Open Stack

Hi,

On 01/20/2015 08:46 AM, Rich Bowen wrote:
> On 01/19/2015 04:07 PM, Adam Lawson wrote:
>> I've been contemplating starting a new OpenStack meet-up and an excited
>> about meeting with and hearing what folks are doing in the local area.
>>
>> While continue working on this, I'm wondering how others who have
>> created user groups got the word out and evangelized?
> 
> It's important not to get discouraged with the first meeting, if only 3
> or 4 people show up. They'll tell other people who will be annoyed that
> they missed it, and the second time will be better. So the first time,
> just tell the people you know are interested, and then they'll help you
> get the word out the next time.
> Also, make sure you get it listed on Meetup.com so that people who watch
> that will see it and help get the word out even farther.


Good advice!

Also: if you are doing presentations, it's likely that you will have to
line up speakers for the first 2-3, and then you may want to figure out
a process for letting people know that there's a meet-up coming and
you're looking for proposals.

Your first meet-up, you may get one or two walk-ins from Meet-up, but
most attendees will be people you have spoken to personally about it.

Better to under-estimate space needs than over-estimate. If you have
room for 10 people and 14 turn up, it's not a huge deal, if you have
room for 50 and 14 turn up, there will be no energy in the room.

Also, you might want to set an expectation of regularity from the start
- plan 2-3 meet-ups when you start, every 3-4 months is a good pace, it
will allow people to start forming habits.

Finally: Congratulations! Have fun - it's a great thing to do.

Cheers,
Dave.

-- 
Dave Neary - NFV/SDN Community Strategy
Open Source and Standards, Red Hat - http://community.redhat.com
Ph: +1-978-399-2182 / Cell: +1-978-799-3338