[Wolves] LUG State of the Nation Address

[Stephen Parkes]

On Thu, 20 Jun 2019 at 09:48, Peter Cannon via Wolves <
wolves at mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:

>
> I support "inclusion" 100% and nobody should feel unable to 'join in'
> regardless of their social background, education or skill level. Sadly
> there are still those running around the community who display (IMO)
> "The arrogance of intelligence"
>
>
We let Peter join in after all and he's a 'Sarfender' whatever that means.

The widening of the remit should be all that's needed to be more
inclusive.
There is a big wide world of tech out there and we all love niches.
Everybody here loves to see a passionate person talk about their favourite
niche it's just getting the right people in the right settings for that to
happen naturally.

'Proper talks' work for some LUGS but at the end people wander off and
don't get involved in the social side and miss out on all the little
huddles of people being passionate.  But huddles of people inside a larger
group looks impenetrable to an outsider.  If it was easy to do then LUGS
wouldn't be in the situation they are now :)  Both situations are bad at
bringing outsiders into the fold.  I have no idea how to find the balance
but as somebody who struggles in new social groups I can tell you both suck
when you feel outside the group and it's far easier to walk away than try
to walk a tight rope into such a complex situation.

I struggle to attend meetings due the family situation but right now I'm
really struggling with my hearing (it was always pretty bad but it's taken
a real turn for the worse this year and I need to get it seen to) and I
know I wouldn't be able to keep up with conversations at the LUG anymore.
That's just down to the environment meets are held in but moving it to a
more formal event means that many people will turn up for the odd talk and
never move on to the informal part of the meeting where the real benefit
it.  For some that's all they want out of a group but the vast majority of
people on the list know that the social side and the little informal chats
that arise from it are the best part of meetings.  A formal talk will
inspire a percentage of the room but everyone goes away with fresh mojo
after a good Wolves LUG meeting with various random little chats spinning
off a general conversation.

Yeah, rambling a bit ;)

Widen the remit.  All tech's welcome with preference given to open
development, niche topics and a do it yourself attitude.  Catch everything
from the classic geek topics of amateur radio to diy biopunk because at the
heart we're inquisitive people who want the stimulation of seeing new
things and the comfort of enjoying the fact the old tech is still around.

sparkes