[Chicago] Community/Social Alliance Help

[Brian Ray]

On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 12:41 PM, Brian Curtin <brian at python.org> wrote:

>
>
> I really dislike a lot of things about this email.
>
>
Please take a second look at our mission. Constructive criticism is
accepted; however, how many outside observers (those who do not attend
meetings regularly) should dictate how this group operates.


> While I completely understand and appreciate point B, point A goes against
> what a user group is typically there for: to be a group for people who use
> a certain thing. I've never heard of anyone not sharing their announcements
> with other groups because "we didn't need it." Who is the "we" in "a group
> of Python using people located in Chicago" that didn't need it?
>

We did not need it because we already had a community outreach into areas
like Universities because we would tell them about meeting. We would have
department heads in CS groups mention the user groups and students would
attend. They do not attend as often now as they once did. This is only one
example of something we would like to have the Community manager fix.

The other reason we did not need it is we started to see someone was doing
it already for us. Our outreach needs improvement. We have a loyal core;
however, there are several times you will meet someone using Python in
someone interesting areas in Chicago who had no clue ChiPy even exists.



>
> I agree that that ChiPy should take a swing at wider dissemination of news
> again, but "quality over quantity" is again missing the point. Plus, what
> does that even mean? What is a quality group versus a non-quality group?
> Why does it matter what one person thinks about the quality of the group
> with respect to them showing up and watching or speaking at a meeting? Is
> there a reason why you wouldn't send news to a group you deem to be more of
> a quantity than a quality?
>

We do not agree in filling chairs with people just for the sake of it. We
still are waiting for the day someone brings a snake to our Python Meetup.

We like being a bit of an insider group. More than half of the attendees to
our meeting are there without knowing any Python, then we run into a chance
of becoming too novice to be interesting to advanced users.  In turn, if we
don't bring in new users, we become so advanced you need a PhD in Computer
Science just to follow the presentations or discussions. We need to remain
diverse.


>
> If you want to share announcements, share announcements with everyone who
> can benefit from them.
>

We are not simply talking about sharing announcements. Of course, you all
are more than welcome to do this. More, we want to make sure we are
reaching out where appropriate and when appropriate in a manner that is
productive. It should also help educate us on stuff like: who is using
Python in Chicago, why some people don't come, and where we should go next.

Hope this helps, still looking for a volunteer :)


-- 
Brian Ray
@brianray
(773) 669-7717
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