July 09 MEETING
21 July 2009
A very different presentation this month "Virtual vs Face-2-Face". Support group services turned a corner long ago, moving into the realm of semi-commercial enterprise and all arguments in their defence could be summed up with the expression "there is no such thing as a free lunch".
With the poor response to BSMUG's Annual Planning Meeting last month, a necessary change of format will be tabled. Will we, BSMUG's volunteer admin committee, continue to put on the show? Let's see.
BSMUG has been in existence now for nearly 4 years as a non-profit community group. In that time the mailing list has grown enormously and subscription to this part of the group's services has remained fairly constant. Attendance at meetings has also been statistically steady in numbers however, given that it reflects only 10% of subscribers, and that only about half that number turn up regularly, the reality is that it is clearly a waste of effort to continue with face-to-face events in the current format. In fact, without the support of volunteers BSMUG cannot really be an entity at all.
However, BSMUG was initiated with the intention of providing a local support network to Mac users in Byron Shire. Given that BSMUG has already established a supportive online framework (website and forum) the following suggestions are to be put forward at this meeting:
- no more face-2-face meetings; or
- only occasional face-2-face meetings; or
- all BSMUG networking moves to an online format;
- the website and forum will remain, while adequate funding exists, to offer BSMUG subscribers the usual access to discounted items, news and support;
- the eNewsletter may wind up and subscribers will be asked to join the forum in order to continue receiving regular notifications via email of BSMUG news, opportunities or other upcoming events;
- currently paid BSMUG subscribers will be compensated.
Visitor's : Add Comment
Sharne Warren 19 July 2009
I have only attended a couple of meetings in Mullum, I live at Suffolk and it is for me a good half hour travel, some may say so what but for me I am not big on travel, especially in winter on my own. I tried car pooling once but no takers. So what I would like is for the group to be in Byron, I would most definitely go every month, I would also get more involved in the group. Soooo if this is possible I would love to see the group continue in the monthly meetings format. Regards, Sharne Warren.
Kerry 26 July 2009
thanks for the feedback Sharne. If there were others willing to organise this, then it could be done. The reality is that no-one has stepped forward to be on the committee and the current organisers are no longer prepared to run face-to-face meetings. Need a break.
In the meantime all user group activity is being directed to the BSMUG forum. This will be explained in the next newsletter. Any future presentations will only happen when there are sufficient people putting in the energy to organise it.
