15October04

Revision 7 as of 2015-10-05 02:50:03

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Sunday, October 4th, 2015, 7:00pm (1900) PT

Agenda

  1. Upcoming events
  2. Announcements
  3. Using Meetup.com to promote real-world events.

Our meetings are held every other Sunday at 7:00pm (19:00) PT / 03:00 UTC in our IRC channel, #ubuntu-us-ca on freenode. All interested people are welcome to join us. For questions or help connecting, check out the InternetRelayChat page or use the Web client linked from the Contact page.

Full Log

   1  02:01:09 <darthrobot> Meeting started Mon Oct  5 02:01:09 2015 UTC.  The chair is nhaines. Information about MeetBot at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/meetingology.
   2  02:01:09 <darthrobot> 
   3  02:01:09 <darthrobot> Available commands: #accept #accepted #action #agree #agreed #chair #commands #endmeeting #endvote #halp #help #idea #info #link #lurk #meetingname #meetingtopic #nick #progress #rejected #replay #restrictlogs #save #startmeeting #subtopic #topic #unchair #undo #unlurk #vote #voters #votesrequired
   4  02:01:17 <nhaines> Welcome to tonight's meeting!  The agenda is available at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CaliforniaTeam/Meetings/15October04
   5  02:01:17 <darthrobot> Title: [CaliforniaTeam/Meetings/15October04 - Ubuntu Wiki]
   6  02:01:21 <nhaines> Who's around right now?  :)
   7  02:01:47 <george_> I'm here
   8  02:02:09 <nhaines> Glad you could make it.  :)
   9  02:02:24 <nhaines> Might be quiet tonight.  Maybe everyone else is going to see The Martian tonight, too.
  10  02:02:30 <george_> Yup, I lucked out.  My time freed up
  11  02:02:47 <nhaines> #topic Upcoming events
  12  02:02:50 <george_> Yes, I would love to see it.
  13  02:03:01 <nhaines> Are there any events happening soon that anyone would like to talk about?
  14  02:05:09 <nhaines> Looks like it's quiet this week.  If there's any movement on the wily release party up in San Francisco, let us know on the mailing list!
  15  02:05:14 <nhaines> #topic Announcements
  16  02:05:22 <nhaines> Does anyone have any announcements they'd like to make to the team?
  17  02:07:24 <nhaines> Okay, I'll go ahead and mention that my book, Beginning Ubuntu for Windows and Mac Users has been published and is available from Amazon. http://amzn.to/1MpbL9V If you have a print copy, the companion ebook is available from Apress for $5.
  18  02:07:24 <darthrobot> [R: www.amazon.com] Title: [Beginning Ubuntu for Windows and Mac Users: Nathan Haines: 9781484206096: Amazon.com: Books]
  19  02:07:42 <brendy2> hiugh not exaclty that awake
  20  02:08:09 <nhaines> It's a fantastic resource for anyone who is approaching Ubuntu as an expereienced Windows or Mac user, and makes a perfect gift!
  21  02:08:15 <nhaines> brendy2: glad you could make it.
  22  02:08:35 <nhaines> #topic Using Meetup.com to promote real-world events
  23  02:08:42 <george_> I've been reading it.  It is very good Nathan!
  24  02:08:49 <nhaines> george_: thank you!  :)
  25  02:09:00 <ianorlin> oops got disconneted and did not realize it
  26  02:09:23 <george_> I did an install last night of Ubuntu on an Acer machine and I think I sold one.  She was soooo happy with ubuntu, she had no trouble at all
  27  02:09:40 <nhaines> That's a great success story!
  28  02:10:14 <nhaines> So I went over this on the mailing list, but there's an open proposal to have Canonical sponsor Meetup.com pro features for LoCos who want to use it.
  29  02:10:14 <george_> A psychologist for the State.  Wanted security and ease of use.  Took to it like a duck to water.
  30  02:10:40 <nhaines> So I wanted to rekindle discussion about whether or not Ubuntu California could benefit by using Meetup for events.
  31  02:11:09 <george_> Yeah Phillip!
  32  02:11:48 <nhaines> Hi philipballew, we just started talking about Meetup.com.
  33  02:11:52 <george_> I don't like meetup that much.  I will use it though, if everyone wants to and it seems useful.
  34  02:12:16 <george_> It seems so intrusive to me.
  35  02:12:20 <nhaines> Well, the proposal advocates that we use the Meetup API to integrate with the LoCo portal.
  36  02:12:53 <nhaines> So we would still manage events there, but Meetup users (people who are looking for events in their spheres of interest) would have visibility to our events that way.
  37  02:13:00 <george_> Wow.  What would that look like?
  38  02:13:29 <nhaines> No idea yet, but I'm assuming you check an extra box when you set up the event on loco.ubuntu.com and it appears on Meetup.com as well.
  39  02:14:05 <nhaines> Since my main objections last December were "it costs money we don't have" and "it requires administrative work that we don't have", this proposal basically covers both of those objections.
