Could someone please take over the Austin group as its official "Manager"?

I might be. Tell me more.

I’m a Drupal developer and I’ve been participating in and managing online communities for over 20 years.

Lauren and I had talked about actually trying something in addition to the group that meets downtown. While that is an awesome group(!) - the topics have often been WAY over the newbie's heads who have attended it according to the feedback I've gotten. Also, I have had several requests to start a Meetup/Drupal group further north. Many of my students have said they would love to come to Meetups, but they live north - and definitely don't want to have to drive 15 miles in the opposite direction of home - and deal with UT parking on top of it.

So, I HAD been thinking of starting a North Drupal User Group/Meetup Group...and holding it on different days than the downtown group. As someone also pointed out - it gives them a second opportunity to attend a Drupal educational event - if they can't make a particular meeting one week.

I am happy to do whatever I can on EITHER front, however....just let me know! :-D

Chana

Hey guys,

Lauren Roth spoke to Chad/myself as well as Elizabeth Quintanilla before leaving about managing the meetup group. We've held off on making any announcements or setting up any new venues until after the holidays.

We are currently working on a securing a better venue (that will have available parking and a more accessible location!) at this time. Assuming things work out, we'll announce the planned venue, solicit some feedback, and secure the location. We'll let you guys know as soon as we get an OK.

We definitely appreciate suggestions for venues in the meantime.

A few other things we are considering at this time are meetup times and the schedule. Right now we shoot for the third Wednesday of the month with a rotating schedule of Development, Theming, and Business-focused talks. One of the challenges we are seeing is that people who are focused on one of those 3 categories will often only feel the need to attend once every 3 months - which fragments the group and hurts overall membership and attendance.

We're looking into ways to expand the topics covered at any individual meetup - as well as advertising the content better - so people are more likely to find information that pertains to their needs.

Other stuff is in the works, but for now this is what we're looking to start pushing for with the new year.

-Kerry

Hi -

I do want to address the notion that somehow we all have to show up in the same room at the same time once a month to be a strong, vibrant community.

The community isn't "split" simply by offering choices of venue, topic, date and time.

Strength in a technical community comes from meeting the needs of that community in a way that helps them to effectively grow with the tools they are using.
Larger gatherings can be great places to network, hear new speakers, etc...and something like Drupal Camp Austin does that sort of thing brilliantly.
My personal belief is that offering more choices gives us a chance to grow a community that meets more needs - and that can only make us stronger overall.

Re: Conjuncture. Conjuncture is smack in the middle of downtown - and over 15 miles from where I live (which is close to the demographic center of Austin) - so it's even further
for folks who live even farther North.. I don't see that as really a big difference between going to UT - except you have to actually go even further south...So, I'm not certain what is "centralized" about it. "Centralized" - to whom?

I guess I just don't understand - since most technology companies are NOT sitting in the downtown area - and since the demographic center of Austin is well north of that
area - why we seem to be slightly fixated on it? I can tell you that the people I've spoken with have no interest in going downtown after work for a Drupal meetup.
If we're really interested in building a strong community - why don't we start listening to those folks?

Cheers,

Chana

I am definitely all for providing more events and special venues for growing the community, and I am definitely not opposed to a different locale. I just want to be cautious about moving the overall venue too far north to meet the needs of the business community when a large percentage of the active participants in the Drupal group are freelancers or individuals and while people who ARE positioned far south may have trouble attending at all.

I do like idea of possibly having a more newbie-focused meetup, as it would help focus the overall content a bit better. Maybe having a separate and more beginner-friendly meeting in a different location would be a good step.

Hi all,

At the last meetup, Lauren made Kerry and I co-organizers of the Meetup. I've updated the Meetup Site to reflect the change and look forward to working with Kerry to find good topics and venue that will work for all the members of this community.

Elizabeth

Hi friends!

It's great to see so much interest in the Austin Drupal Users Group (Austin DUG) & thanks to everyone for all the great comments!

