[sa-auug] What do members want out of AUUG?

[Benjamin Close]

Hi Brian,
    I must agree AUUG doesn't seem to have a lot to offer the 
individual. I'm facing the same question myself. Some of the things I 
personally would like to see AUUG do is:

    o Run monthly meetings where there is interesting talks, perhaps
      with subsidised food costs.
    o Since AUUG have a online server:
          o Provide secondary DNS for domains
          o Provide secondary MX for domains
          o Provide perhaps a shell account for remote backups
    o Have a montly newsletter to complement auugn about what's new, 
nothing big
      just a double sided A4 page.
    o Keep AUUGN on paper. Sure it's more cost affective put it on CD but
      one of the things I like about AUUG is that they have hard copy
      publications. I like reading about computers but every now and again
      it's nice to 'unplug' and read a paper version
    o Reduced membership fees. $150 is quite steep for what you get
    o Social meetings - perhaps even a lan or too

These things would make AUUG much more attractive to me.
I can't make many of the conferences as I'm an individual who just can't 
afford the flight / accomodation / entry fee cost.

Cheers,
    Benjamin

Brian Astill wrote:

>On Mon, 20 Dec 2004 07:23 pm, Benjamin Close wrote:
>  
>
>>Hi All,
>>    First and formost I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and
>>a Happy New Years.
>>    
>>
>
>Thanks, you too - despite the difficulties of April 2005.
>
>  
>
>>Which brings the question: What would you like to see AUUG doing next
>>year?
>>    
>>
>
>The plethora of responses have no doubt all been off-list?
>
>I guess my question is "should I retain my AUUG membership?" 
>If the answer is "no" then the question of SA Chapter activities becomes 
>irrelevant.
>
>I am not employed in IT, nor do I gain income from IT. My employer does 
>not pay my subscription, nor can I claim it as a tax deduction.
>I am not a geek.  I would gain little from, nor could I afford, 
>attendance at AUUG Conferences.
>I first became a member by winning a free 1-year subscription to AUUG at 
>a LinuxSA meeting, and retained membership because of the activities of 
>the SA Chapter and the quality of AUUGN.
>
>>From AUUG-SA I have gained a sufficient knowledge of FBSD to have it as 
>my preferred OS and  I have received help with some problems I have had 
>from time to time (thanks, guys).  AUUGN has contained a number of 
>interesting and helpful articles and has been accompanied by similarly 
>interesting CDs.
>
>However, AUUG-SA no longer conducts "formal" Chapter meetings.  The 
>recent issues of AUUGN have shown that the editor has had great 
>difficulty finding suitable copy and the latest issue came with a 
>reissued copy of an already 3-years-out-of-date copy of Debian Woody.  
>On that basis, the only virtue of AUUG membership is the companionship 
>of our monthly evening meal at Marcellinas - which I can continue to 
>enjoy without being an AUUG member.
>
>(SFAIK, BUGA exists in SA only as a low-traffic mailing list.  If it 
>operated in a similar manner to LinuxSA, it would probably be more 
>suitable for me than AUUG.)
>
>So ...   Should I retain membership of AUUG?  Seems to me that without a 
>good quality AUUGN and an active SA Chapter, the answer should be "No".
>
>  
>
>>At present most chapters of AUUG are declining in numbers, at this
>>rate AUUG will eventually cease to exist.
>>    
>>
>
>I wonder if my comments might be more-or-less typical, and the lack of 
>vigorous response to your question might also be so?
>
>
>  
>


-- 
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