Hi,
I just started a local group for Ithaca, New York. Ithaca is small college town, 30k, 100k metro with about 25k college students. We are about an hour an away from Syracuse which is the closet city of any size. There are 2 groups, Western New York and Albany, NY near us which generally meet 3 hours away from us.
This is my first try at organising any group like this. I have sent emails to the local Open Source group, some students groups, and an IT employee mailing list at one of the colleges.
I have suggested having a our first meetup in month. In 24 hours we have 6 members and interest in the first meeting. I have found out that Cornell, in town, uses Drupal for some of its library websites.
Any feedback, advice or experience regarding starting a group in smaller town would be appreciated.
Thanks,
tedbow
Comments
The key is to get the word
The key is to get the word out, and it sounds like you are already on a good track for that.
In reality, almost all users groups have a small-town element. Here in Los Angeles, where the prospect of cross-town travel is daunting, we have several groups meeting in various locations.
In some ways, smaller groups have the advantage of being more personal and more conducive to an atmosphere where members can offer each other personal support. If you get 8-16 at your first meeting, you should be on a good track.