I have removed Lauren as a "group admin" for the Austin DUG since she's no longer here in Texas. Sorry to see Lauren go but our loss is California's gain! Because Elizabeth & Kerry are co-organizers of the Meetup.com Drupal group, I made them "group admins" for the Austin DUG as well. For those who don't know, here's a link to the Meetup.com group they co-organize:

http://www.meetup.com/The-Austin-Drupal-Meetup-Group/

As to the Austin DUG "manager" here at groups.drupal.org (the reason I started this thread in the first place), I see Daniel Norton & Terry Brown have expressed an interest in taking charge and at the same time I think it would be wise to consider from among a few folks who are organizing the Meetup.com group, Elizabeth Quintanilla & Kerry LaRose.

Basically, I'd like to hand it off to one of the four people mentioned above. Anyone else interested in taking over as "manager"? If not, could Daniel, Terry, Elizabeth, & Kerry decide amongst themselves & let me know? Although groups.drupal.org allows many "group admins", it only allows one person to be a "group manager".

I'll wait about a week from today before taking further action just to give folks some time to think things over & respond. I'd also like to emphasize that regardless of any "organizer", "admin", and/or "manager" title, ANYONE can help lead the Austin DUG. If you'd like to help, step up & state how it is you'd like to help. Your fellow members will be very appreciative.

Thanks!
Walt

Hi friends,

In response to some of the comments above, I do want to say that Chana & Paul Thomas make excellent points about both the distance to UT and East Austin from North Austin as well as the knowledge level at the Meetups. I for one have at times avoided Meetups at both UT & the East Austin library on Cesar Chavez simply because of the distance from where I spend my time in North Austin (I'm near North Lamar in-between Braker Lane & Parmer Lane). Trying to get to UT or East Austin during rush hour is not anything I wish upon anyone, & evening rush hour in Austin seems to be from 4:30-7 pm these days! I have also avoided Meetups when I knew the material would be way over my head.

While it's commendable to try & work out a way for different knowledge levels to be accommodated at a Meetup taking place at a centralized location on a specific day & time, I don't think that we should put constraints on anyone that wants to try & have "something in addition to the group that meets downtown". BTW, I lump the following into the "downtown" category: UT, East Austin library on Cesar Chavez, and Conjunctured on 7th E. St.

As some of you know, traffic congestion in Austin only gets worse over time & if someone wants to have meetings in North Austin (or South Austin or wherever) for folks who are just learning about Drupal, I don't see any reason why we should stifle that intent by insisting on "centralized" Meetups. I don't see having alternate meetings as necessarily "competing" with each other but rather "complementing" each other. Over time & as Drupal users gain experience & knowledge, their interests will probably change in terms of the content they want to hear about at a Meetup, and they can then adjust their schedule however they desire.

In a nutshell, I believe in more decentralized control & letting different people run with their ideas to see what works & what doesn't. Like Chana wrote, I believe in having choices and, since Chana seems to be the one most interested in having some type of Meetup in North Austin for folks just starting out (or at a more "newbie" level), I think she should be allowed to run with it (if she still wants to). As she mentioned, however, those planning the events need to coordinate things to ensure Meetups for the different groups (1) don't take place on the same day, (2) are well publicized ahead of time, (3) give folks ample time to sign up, etc.

Also, I really like Paul's idea about web conferencing & taping for folks who (1) don't want to drive all over Austin and/or (2) can't make it to a Meetup due to conflicts. They wold then be able to watch an online recording of the Meetup. Of course, volunteers would need to tape & post the videos online. =)

Let's keep the ideas coming. It's all good!

Thanks!
Walt

I second Elizabeth's recommendation of Kerry LaRose.

Having worked with Kerry over the last month, I can affirm that he has already devoted a lot of thought (along with Elizabeth and Chad) to how to grow the community, and has already demonstrated that he is willing to make the time commitment required.

-Lynn