  40  02:14:05 <rww> is that functionality coded yet?
  41  02:14:20 <rww> 'cause if not, it might be a good idea to wait and see what it looks like ;)
  42  02:14:29 <nhaines> rww: no, but it'll probably only take an hour or two.  I'm sure someone has a nephew that is good with computers and can do it.
  43  02:14:43 <george_> More visibility is always good, I figure.
  44  02:14:50 <akk> Meetup does bring in new people, if it doesn't take extra maintenance work for anybody.
  45  02:15:26 <nhaines> In any case, I don't think we should make a final decision until the proposal is accepted (or not) and we see how it all works.  But I'm now quite favorable to the idea if it's implemented correctly.
  46  02:15:26 <akk> There were some south bay events on meetup and it brought in some new people, but when events were only publicized there and not on mailing lists,
  47  02:15:27 <george_> EVERYONE has a nephew that is good with computers DYK
  48  02:15:35 <akk> it led to regulars not knowing about events and missing them.
  49  02:16:06 <akk> As long as they're in both places it seems like a can't lose.
  50  02:16:53 <philipballew> i agree with most of the stuff here for sure
  51  02:17:12 <nhaines> Yeah.  We'd still use the LoCo directory and the mailing list.  But we'd get Meetup.com for basically free.  Figuratively and literally figuratively.
  52  02:17:15 * philipballew is all about meetup
  53  02:17:37 <akk> I find meetup super annoying but a lot of people won't use anything else (it's like facebook).
  54  02:17:51 <nhaines> akk: that's basically how i feel.  About both.  :)
  55  02:18:01 <george_> I agree akk, it is annoying to me also.
  56  02:18:10 <philipballew> yeah, whatever medium brings in the people, thats what we need to use.
  57  02:18:21 <akk> And admittedly, there really is no other good way for somebody to say "Are there any events on X subject in my area?"
  58  02:18:34 <philipballew> the first rule of communication is to know your audience anyway
  59  02:18:38 <nhaines> akk: that's the truth.
  60  02:18:47 <akk> So I can understand people (who aren't crusty old unixheads like me) liking meetup.
  61  02:18:52 <george_> Yes, we need to bring in the people.
  62  02:19:01 <philipballew> power to the people!
  63  02:19:19 <nhaines> Okay, so I had to review the proposal as a member of the LoCo Council and I love it as an option for LoCos.  I'll be tracking its progress in that role, too.
  64  02:19:48 <nhaines> As an Ubuntu California leader, I think it expands our visibility without any downsides (since the proposal will take care of them).
  65  02:20:03 <george_> Great!
  66  02:20:06 <nhaines> So I'll bring it up again if the proposal goes through and we are eligible for Meetp sponsorship.
  67  02:20:12 <nhaines> s/Meetp/Meetup/
  68  02:20:40 <nhaines> But I like the idea of being able to use the LoCo Directory internally and use Meetup as well for our external-facing events.
  69  02:20:53 <nhaines> Does anyone else have anything to add about Meetup.com?
  70  02:22:16 <nhaines> Okay, thanks to everybody for chiming in.  It'll be exciting to see if the proposal goes through.
  71  02:22:20 <nhaines> #topic Other business
  72  02:22:35 <nhaines> Is there any other business before we end the meeting this week?
  73  02:22:53 <george_> Are we planning any installfests at OCLUG?
  74  02:23:24 <nhaines> Not for Ubuntu 15.10, but I suspect they'll be excited to do another for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.
  75  02:23:46 <george_> OK, sounds good.
  76  02:25:58 <george_> My individual installs at the computer lab are going well.  Ubuntu is well received and it is heartening to see.
  77  02:26:03 <nhaines> Ubucon planning is proceeding at full speed and after this week's conference call we will probably have some good annoucements to make.  So before the next meeting we'll announce Ubucon SCALE's focus this year, and we'll have a name announcement and maybe a couple speaker announcements.
  78  02:26:25 <nhaines> george_: that's really good to hear!  That personal engagement can really set expectations for new users.
  79  02:26:43 <george_> Yes, it's great fun.
  80  02:26:51 <george_> I want to hear about Ubucon though
  81  02:27:30 <nhaines> Canonical is participating in planing for Ubucon this year, and I'm asking for Ubuntu equipment for the booth from them, and additional booth space from SCALE.
  82  02:28:00 <george_> Do you think they'll help with a monitor this year?
  83  02:28:14 <george_> It's not that much.
