[Steering Committee] A Change Proposal

Jason Lee jason at steeplesoft.com
Thu May 28 08:37:26 PDT 2009 

Sound good, all.  Thanks.  I'll try to incorporate what I can.   
Pending anything from Ryan coming in soon, I'll send this out.

On May 28, 2009, at 10:29 AM, Brett L. Schuchert wrote:

> I like it. It covers all the points well and gives current thinking.  
> I'd like to follow-up on Paul's recommendation and suggest an  
> executive summary (that also makes a specific decision, which is  
> open for discussion). Here's an example:
>
> Summary:
> Due to economic considerations and a desire to not spend more than  
> we taken, starting in July we will discontinue providing food.  
> Membership will still be free and we will continue to meet at the  
> CoCo. We are doing this to be able to continue to offer a wonderful,  
> free experience to our group. If you are concerned with these  
> decisions, please:
> 	- Read further for a more detailed background and other possible  
> options
> 	- Consider coming or writing to the steering committee.
>
> --- Your letter follows ---
>
> Or something like that.
>
> This:
> 	Makes it quick and gives a clear direction
> 	Provides background if people care
> 	Alludes to alternatives, which can be found below
> 	Puts people into action by making a possibly unpopular decision
>
> Brett
> On May 28, 2009, at 9:34 AM 5/28/09, Jason Lee wrote:
>
>> OK, fellas.  Proof-reading time.  I'd like to send this out today  
>> or tomorrow, so please give me feedback as soon as possible.  Thanks!
>>
>>
>> =====
>>
>> One of the things we in the JUG leadership have always tried to  
>> stress is that this is *our* group.  While there may be a few of us  
>> making the decisions, all are welcome to come to the meeting and  
>> help us make those decisions, even taking over leadership if so  
>> desired.  That being the case, we try to operate the JUG with  
>> complete transparently.  To that end, I'd like to take some time to  
>> discuss the state of things concerning our group.
>>
>> As you may recall, late last year, we incorporated the JUG, which,  
>> among other things, has allowed us to open and maintain a bank  
>> account.  As a result of that move and the resulting, if meager,  
>> account balance, we have been able to entertain larger, more long- 
>> term arrangements.  One such arrangement, which we're still in the  
>> process of finalizing, is a multi-month agreement with the Oklahoma  
>> City Coworking Collaborative, or CoCo.  As many of you have seen,  
>> Derrick and his team have built a fantastic facility in downtown  
>> Oklahoma City that solves a number of issues for us, the most  
>> pressing of which has been space.  At several of our last meetings  
>> at the University of Phoenix, we were standing room only.  To  
>> ameliorate that issue there would have doubled our costs.  The CoCo  
>> gives us much more room, at only a modest increase in costs.  The  
>> CoCo also provides for the recording and hosting of meeting videos,  
>> as well as a more central location, which helps out those on the  
>> south side of the city.
>>
>> For those reasons, we feel such a partnership with the CoCo is a  
>> boon to the JUG.  At the same time, we are able to help out Derrick  
>> and crew who have been very active and supportive of not only the  
>> JUG, but several other user groups in the area.  The catch is that  
>> such an agreement requires an upfront payment for the facilities  
>> rental, which is a normal and not unreasonable arrangement.  What  
>> that means is that the lion's share of our current funds are now  
>> committed to this partnership, leaving us with only a small sum  
>> left.  Seeing this small amount, the SC discussed Tuesday what we  
>> should do to make sure that we can continue to operate.  While it  
>> is true that in the past we've gone month to month in our funding,  
>> given the volatility in the market and the loss of one of our  
>> sponsors, we feel that it would be prudent to take steps to insure  
>> that we're not spending money we may not get in the future.
>>
>> Having said all of that, we came up with a number of options for  
>> the membership to discuss, select, etc.  Aside from the facilities  
>> rental, we have two other regular expenses, door prizes and food.   
>> With food being the larger of the two, our proposals focused on  
>> that.  They are:
>>
>> 1) We no longer provide lunch, and expect each attendee to bring  
>> his lunch.
>> 2) We continue to provide lunch, but require that each attendee pay  
>> a flat fee for lunch, say, $5.
>> 3) We move to a paid membership model, wherein members would  
>> continue to get a "free" meal at each meeting but non-members would  
>> be required to pay for the meal at each meeting.
>> 4) Someone in the group donates the food. Or, alternately, the  
>> entrepreneurial might find a nice business opportunity here.
>> 5) Continue business as usual and then suspend operations should  
>> funding dry up.
>>
>> There are likely other options.  If one comes to mind, please feel  
>> free to propose it.  We decided that, given the time frame, nothing  
>> will change for the June meeting, but, starting with the July  
>> meeting, one of these proposals (or, perhaps, one suggested by the  
>> general membership) will be implemented, so if you have a strong  
>> feeling one way or another, now is the time to make your voice  
>> heard.  The decision on which option to adopt will likely be made  
>> at next month's Steering Committee meeting, so if you've been  
>> thinking about coming, now is the time.  That's the best way to get  
>> involved in the decision-making process for the JUG.
>>
>> Our hope, of course, is the economy begins to swing back up and  
>> that our awesome local sponsors will still be in the position to  
>> partner with us.  While there may be signs showing that that will  
>> happen in the near term, we felt it best not to do "deficit  
>> spending" and implement a strategy to insure the continued  
>> operations of the JUG.  All of us on the SC feel that we get value  
>> from the JUG, hoping, of course, that everyone else feels the same,  
>> so it is in the best interest of all involved that the JUG continue  
>> to meet.  It is our hope that this proposal will do just that.
>>
>> Thanks for taking the time to read this giant missive.  Your  
>> feedback is greatly welcome.
>>
>> Jason Lee, SCJP
>> Senior Java Developer, Sun Microsystems
>> Mojarra and Mojarra Scales Dev Team
>> https://mojarra.dev.java.net
>> https://scales.dev.java.net
>> http://blogs.steeplesoft.com
>>
>>
>>
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Jason Lee, SCJP
Senior Java Developer, Sun Microsystems
Mojarra and Mojarra Scales Dev Team
https://mojarra.dev.java.net
https://scales.dev.java.net
http://blogs.steeplesoft.com

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