[Talk] Re: [AUUG-ANNOUNCE]: AUUG moving forward

[Greg Rose]

At 07:29 PM 3/21/2002 +1100, D A Vincent wrote:
>Help.

Yes, indeed, that is the problem in a word. And I'm glad to try.

It's funny how threads come together... AUUG, national, is having trouble 
moving forward, and at the same time AUUG SA has a quiet mailing list. I 
think these problems are related.

AUUG was formed at a time when member organisations ran meetings, had 
newsletters, and worried about what other services to give their members. 
You charged money, and signed up members, because that was what you did, 
and you needed the money to produce newsletters and underwrite meetings. 
The other services, if you could think of any, typically involved 
professional rates on insurance, frequent flyer miles, mutual discounts, ...

I'm afraid that the "other services" are now provided by other people, lots 
of them, and the newsletters are of value to an increasingly limited 
audience, since almost all of the information is available on web pages. 
But the conferences are still of value, for all three of:
1. a venue for speakers to pass on information
2. a venue for people of like interests to get together and pass on 
information to each other
3. a venue for people who *used* to get together to pass on information, to 
get together again anyway, because they want to have a drink.

I don't see why you need to be a member of something for any of these. 
Overheads such as web pages to promote the next few conferences, and run 
mailing lists, could easily be donated. The effort to organise the 
conferences is already mostly donated. Advertising and management would 
need to be paid for but should be paid for out of the existing pool of 
money (well, that might be a real problem...) which gets replenished by the 
proceeds of the conferences.

What I think I'm suggesting, without trying to be too serious about it, is 
that AUUG should perhaps go down a route of charging nearly $0 for 
membership, not produce a newsletter, and just run conferences and mailing 
lists open to all and sundry. (There are probably legal wrinkles to be 
worked out regarding incorporation as an association, but I'm sure we could 
find 20 people to pay $1 per year for membership, or whatever it takes.)

regards,
Greg.

Greg Rose                                       INTERNET: ggr at qualcomm.com
Qualcomm Australia          VOICE:  +61-2-9817 4188   FAX: +61-2-9817 5199
Level 3, 230 Victoria Road,                http://people.qualcomm.com/ggr/
Gladesville NSW 2111    232B EC8F 44C6 C853 D68F  E107 E6BF CD2F 1081 A37C