  84  02:28:34 <nhaines> I floated the idea, but everything's still tentative.  Get me a quote and I'll present it to them.
  85  02:29:02 <nhaines> Richard and I are working together on Ubucon, so I want the booth to be an extension of the conference as well.
  86  02:29:07 <george_> OK, will do.  Monitor with Stand and cables and wrapping.
  87  02:29:29 <nhaines> george_: great, just send me an email in the next couple of weeks with the details and I'll forward it to Canonical. :)
  88  02:30:06 <nhaines> One really fantastic idea that philipballew had but we didn't have time to implement last year was to have Ubucon speakers be at the booth at scheduled times to greet attendees and answer questions about their topics.
  89  02:30:26 <philipballew> i do what I can
  90  02:30:30 <nhaines> So we're really excited to be able to do that for Ubucon SCaLE 14x.
  91  02:30:54 <george_> YES, that is a great idea.
  92  02:31:14 <nhaines> philipballew: As brilliant as an idea as that is (and Richard and I were both slapping our foreheads that we hadn't thought of it ourselves), you've really outdone yourself this time around, but that will have to wait for an official announcement.
  93  02:31:32 <george_> When is the next Ubucon meeting?
  94  02:31:55 <philipballew> nhaines, Just doing my part.
  95  02:31:56 <nhaines> Suffice to say that everything still looks on track, and it's probably played no small part in getting Canonical's community team involved.  So thanks a ton, really.
  96  02:32:34 <george_> Well it is a world wide event now.
  97  02:32:55 <nhaines> george_: next conference call is on Wednesday since we rescheduled it so pleia2 could attend too, and I hope that she can actually be there this time.  ;)
  98  02:33:39 <nhaines> Ubucon and SCALE really are worldwide events.  And SCALE has been super fantastic about helping us with the logistics as it grows ever more important.
  99  02:33:51 <nhaines> That's about all for Ubucon SCALE.
 100  02:34:32 <nhaines> As far as ubucon.org goes, we want to finally start working on making that a single place to find information about all Ubucons worldwide, so we may reach out on the mailing list for volunteers to help develop the CMS for that.
 101  02:34:55 <nhaines> I'm thinking of Django and Symposion, but I still have to do some flight testing.
 102  02:35:21 <nhaines> I planned to do it "some time in October" but I'll be darned if October didn't come up a lot quicker than I'd expected.  ;)
 103  02:35:26 <philipballew> we have 3 ubucons right nhaines ?
 104  02:35:39 <philipballew> us. south america, and europe?
 105  02:35:54 <nhaines> Four!  Ubucon SCALE, Ubucon LA, Ubucon German (will now be Ubucon Europe) and Ubucon FOSSETcon.
 106  02:36:08 <philipballew> ah, intresting
 107  02:36:31 <philipballew> Jose dd the ubuconla last time, and I am not sure where that will be next since it moves around
 108  02:36:53 <george_> The Ubucon.org website is back to SCaLE12x
 109  02:37:06 <george_> It needs to be updated seriously
 110  02:38:03 <nhaines> The new CMS will help with that immensely.  But I'll take charge of that for Ubucon SCALE 14x even if we don't make it onto a CMS.
 111  02:38:40 <george_> Great!  I wasn't being critical at all, just informative, sorry.
 112  02:38:58 <nhaines> It's okay!  I've teased Richard about it, but it's on the todo list.  :)
 113  02:39:31 <george_> I know, there is always so much that can be done.
 114  02:39:34 <nhaines> But expect Ubucon to be really special this year, with an expanded scope.  It'll be a lot of fun and very productive.  Announcements pending.  :)
 115  02:39:54 <nhaines> Okay, so I think that's about it for Ubucon planning.  More to come when there's more to announce, which will probably be before the next meeting.
 116  02:40:02 <nhaines> Anything else before we wrap it up?
 117  02:40:12 <george_> That is exciting.  We will know next week/
 118  02:40:43 <george_> week?  question mark
 119  02:41:04 <george_> Not for me
 120  02:41:16 <nhaines> Probably.  I'm going to try to aim for big announcements to coincide with SCALE's big announcements, so we'll get the timing tightened up soon.  But I'm looking forward to working with Richard to find awesome speakers.
 121  02:42:07 <nhaines> Okay, so our next meeting will be on October 18th, and it will be our last meeting at 7pm PDT for the year!
 122  02:42:23 <george_> Cool.  I look forward to it.
 123  02:42:30 <nhaines> Because the following meeting on November 1st will be at 7pm PST.  :)
 124  02:43:04 <nhaines> And I'll figure out the holiday schedule and any meetings we're skipping and such probably around that time.
 125  02:43:15 <nhaines> Okay, thanks for being here everyone!
 126  02:43:17 <nhaines> #endmeeting