[Rustington] Saving Rustington LUG

[david]

Hi all,

I agree with many of the inputs so far. However I wonder if we need
first to decide what fundamentally it is that we want to offer the
U3A community. When I first attended (as person experienced in
computing and Linux) I had a very poor idea of what the group was
about, even though I had attended a couple of the Sussex LUG meetings
before.

I am still not sure! As someone who is interested in everything
about computers I am not too bothered, but I think for people with
'average' interest in computing many would quite confused about what the
group's aims are and what they might get out of the group.

I personally would like us to continue to have fairly deep subjects.

Unfortunately I expect most potential new members are interested in
finding out what Linux is and how they can access the internet, write
emails and documents etc. rather than details about versions of Linux;
how to program; how to set up networks; security ...

I think that rather than having one day a month 'Microsoft' biased, it
would be better to have one day a month explicitly to help people to
move from Microsoft to Linux - this would include the advantages, how
tos, and actual installations of Linux and software.

Having our meetings during the day time in the week limits us mainly to
those that have retired, limiting our potential for recruitment.

I agree £2 is probably a reasonable charge. We certainly need to know
what the current accommodation costs are and what the U3A policy on
subsidy is.

Could the group welcome not U3A members (with a higher meeting charge
to take into account they should not be subsidised)?

Taking some of the points raised by others and adding my own to help
with the discussion:

 * We should define what exactly the group is to be about (for the next
   year)

 * We should advertise it effectively

 * We should decide whether or not to stay with day time meetings

 * We should then work out (guess!) what would be the realistic number
   of members we could expect which will give us an estimate of income

 * If/while the number of members is small we could consider meeting at
   members homes every week or alternate between members homes one week
   and U3A accommodation the next

I am sure there are lots of other considerations to add - but I have
run ideas for the moment and must get on with building my
workshop/hobbies room while the good weather lasts!

Looking forward to the continuing discussion.

David