Dear DrupalNYC,
Please know this is absolutely not directed at any individual(s) but there is something I want to say to this group in general.
<suzi climbs onto the soapbox>
I find all the recent discussions around both the meetups and upcoming drupalcamp (paired with various power struggles and micromanagement) annoying and so counter to the open-source and 'barcamp' way of doing things I am inches from not wanting to participate at all.
I encourage everyone to take a look at the rules for barcamp and the philosophy behind why 'unconferences' are what they are. This is all about accessibility. It is open-source as a way of conferencing and sharing information. If you have never seen ths page please take the time to read it and decide if this model is something you want to participate in.
We would do well to look at this model with regard to the meetups as well. Also see: HOWTO: Enact change within the Drupal community.
Expect resistance or complete absence from me when too much (self-appointed or otherwise) 'organizing and defining' starts to happen within this group. No offense, it's just not the sandbox I want to play in.
</suzi on soapbox>
Comments
/me totally agrees.
The argument is completely counter productive.
If someone wants to start a site that advertises the NewYorkCamp, go for it! It's not a bad thing, just don't expect or try to require everyone to use it.
Organization and philosophical discussion should stay where it is, here and the barcamp website. It was setup this way purposefully from the beginning.
I'm confused...
We're having a heated discussion here.That's a good thing! The kind of thing that should happen on the NYC Groups site. I think there are idea struggles, but not power struggles. If you are getting emails on every post in this discussion that must be hugely annoying! I was annoyed to when I first signed up for the group.
Now I just read the site like a normal blog. I think Sam is doing a good job of organizing the information into separate discussions and I'm trying to get the categorization working correctly on the site. All I can say is keep contributing your ideas to the mix and we'll work through this.
I didn't mean to cause issues. I just thought we might be able to keep all the information on the NYC groups site and thereby push forward the development of Drupal Groups.
Better way of putting it...
This is a better way of putting what I've been trying to say, thanks Suzi.
Categorizing are events is just to let us know what to expect when we get there - and enable people to throw more ad-hoc events, not about structuring the events.
Similarly, barcamps just happen, there purposely isn't a lot of organization, and no scheduling in advance other than blocking the days and rooms at the location. If people want to throw something different, go ahead, just don't be surprised if it doesn't work how you expect.
I helped Jacob organize the last Camp, there is no torch that gets passed along. You organize a camp if you want to and have the time. The resources are available to the group. But there is NO position of organizer and NO set policy. You organize one if you want to, not because its your job. Similarly the community doesn't so much endorse an organizer as help them out if they think it is a good idea.
I think this might be what Suzi refers to as a power struggle. I might write more when I'v had time to thnk on this a while longer.
Tresler Designs
CNDP, LLC
Will follow your advice
I'll send out an email. We'll get everyone's vote. That will pretty much end the discussion and we can move forward. Also, we can make the meetups more bar campy. We can start each session asking everyone what they want to talk about. Then we can breakup into groups based on mutual interest.
Suzi, thanks for the link to
Suzi, thanks for the link to "rules for barcamp". It was the first time I read it and I'm glad I did. I hope everyone involved reads it as well so this type of discussion doesn't have to come up again.
PS Please don't leave our group. I would be very disappointed.
Suzi!!!
I don't really have a comment.
Thanks. I agree.
not everything must be "organized" we do enough of that at work ;)
-Jacob Redding
-Jacob Redding