Folks,
I don't know how many here have heard of the Sync<city> initiative. I hadn't until recently, but according to the website for the Ipswich one (http://www.syncipswich.com) this is the rough idea:
---- cut here ---- "SyncIpswich is all about getting Ipswich and Suffolk's technology communities together to form new ideas, new startups and push local business growth.
Ipswich is an ever improving town with many local & national technology companies, design & marketing agencies, developers, designers, business owners and more.
SyncIpswich is an open community for all technologists, creatives, entrepreneurs and graduates to meet up, flaunt ideas, recruit help and expertise and learn new things.
Its a community by the people for the people. Regular meetups with exciting talks and demo's in sociable surroundings. We look forward to meeting you.
We'll be meeting once a month in the evening; its free to attend with free snacks and drinks." ---- cut here ----
Thus far, Norwich and Ipswich are the only ones, but Cambridge is due to start one soon, with more to follow.
Last night I attended the inaugural "meetup" with a talk by Daniel Wagner-Hall from Google, talking about their software testing regime, philosophy and culture. It was really good, and a great insight into Google. Some of the stats were astonishing:
Nearly 20,000 developers More than 100 million lines of code Up to 200 tests PER SECOND, and so on...
Some comments made by attendees (there were 70-odd people there) can be seen here: http://www.syncipswich.com/events/101237482/?a=uc1_te
A review (from one of the sponsors) can be fond here: http://paulgrenyer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-first-syncipswich.html
There was free beer (Peroni), soft drinks, nibbles, and lots of techy people many of whom use Linux day-to-day. We repaired to Issac's afterwards for more beer.
I didn't see anyone from ALUG there, but in truth, my recent attendance to the monthly meetings has been woeful, so I might be wrong.
It was a good opportunity to meet new people, make contact with ex-colleagues I hadn't seen for 20+ years, and generally network.
I recommend Ipswich ALUGers to attend the next meet, or at least roam through the web site. Of course, you guys in Norwich should check out your own!
See you at the next meet then?
Cheers, Laurie.