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<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">I agree that a good meeting room is essential. The one at BCB doesn't come close to that in my opinion.</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">I can definitely confirm that, post Covid, 'in person' ((IP) tech meetups have declined significantly. I don't think that it is because people prefer on-line to IP meetups but I think it could be the Covid factor that has made people nervous. The Leeds IoT and Wordpress meetups, to name but 2, are on-line, I think the PHP too. When you consider that there were lots of incentives like pizza, chocolates an-d a bar tab there has to be a good reason why people are preferring to go on line.... In Málaga the story is very definitely the same. I can think of only one, of the many tech groups, that has had an IP meetup since Covid and that got only 2 attendees registering. I used to go to as many as 3 tech meetups a week in Málaga, now there are no meetups from those groups, not even on line in most cases. <br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">That said, I think on cold dark winter nights online meetups are preferable. Generally, anyway, I have found that there has never been many IP meetups in the winter months in <span>Málaga for example.</span><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">I don´t know what the answer is to all this.</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">Brian<br></div><div><br></div>
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On Wednesday, 25 October 2023 at 20:28:42 BST, Nick Rhodes via Bradford <bradford@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:
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<div><div dir="ltr">Hi,<br clear="none"><br clear="none">Are in-person meetings declining across local computer/tech/geek groups ?<br clear="none">Do people generally prefer online only ?<br clear="none">Are people turned-off by mailing lists, what type of discussion channels <br clear="none">do the expect/enjoy ?<br clear="none"><br clear="none">Maybe a bit of research is needed to help us consider future direction, <br clear="none">especially if we want to doing some promotion to try and increase <br clear="none">membership.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">In my experience, meeting rooms need dedicated/quality equipment for <br clear="none">sufficient quality to pick up everyone in the room with decent clarity <br clear="none">for those connecting in remotely. When there are talks and presentation <br clear="none">with a speaker, its helpful to have a moderated Q&A afterwards (putting <br clear="none">questions in the chat works).<br clear="none"><br clear="none">If we can't get a meeting room with decent connectivity and <br clear="none">microphone/speakers, I would prefer not to have mixed in-person/online <br clear="none">meetings<br clear="none"><br clear="none">I like the idea alternating in-person and online in some fashion. We <br clear="none">could evaluate in 6/12 months and adjust to demand.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">Recently my travel options have improved, so attending in person in <br clear="none">Bradford would be easier for myself than it has in the past.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">I quite like the idea of having something like quarterly in person <br clear="none">meetings which are fully planed with things like presentations, talks, <br clear="none">guest speakers.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">I have pondered over the idea of making monthly meetings as <br clear="none">informal/socials, not sure if in person or online are best and worry <br clear="none">they might detract from the mailing list.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">If we agree to continuing some form of online meetings, think we should <br clear="none">try hard to find a privacy respect video conferencing service, ideally <br clear="none">one built on FOSS technology, but I am pragmatic and if something like <br clear="none">Discord is the only viable option, I would use it. I would be happy to <br clear="none">donate towards a paid for option.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">Cheers, Nick<br clear="none"><div class="ydp3eeebb66yqt4329495515" id="ydp3eeebb66yqtfd71350"><br clear="none">On 23/10/2023 16:10, John Robert Hudson via Bradford wrote:<br clear="none">> Hi all<br clear="none">><br clear="none">> So far, only a few people have commented on whether we should go online for<br clear="none">> the future or try in some way to combine physical and online meetings -<br clear="none">> perhaps by alternating, perhaps by having less frequent, more focused,<br clear="none">> physical meetings.<br clear="none">><br clear="none">> More comments would be helpful as there are a lot of people on the mailing<br clear="none">> list who may not attend any form of meeting but might like to be involved in<br clear="none">> different ways while those who attend occasionally might have a preference<br clear="none">> about their occasional attendance.<br clear="none">><br clear="none">> John<br clear="none">><br clear="none">> On Friday, 13 October 2023 17:21:48 BST Bernard Czenkusz via Bradford wrote:<br clear="none">>> Hi guys, an observation I'd like to put up for comment--<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> I find on-line meetings don't mix well with physical meetups - limited<br clear="none">>> bandwidth, and sat around the room with headphones with half the meet<br clear="none">>> spent working out ways to maintain connections and stop audio feedback.<br clear="none">>> Also room costs not shared with those attending on-line.<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> If we are doing on-line I'd prefer to do it from home, with a decent<br clear="none">>> connection and desktop computer.<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> Physical meets allow free flowing general chat easier - with more than<br clear="none">>> one conversation, so if someone needs help with an application they can<br clear="none">>> be helped as others are doing something else. It also allows coffee,<br clear="none">>> biscuits and follow on pub visit.<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> 1. Should we continue to mix physical with on-line as we do now.<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> or<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> 2. Have physical meets only, without attempting to maintain on-line<br clear="none">>> connections.<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> or<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> 3. Have on-line meets only.<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> or<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> 4. Mainly on-line with special physical meetup events?<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> or<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> 5. Alternate physical with on-line, either every alternate month, twice<br clear="none">>> monthly or other period?<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> or<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> 6. Other options?<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> For what its worth, my own preference would be to alternate since there<br clear="none">>> seems to be a demand for both. Does anyone have any opinions???<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> Cheers<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> Bernie<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> --<br clear="none">>> Bradford mailing list<br clear="none">>> <a shape="rect" href="mailto:Bradford@mailman.lug.org.uk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bradford@mailman.lug.org.uk</a><br clear="none">>> <a shape="rect" href="https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/bradford" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/bradford</a><br clear="none">><br clear="none">><br clear="none">><br clear="none">><br clear="none"><br clear="none">-- <br clear="none">Bradford mailing list<br clear="none"><a shape="rect" href="mailto:Bradford@mailman.lug.org.uk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bradford@mailman.lug.org.uk</a><br clear="none"><a shape="rect" href="https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/bradford" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/bradford</a><br clear="none"></div></div></div>
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