"This guy better stop before he pisses someone off."
Gosh, within the past 72 hours: I've introduced a logo concept... registered a domain name... and now a third proposal???
Bottom Line:
I would like to see our group grow.
We have a unique opportunity to extend the reach of our group into other social networks. Namely, meetup.com. They are an online social network designed to encourage local face-to-face meetups. Several nearby Drupal User Groups have recently taken the plunge to register a group at meetup.com and they are reporting good growth. Meetup.com seems to appeal to unique audience of people that is outside the reach of groups.drupal.org.
Meetup.com is not free. There is a modest membership fee for groups. I am willing to fully absorb the first six months of our membership fee as a way to give back to our group. In return, I ask that you register for a free user account at meetup.com and use their RSVP system for our monthly gatherings. Groups that have high membership levels and meetup activity seem to get more local area exposure.
So, why not continue to use groups.drupal.org for managing our local meetups?
It sucks. Sorry, but that's my take on it.
Cosmetically, g.d.o., it's way too busy with all of the links, it's totally confusing if you're new, and caters to hardcore Drupal users. And, they seem to be having all kinds of issues as of late.
Meetup.com, on the other hand, is very simple to use and caters to people who have a casual interest in Drupal or perhaps an interest in content management systems in general. With Meetup.com, we have a great opportunity to introduce people to Drupal who may otherwise never use it.
So, does that mean we won't use groups.drupal.org anymore?
Nope. We'll still use g.d.o. for everything we've always been using it for. The only exception is that we will exclusively use meetup.com to promote and RSVP our local meetups. That's what meetup.com was designed to do, and it does it well!
So how much will this thing cost?
About $12 a month. I have a coupon for 50% your first invoice, so that knocks the price down $6 a month for our first 6 months. I am willing to make the first $36 investment to "test the waters". Afterward, we may want to get creative in finding a sustainable way to pay for our membership (i.e. corporate sponsorships)
My coupon expires on October 10.... so I apologize for creating a sense of urgency to respond.
Commentary is encouraged and even expected. I know you have an opinion, so speak up! :-)
Peace,
Brian
Comments
Interesting idea. Not sure if
Interesting idea. Not sure if we should pay for something as a group when we haven't set up an official 3c. It is a sort of an egg before the chicken idea... which comes first? And I don't think it matters which does.
The cost isn't horrible - $144 per year but then we would have to look into doing membership donations or fees to pay for annual stuff like this.
What about using ning.com and/or setting up a facebook fan page or Linked In. These are all areas where we could reach people to increase the group. Perhaps even twitter/friend feed/etc.
Anyone in contact with any large drupal groups that have more members? What have they done to move from a small core group to a larger one? Should we look into setting up a structure such as president, treasurer, and secretary to start moving in that direction?
I don't have a problem moving away from drupal groups. It is awkward to use, but at the same time it does have the benefit of being free and related directly to the drupal.org website where drupal people will go. Adding other sites to pull in more interested individuals/groups/companies would be beneficial.
I just don't want to have to go to 10 different sites to find out what is going on with codug. We need to have 1 central location for information. Other side places pointing back to the many site is fine, but we don't want to be forking the group.
i agree
i agree. one location for everything codug is very desirable.
i've considered all of the above social networks that you mentioned. yes, we could have an online persona for each network. yes, we risk having a splintered online community. but keep this in mind, our group has one primary purpose: to bring people together for local, face-to-face drupal meetings. i really don't care which social network they use to initially connect, so long as they participate in local meetings... we've done a good job!
as of right now, i have no interest in starting up a facebook or twitter page for codug. why? i'm not convinced they will add value. but, there is a tremendous amount of value with meetup.com. there are people actually waiting for a Drupal group to be created in columbus. How do I know? Meetup.com lists the usernames of the people who have expressed interest in joining a Drupal group! And, I can tell you with 100% certainty that many on the columbus wait list know nothing about g.d.o.
Peace,
Brian
3c = 501(c)3?
if by 3c your mean a 501(c)3, that's complete overkill for a group of our size. we would be looking at nearly $1,000 to set one up, plus we would have the government getting into our business to ensure our tax exempt status. if all we need is a joint checking account to handle group finances, a simple LLC for $125 will handle that task nicely.
i think setting up roles within our group is an excellent idea! Tim, what are you passionate about? in what way would you like to serve our group? feel free to write up the perfect job description for yourself and then start doing what you love. you're hired. :-)
it's official
we now have a meetup page!
http://www.meetup.com/Central-Ohio-Drupal/
I'll make an announcement about it soon.
Meetup.com / Columbus TechLife
Columbus TechLife seems to be at the heart of the Columbus tech community. I just got emails for a Python user group and a Java user group today.
http://www.meetup.com/techlifecolumbus/
I apologize. I did mean a
I apologize. I did mean a 501(c)3 and my comment was uneducated. I don't know the details about structuring a group into a 501(c)3 or an LLC or whether we need to do either. That was why I was asking if anyone has a contact to a large drupal group, so we could see how they have shaped their growth.
In addition the thought that joining meetup.com might encourage an annual CODUG expense and the idea of having a Columbus Drupal meet-up, which has come up in a recent meeting and was even referenced at the very first meeting, started me thinking we might want to look into formalizing a base structure to CODUG leadership.
I agree it doesn't matter how people get there, those interested should be able to find out about CODUG meetings in some way. That being said they should also be informed about the main groups.drupal.org as it is a wealth of information and where we discuss topics related to CODUG.
Outreach is always good.
Thanks Brian! You rock!
"I don't have a problem moving away from drupal groups. It is awkward to use,"
We should work to make it better.
Speaking of awkward
Where in drupal groups do I change my password? I just can't seem to find it. It isn't under my account, or any other sub-tab. Is this hard to find or am I having a "hidden in plain sight moment"?
I believe you have to go to
I believe you have to go to the main drupal.org site now to do that. If I understood the Sept. 24 announcement correctly they have changed it to one login to both drupal.or and groups.drupal.org.
The announcment can be found here along with info for people having problems.
http://drupal.org/node/433792
groups.drupal.org will be getting redesigned along with drupal.org
"That was easy"
Why is this not made obvious when you click the request new password feature in g.d.o.?