Mail Lists, IRC & Meeting Organization Coordination and Unity

[Lisa Kachold]

Historically, Hans has maintained the PLUG email lists in compliance
with the rest of LUGs across America in non-moderated fashion.
Various PLUG controversies about the lists have consistently been
waged:


A GREAT MANY PEOPLE HAVE LEFT PLUG DISCUSS because of these issues:

0) Job Post clogs (even from other cities/states)
1) Chattiness of the List Members.
2) Off-topic Posts.
3) Posts from PLUG members who don't address the technical question at hand.
4) Threads that have degenerated to a personally negative level clog
inboxes in email war fashion.
5) Distro warz & Microsoft bashing floods boxes that are only
interested in learning.
6) Politics.

Many have suggested that PLUG Discuss slice up to a greater group
format like other UGs, to include:

PLUG OT
PLUG Politics
PLUG Security
PLUG JobPosts (this exists already)

Hans or Alan PLEASE create these lists (I don't have access unless I
hack Mailman  from root on the server):
http://lists.plug.phoenix.az.us/cgi-bin/mailman/create

And members can post appropriately to limit chatter for the purists,
who like only technical linux with their high volume lists.

Others want a member to be appointed to moderate lists or at least
moderate the PLUG discuss.  Old time members will leave if they have
to endure moderation.

Archives of threads with valuable information are not available from
our Drupal mailman installation, but are archived on other sites who
pick up the RSS feeds.  Why is this?

Members who have become argumentative after failing to understand
technical direction and information volunteered from an experienced
member on the PLUG discuss list have gone to IRC to bend anyone's ear
who would listen complaining about a situation they started via
degeneration into defensive arguing and personal bias'ed type distro
bashing.  Other constructive critique from some of the teachers in our
midst drawing attention to symantics, linux defintions, and "staying
on subject" & "in the solution" has been misunderstood as additional
personal attacks without sufficient context from following the full
thread and emotions are mis-read since personal expression in email is
limited.

Idealistic volunteers have tried to moderate both IRC (which has
likewise no policy against "trolling") and intervene in the PLUG
discuss lists with the resulting lack of unity, harsh critique and
hurt feelings.
None in Linux land like to be censored or hear others constantly
reminded to start or stop talking, drop or continue this thread or
that.  Moderation, maintained on other lists, is a matter of using
technical tools to simply post list rules, warn members, drop posts to
threads and ban members.

Various meetings have folded through lack of support, partially due to
economic industry factors, and partly due to the level of gossip,
disorganized agendas, and failures of members to keep commitments.
Obtaining good meeting space has been historically difficult without
non-profit status or bonding.   We have had to go to The Foundation
for Blind Children, and private colleges, where community rooms are
available or bonding under another UG name is done.  Gossip that
covers subjects as deep as employment history, personal grievances,
personal health and other life choices of members, and annoyances as
shallow as discussion of member's criminal history or ability to
compete for jobs due to credit issues.  NONE of this petty bantering
about of personal information is acceptable in any professional
organization.  Members who apply for work from various consulting and
contracting or employment firms in Arizona or who interact
volunteering for PLUG should never be exposed to such disrespect for
confidentiality.  Others who are promoting classes exhibit severe lack
of ethics and professionalism by nattering about this or that other
teacher or member's presentation or technical skills.

People consistently want to volunteer yet don't know how to do so,
even erroneously assume that they have to approach Hans to work with
InstallFest or Hackfest projects.   The Drupal 4.7 (updated) website
is in need of rebuild (completion) and database updating for role
based signups, RSVP for events, reminders of events from the Drupal
modules, and other items that would assist volunteers to simply choose
a slot and download or read the role that they just volunteered for.
There is no process of interviewing for this or that presentation of
role.  Scheduling is immediately managed by Drupal calendering.  Rooms
and other resources, including treasury money from sale of tee-shirts
can be tracked via PayPal accounts linked with Drupal.

Projects fail where organization or authorization is required.  Time
for volunteering is all eaten away simply by appearing at a multitude
of "planning meetings" and nothing ever gets accomplished; a
calculated nothing controlled carefully? People who have interacted in
well organized volunteer endeavors or LUGS, Freegeek.org, and/or
attended regular cons or Perl Mongers, well know that an organization
either grows or stagnates and dies.   Few want to waste time "playing
at Open Source", or give time to an endeavor without positive results
and clear accounting.  Others see that scholarships and mentorship
programs available and organized in other cities at the UG level could
be so easily provided, with self supporting endeavors.  It's really
hard to watch floundering year in and year out depending on one of two
volunteers.  People often are heard attempting to volunteer in vague
ways, but when it comes down to it, no specific coordination (which
can be managed trivially via Drupal or JIRA, or vTigerCMS/SugarCRM)
happens, so anything that requires resources, project dependencies,
scheduling and reminders fails horribly.  This includes having a
primary and backup UG moderator role each month that people go
subscribe themselves for.   If we don't have someone to take on a
meeting moderator role (or any other volunteer role) in  "One Man
Show" style, doing everything, the meetings (and web development)
simply don't happen.  I am not sure exactly where in the project
management volunteer coordination is failing, but a black hole exists
that seems to suck in all progress.

Overall, I would like to request that everyone model unity, foster
respect and win-win solutions.  Please leave off the gossip and
personal nattering over imagined wrongs and try to implement solutions
using technology, asking Hans for direct solutions or commitment until
PLUG gets over these growth pains or economic strife while
communicating to the right source directly will help.

Since the Email lists currently are not moderated, please respect each
others free speech.   Privately suggest others take personal
discussions off list, or to another list.  If we all follow these
simple policies, reminding each other politely with a nice request, we
will foster unity and ensure a safe place for everyone to play.

Others have started non-profit endeavors in Arizona here, under which
a LUG might be in the works, completing in various ways, built upon a
role based signup Drupal with roles and presentations etc.

The mere change that allows people to signup for their own
volunteering, including setup/signup to present a training event or
talk, and get reminders out for everyone of it, builds community,
provides users a way to have some control over their UG, etc. And
might very well be the item that causes great success in a PLUG for
this huge number of professional Nix people in Arizona.

Alan/Hans let me know when the lists are added, I will edit the Drupal
page with desciptions etc.

Thanks for lending me your ear.

--
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