MJ Ray mjr@dsl.pipex.com wrote:
I want the lurkers to speak up. We have 250 addresses getting copies of this. Even if we assume that all the meeting venues get different people (definitely untrue IMO), that means we only see about three dozen of them to talk with. How do we get the other seven-eighths involved?
Sorry about the bad cut.
I'm a lurker (well for a while), but mainly can't make meetings cause the time of meetings doesn't suit, the location, or the fact I'm not available. I've been trying to make a meeting for the past year, but what with personal things, work etc just havn't been able to make the many meets on Sundays. Its not that I don't want to attend, its just having any free time to attend that doesn't coincide with being on call (one of my irks in life is being on call 24/7 for a 2000 computer farm (thats in use 24/7) 1 week in 3 - it doesn't run linux though) is very very rare as I arrange activitys on the non-call weeks often 6 months in advance. And with being out of country all of December I don't see things changing this year.
The beer nights up in Ely have been appealing (and are are the right days for me being non-weekends), but blinkin Anglia railways don't run trains back to Stowmarket late enough (where I abode) to make it worthwhile. I'd drive, but a pub night isn't a pub night without more than 1 pint of real ale.
So to summarise, in my case its a case of waiting - I will get involved, promise, but when I'm less busy in the coming month/year.. - and theres not really much you guys could have done any way in the past year to make it easier to attend - I could easily have made several meetings if it wasn't for being doing other things arranged months in advance.
And an update about me/what I do. I'm M/24/seeing someone, with a healthy interest in Linux. Live in Stowmarket, work on in IT Security (Eneterprise class firewall/ids/policy) for a large insurance broker, which involves coworking with a lot of banks etc. Job involves a lot of open-source. Presviously used to Sysadmin at Uksolutions (www.uksolutions.co.uk) when I previously have posted in the past.
Cheers
Dan