[wlug_org] Linux Clinux...

[Wood Brent]

Re: Is it a bad thing?

> It is if they want exclusive rights for advertising at the meetings.  We
> should decide on some guidelines for handling sponsorship, otherwise
> things could turn nasty.

Possibly. No worse than "normal" competition in the free-enterprise market :-)

Note that WLUG only has a say in anything we are involved with. On a national
or even local scale, there are plenty of options for any commercial entity, be
they a training or hardware vendor, to run such sessions without formal LUG
input.

I know that if DSE, Quay or Natcoll, etc, approached me & asked me to take a
paid role in such an event, outside of WLUG, I would definately be interested
as I suspect would several other LUG members (who could well be capable of a
better job).

We as a group cannot dictate how such things should work, at best we can only
decide on whether to support them, and given the only thing we have a real
agreement on is the lack of rules, I'd be very surprised if there was a strong
consensus in the LUG over such an issue. Any LUG guideline could not be binding
on individual members anyway, without rules & an infrastructure for enforcing
them. Not likely.

> The last thing I would want is to see any LUG meeting/clinic become just
> another place for businesses to overtly flog their product/services. 

With a commercial organisation organising & running such sessions, would you be
equally concerned if it was used as another place to overtly push the LUG?


> I can understand why the Ewen has a ban on advertising on the list, and we
> should be careful on how we manage sponsorship for any event we run to
> ensure that they don't become just another avenue for advertising.

Yes & no (as usual :-). If WLUG has value for advertisers/sponsors (like the
'fest), it is because we have some credibility & the Linux marketplace locally
is perceived to have growth potential with commercial returns. I don't see that
as a negative situation. Indeed, as a WLUG member is is the sort of situation I
believed we work towards.

Maybe we need to revisit the WLUG goals if such events are of concern to
members?

If company X provides the venue/facilities & advertising, & invites WLUG to
participate, I can't see why interested members should not participate if they
so desire, nor can I see why company Y should expect to have access to any
advertising possibilities. I do believe WLUG's role with Company X should NOT
be exclusive, so we can also be involved in Company Y's event if desired....


Note that all this is not to say some caution in how we get involved is a good
idea, and it should be clear to sponsors that WLUG is not commercial in nature,
nor is it necessarily aligned with any particular businesses.


Brent