[Bradford] Our meetups, request for comments

[bradlug at hackroyd.org.uk]

 I agree that a good meeting room is essential. The one at BCB doesn't come close to that in my opinion.
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. 

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 Málaga for example.

I don´t know what the answer is to all this.
Brian

    On Wednesday, 25 October 2023 at 20:28:42 BST, Nick Rhodes via Bradford <bradford at mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:  
 
 Hi,

Are in-person meetings declining across local computer/tech/geek groups ?
Do people generally prefer online only ?
Are people turned-off by mailing lists, what type of discussion channels 
do the expect/enjoy ?

Maybe a bit of research is needed to help us consider future direction, 
especially if we want to doing some promotion to try and increase 
membership.

In my experience, meeting rooms need dedicated/quality equipment for 
sufficient quality to pick up everyone in the room with decent clarity 
for those connecting in remotely. When there are talks and presentation 
with a speaker, its helpful to have a moderated Q&A afterwards (putting 
questions in the chat works).

If we can't get a meeting room with decent connectivity and 
microphone/speakers, I would prefer not to have mixed in-person/online 
meetings

I like the idea alternating in-person and online in some fashion. We 
could evaluate in 6/12 months and adjust to demand.

Recently my travel options have improved, so attending in person in 
Bradford would be easier for myself than it has in the past.

I quite like the idea of having something like quarterly in person 
meetings which are fully planed with things like presentations, talks, 
guest speakers.

I have pondered over the idea of making monthly meetings as 
informal/socials, not sure if in person or online are best and worry 
they might detract from the mailing list.

If we agree to continuing some form of online meetings,  think we should 
try hard to find a privacy respect video conferencing service, ideally 
one built on FOSS technology, but I am pragmatic and if something like 
Discord is the only viable option, I would use it. I would be happy to 
donate towards a paid for option.

Cheers, Nick

On 23/10/2023 16:10, John Robert Hudson via Bradford wrote:
> Hi all
>
> So far, only a few people have commented on whether we should go online for
> the future or try in some way to combine physical and online meetings -
> perhaps by alternating, perhaps by having less frequent, more focused,
> physical meetings.
>
> More comments would be helpful as there are a lot of people on the mailing
> list who may not attend any form of meeting but might like to be involved in
> different ways while those who attend occasionally might have a preference
> about their occasional attendance.
>
> John
>
> On Friday, 13 October 2023 17:21:48 BST Bernard Czenkusz via Bradford wrote:
>> Hi guys, an observation I'd like to put up for comment--
>>
>> I find on-line meetings don't mix well with physical meetups - limited
>> bandwidth, and sat around the room with headphones with half the meet
>> spent working out ways to maintain connections and stop audio feedback.
>> Also room costs not shared with those attending on-line.
>>
>> If we are doing on-line I'd prefer to do it from home, with a decent
>> connection and desktop computer.
>>
>> Physical meets allow free flowing general chat easier - with more than
>> one conversation, so if someone needs help with an application they can
>> be helped as others are doing something else. It also allows coffee,
>> biscuits and follow on pub visit.
>>
>> 1. Should we continue to mix physical with on-line as we do now.
>>
>> or
>>
>> 2. Have physical meets only, without attempting to maintain on-line
>> connections.
>>
>> or
>>
>> 3. Have on-line meets only.
>>
>> or
>>
>> 4. Mainly on-line with special physical meetup events?
>>
>> or
>>
>> 5. Alternate physical with on-line, either every alternate month, twice
>> monthly or other period?
>>
>> or
>>
>> 6. Other options?
>>
>>
>> For what its worth, my own preference would be to alternate since there
>> seems to be a demand for both. Does anyone have any opinions???
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Bernie
>>
>>
>> --
>> Bradford mailing list
>> Bradford at mailman.lug.org.uk
>> https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/bradford
>
>
>
>

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