doesn't receive official funding and is not governed by the WPLUG bylaws. Members are encouraged to apply the same "free and flexible" mindset to their deliberations: check your preconceptions at the door, be open-minded, and support the best ideas to reform WPLUG. Everyone who wants to present ideas will have an equal opportunity to do so.
Members
- Justin Smith
- Terry Golightly
- Pat Barron
- Vance Kochenderfer
- Joseph Prostko
Meeting Logs
Upcoming Meetings
None at this time
Reform Package History
Reform Package 1: Bylaw changes, presented at January 2013 GUM.
Reform Package 2: WPLUG's general direction, to be presented at February 2013 GUM.
Reform Package 2 Ideas
Justin Smith 1/20
I wasn't able to complete the CRW survey in time for January's GUM, but I will have it done by Monday. I'd like to present its results at the February GUM, either as a running tally (we still leave the survey open for a little while longer) or the final totals.
While most of our "general direction" planning will have to wait until we've seen the survey results, there are a few items we can still take action on in the mean time:
- Using a project management tool so that we don't forget about stuff. Pat recommends using | Trello, which is the virtual equivalent of a corkboard with post-it notes. Trello isn't free (as in freedom) software, but it is extremely simple and, I think, effective. It as a very nice Android app.
- Should the Internet Committee be responsible for going through the wiki every so often and archiving old content? If not, how else should we deal with outdated pages? We can't let them continue to accumulate. If someone clicked on the LiveCD link on the main page, for instance, he'd see that it hasn't been updated since 2007. Problems like that make us looks really bad.
Terry proposed seeing if we could use some sort of script to automatically archive content. I still think a "human touch" is necessary; therefore, I think that a script of that sort should simply produce a list of everything that needs reviewed. It's entirely possible that old pages can be refurbished and used again.
- Is there any possible way we could accept online payments for dues? I know it's been brought up before, but this is important enough to merit another look.
- What can we do to persuade more people to join WPLUG as dues-paying members?
Justin Smith 1/24
IMPORTANT: CRW has released a general user survey designed to help us chart a new path for WPLUG in 2013. Please take the survey if you've got a moment.
Justin Smith 1/28
Some suggestions from the CRW survey I'd like to see implemented:
Membership
- Give WPLUG members a "name@wplug.org" email address that forwards messages to an account of their choice; it advertises our group and provides an incentive for people to renew. Are there privacy advocates among us? If so, maybe they would appreciate being able to have an email account that's not tied to a major provider.
- Web services of some sort. Since $20 per member doesn't give us a lot of cash to work with, offer members exclusive access to services that would be a pain to set up on their own.
- Send people who join WPLUG as members a well-written "thank you" note. Since new members give us a physical address, why not go the extra mile to send an actual letter?
- Give people who join a membership card. When you join the FSF, they give you a cool "credit card" USB drive that's pre-loaded with Linux: http://www.fsf.org/associate/benefits
What if we did that? You can buy blank 2GB credit card drives from eBay for $5 or less, depending on how many you buy: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-Blank-Credit-Card-Shape-USB-Flash-Drive-Memory-2-0-2GB-4GB-8GB-16GB-32GB-64G-/310568756176?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item484f5723d0
I bet people would appreciate being able to take Linux with them in such a convenient way, and every time they'd plug it in, it would be free PR for us. We would need to figure out how to print labels for them, though. Each member would only be given a membership card like that once, so while we make less during their initial year, we'd get the full $20 when they renew.
If we wanted to get really fancy, we could include WPLUG wallpaper or other promotional materials on the distro.
- Try to partner with local organizations for membership discounts. When I talked with Pat about this earlier, he mentioned O'Reilly as a possibility. That's a good start, but there just have to be others. I'll look into this.
Meetings
- I get the impression that some people aren't satisfied with our current selection of food at meetings. A couple of people mentioned donuts, someone brought up gourmet coffee, and another still talked about catering. I'm not sure we can afford to provide much more with $20 per member, but it's something worth considering.
Events/Other Activities
- We - and by we, I mean the Events Committee - should definitely plan a trip to Ohio Linux Fest.
- There's virtually no support for an "open culture" event, so we're back to the drawing board if we want to replace InstallFests with something else.
- There's a lot of support for group programming events. There's also a decent amount of interest in Android, if we'd care to lift the moratorium on mobile Linux. I'd be willing to work with the Events Committee regarding Android.
- Having a bowling night would be great, but, as one person said, let's do it with other tech groups! Let's face it: we're a social group, but we don't have too many regular attendees. Involving other groups is a good way to compensate.
- Only a few people don't like my idea to re-launch The Open Pitt as a netcast. We've even got a couple of people who are willing to help produce it! I didn't take the survey, but you can count me among them. I've been told that I have an announcer's voice; maybe I could put it to good use. If we broadcasted netcasts live over Google+ Hangouts (live on YouTube), that could tie in with our social media strategy. If CRW supports this idea, I'd like to hold some initial meetings with the people who are interested.
Other
- I put in the question about indie culture on a whim. This comment made me change my mind as soon as I read it: "Linux and groups that support it should refrain from becoming too political one way or another. Stick to the penguin."
- We need to finish our work at Wilkins and get out of there. I'm going to contact everyone I know to see about finding a more suitable location.
- As chair of the PR committee, I'd like us to decide on a social media strategy. My flagging support for Google+ was renewed over this weekend because an article I found stated that it's now the second-largest social media network out there. Most of our respondents use it.
