Hi all,
Happy 2010 and may the second decade of this nascent millennium bring you, well, what to wish? Much prosperity and may you achieve a state of Zen! :)
This is a pretty exciting time to be involved with Drupal; it's the hottest content management system on the planet. Quite cool to be involved, and I'm looking forward to a great year with the iDug group. And here's a (few) free beer(s) for Michael Hofmockel for all his efforts in keeping the group alive in 2009.
So, as a group we're at an interesting point. Jarodms and others are looking to set up meetings in Eastern Iowa, which is awesome (see http://groups.drupal.org/node/41888). Central Iowa is looking for a new meeting place (http://groups.drupal.org/node/37670). What to do?
Quite simply, it's time to figure out a way to come together. I'd like to propose a few options:
1. Bottom line, if we can't figure out a place to meet this month, I'm happy to open the door to our 'work in progress' home in Des Moines to iDug. I've 3 boys ages 6, 3, and 1, and it wouldn't be an issue if anyone brought spouses or kids. Let's just meet and keep this good thing going.
2. Let's figure out a way to have web-based meetings. Travel across Iowa can take time, and we stand to strengthen our group by embracing web meetings. Maybe we could consider dues; We could think about forming a non-profit, such that we could all contribute tax-deductible dues at $10/month so that we could purchase services from GoToMeeting (https://www2.gotomeeting.com/) or a similar service to get Druplers across the state involved.
3. Matt Nuzum has proposed that we team up with the Des Moines Web Geeks group that meets downtown Des Moines on the first Monday of the month - just another great option.
4. Let's have regional meetings. Once every 3-4 months, let's caravan to a part of the state we normally don't visit and hook up to talk Drupal.
Thoughts?
-tom
Comments
I Like 'Em All
Hey, I like all four suggestions. I guess if I had to rank them I'd go 2, 1, 4, 3 (although the non-profit portion of #2 might be a stretch...it's not as easy or cheap as it should be). I put 3 last, although I like it best, ONLY because I have school board meetings the first Monday of every month. 8^( That's why the iDug schedule has worked so well for me...it's the only Monday night when I didn't have a prior commitment. And my sister lives within easy walking distance to iMed.
I will go so far as to toss out a 5th possibility too.
Tama-Toledo is mid-way between everything (well, everything that counts in this discussion anyway). In terms of driving time we are about 70 minutes from DM, 55 minutes from Ames, 45 minutes from Waterloo/CF, 50 minutes from CR and about 65 minutes form Iowa City. The Regents meet here on occasion...apparently when they can't all agree to meet at one of their own institutions. The Army ROTCs from ISU and Iowa meet here to exchange footballs every year before the big Cyclone/Hawkeye gridiron clash. Thus, we lay claim to "being in the middle".
There's no pizza or beer RIGHT NEXT DOOR (it's a few blocks down the street) but there are a few free public meeting rooms available in town. With a couple weeks advance notice I could probably book one and host a "meeting in the middle". Wireless internet access is a little trickier but I know of at least one or two places where that could still work.
I am the webmaster for the local country club too (comes complete with bar and grill). And installed a new wireless router for them not long ago. I might even be able to get us in their meeting room during the off-season.
Mark
non-profit
I thought you'd have insight into non-profits - mainly I was looking for a way that members could deduct contributions if we pay for web meetings. Thoughts?
$500 Down and Lots of Rules
Yeah, 501c(3) (sp?) filing costs $500 (one time fee), I think.
IGO is pursuing it again...and have been considering it for about 5 years now, but we have upwards of 1000 members (about half that are "active").
The other gotcha is that you have to be formally organized...a board, officers, open meetings with published agendas, minutes, etc. And somebody has to deal with tax filings every year. The group might not have to file each year, but that all depends on how much money comes in, so somebody at least has to keep the books and monitor the cash threshold.
At least those are the issues as I understand them. The $500 was always more than enough to kill my interest real quick.
Mark
Temporary Meeting spot in Urbandale
I can provide access to the conference area in the Westmark Plaza II executive office suites on 86th and Hickman in Urbandale. It satisfies most of the requirements. Plenty of room, WiFi, White Board, close to food and beer (Ted's Coney Island West is right next door or byob just don't sue me). The only thing I don't have is a projector. I do have a 23" LCD that would do in a pinch. I am on a month to month lease right now so I don't want to commit to providing a permanent spot but in the mean time I think it would work well.
I know I have done something good when members...
Way to go DrupalCorn!!
Summary of Hofmockel December efforts:
re: location
From my point of view a meeting space in Ames is crucial. That's not to say, I wouldn't consider traveling periodically. For instance let's pick a good month and swamp the WebGeeks meeting with DrupalCorn members.
re: webbased meetings
I don't personally have a need for this. It is the face-to-face I seek. And I really want to avoid dues for members at all costs. But this is not the first time or person who has requested this.
Maybe CattleCall should organize those that are interested, figure out technology and calculate cost sharing. I will do what I can to support this but I have serious doubts in its long-term viability.
re: WebGeeks
I think a bum-rush is in order.
re: regional meetings
I'm all for this, but lets not get ahead of ourselves. Where are we traveling to specifically? Will there be anyone there when we arrive? This makes more sense when there are other Iowa Drupal user groups to visit. But right now we are it. I have serious doubts that we can even hold a state wide meeting and get more than 20 people together.
I suggest we stay focused on a state wide meeting in May/June/July.
Regards,
Michael Hofmockel
Open Source || Open Access || Open Mind
etx
re: location
Makes sense to continue focusing our efforts on an Ames meeting.
re: webbased meetings
Face-to-face is great and lord knows you can miss things in a web based meeting. But I think it's worth pursuing web meetings, I'll get to work on it.
re: WebGeeks
Yes, bum-rush.
re: regional meetings
Where to travel? I don't know; maybe there's no where to go, but maybe there is. Personally I wouldn't mind a trip to a different venue now and again if we can meet new people and if it keeps things fresh.
But, I agree with your point about a state wide meeting, that's by far more important. Road trips to different locations can wait to the second half of the year.
Web Meetings
Has anyone used DimDim http://www.dimdim.com? It is an OpenSource WebEx like system that is free for up to 20 users. I have not tried it, but it looks interesting and the price it right!
re: Location
I agree Ames is good, but would any of the other members from the Des Moines area be interested in carpooling?
Meetings
I've used Dim-Dim and it's not bad. The screen share is a little flaky in Vista and above and not supported on Macs (I think). It is nice that it supports webcam and voice but only for 3-5 people at a time in the free version.
re: Location
I'm located in Cedar Falls. I'm new to the group but joined looking for more Drupalers to network with. There is a fairly large community of Drupal work going on at the University of Northern Iowa and I think we might be interested in something a little closer than Ames, or a rotating meeting location.
Something another organization I'm part of has several meeting locations that monthly meetings take place at and then once a quarter or twice a year they have all org meetings in a central location. That model allows both groups to be pleased.
Just my 2 cents.