[Watford] 2009 Newsletter

[Steven Acreman]

Not really a newsletter I must admit :) more of an end of the year 'Merry
Christmas' to everyone and a quick update on a couple of things.

I wanted to thank everyone for making the group largely successful this
year. We had 12 meetings, some good discussions and got a mini project
completed - the SLUG (which is currently hosting the
www.watfordlug.orgwebsite). I have no metrics other than my failing
memory, but it is my
perception that our number of members is increasing steadily.

When the LUG got started a while ago we had some grand ideas about making it
more formal. We started to take subs and talked about purchasing project
equipment and getting public speakers. I personally think that things have
been fun doing it in our informal way. We concentrated more this year on
getting a stable venue and setting up an environment for healthy debate with
things like internet access and a projector. We have almost become a bit of
a virtual group with a core of regulars and people who attend from time to
time. Above all we have helped eachother out and solved some problems.
However, it cannot be argued that the subs did allow us to purchase the SLUG
which I think was a highlight of 2009.

Therefore, at the first meeting in 2010 I would like to open the discussion
again regarding whether we want to continue with this informal setup.
Recently we closed down the LUG bank account and lost our designated
chairman. We have recouped just over £40 that is currently sitting in the
the 'LUG Folder' on my filing cabinet at home. This is made up of
approximately £20 of old subs money and a generous donation of another £20
from Cliff who recently stepped down. It's probably a good point in the
email to say thank you to Cliff for helping to setup the LUG and thank you
for the recent generosity, you will be missed.

But going back to the point.. next year we should set aside some time in the
next meeting to discuss members roles (it's probably best to start again
since we lost our chairman). There should be an agreement on whether we do
this at all or whether we hold an election. Also, the question of the £1
subscription and whether that should be reinstated. If we plan to keep money
laying around we should get another bank account - I'm massively in favour
of an online only account if we need one again. Going to the bank is a real
pain.

My feelings on all of this are pretty liberal. I'm happy to go on as we are
but have seen the spark of what can be done with a small amount of money.
There is always room for improvement and we can probably keep the informal
aspects while introducing some of the benefits of being slightly more
organised.

So there it is - just a heads up that we have money and we need to discuss
group structure again. If you have any ideas on things to purchase before
the next meeting let me know and we'll do our usual adhoc vote.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and see you in January,

Steven Acreman
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.lug.org.uk/pipermail/watford/attachments/20091214/b116b0cc/attachment.htm