[colug-432] meetup? Re: Publicizing technical events (Re: Hadoop interest ?)

[Jeff Frontz]

On Fri, Dec 17, 2010 at 1:28 PM, Jonathan Hogue <jon at hogue.org> wrote:
>> What would motivate YOU to join a meetup that exclusively does
>> computer/networking/technical kinds of things?  Assume that it will
>> never have a presentation on how to "dress for success".
> But! "It’s nice to wear jeans to work as a business owner, but
> understanding the impact to your bottom line is also important."
>

Yes, and who wouldn't want to "Explore the differences between
ready-made off the shelf clothing compared to custom-made clothes"?

> I found this Zed Shaw gem interesting, inspirational, and on topic.
> http://zedshaw.com/essays/the_freehackers_union.html

SPEC-tac-ular!  This (something like a "free hackers union") is what I
had always hoped TechColumbus would sponsor/support.  Alas, they're
dominated by business folks and don't quite get It.



>
> For me, an interesting group would be open source focused, look at a
> lot of different technologies (not just 1 langauge, for example), and
> be hands on. Labs instead of lectures.

We tried to do the first part with the Columbus Code Camp (although we
tried to remain agnostic to the proprietary/open schism and admittedly
lectures dominated the labs).


>
> An open source club (think fraternal organization) that had a
> dedicated physical location would be really cool.
>

Hmm, if it were the right space (had good food and/or drink easily
accessible, convenient to downtown/campus/clintonville, always a high
probability of something interesting happening), I could see showing
up there on occasion.

Unless someone knows of such a spot, I think we're pretty much
restricted to scheduled events in borrowed space.  TechColumbus is
pretty easy to borrow, even on the spur of the moment, if you know
someone either working for them or for a tenant company (to that end,
I work for a tenant company and can schedule the auditorium,
conference and class rooms for events -- just drop me a line).

Jeff