[group-organizers] TCPUG

[Jeff Rush]

thomas knoll wrote:
> Howdy,
> 
> I am interested in revamping the TwinCities (MN) PUG. I have contacted
> the last known 'leader' of the group, and they gave the thumbs up and
> a high five (and other positive hand related encouraging gestures). I
> need a place for people to land before spreading the word. I am fully
> capable of setting up my own server and fun little tools to go with
> it, but if there are preferred locations that would be more central, I
> would rather stick with the momentum and build into those.
> 
> Pointers?
> or tell me if I should set off on my own.

Thomas, I see that the TwinCities group has a link off the roster of Python
usergroups, from years ago:

   http://wiki.python.org/moin/LocalUserGroups
   http://www.zope.org/Members/tczpug/

that points to zope.org.  If you can gain access to that, you can refresh it
and build on that.  Or if you prefer, many groups are creating simple wiki
pages on wiki.python.org.  Those are the low-overhead options.

We don't yet have a centralized usergroup server, so there isn't a central
place to host your site.  So if you wish to set up your own server and use the
tools you are most familiar with, go ahead.  The main issue is to make sure we
know where you are, so update the roster of usergroups and drop me an email so
I can add you to the shared usergroup blog at:

    http://python-groups.blogspot.com/

and add to the sidebar a link to your site.  We do encourage members to use
the mailing list facilities of www.python.org, as it makes it easier to track.
 You can have a list created by emailing postmaster at python.org, and then as
list admin you can tweak the settings, set the list title and so forth.

I would then post a call for interested local parties to join you on that list
for discussion on where and when to meet.  You can post that call to the
python-announce list, the python-users list, and the advocacy and
group-organizers list, to find like-minded organizers.

After your first meeting, I suggest you post a meeting summary to the shared
usergroup blog, so people know it happened and how successful it was.

Be persistent in running even small meetings, make lots of noise and report on
activities and your group will blossom.  Besides online announcements, try to
find places to post flyers or other local usergroups of related topics, like
linux groups, on which to make announcements.

Good luck and keep us informed on how it goes, so we can help where possible.

-Jeff