We're going to do something a little different at the April meeting.
We'll be having a question and answer session in which everyone can,
and hopefully will, participate.
Each of us needs to put our thinking caps on and come up with a
list of questions to be answered by the other members of the group.
The questions should be written on individual pieces of paper and
will be thrown into a hat (or "hat equivalent device") and drawn
out and asked by each of those attending in turn (so write clearly
and in complete sentences).
For each question, we'll go round the table and each person can
answer in as little or as much detail as they wish, but should stay
"on topic".
To make that work, we have some rules concerning the questions:
1. The questions should not be ones which have a specific technical
answer, because once answered there is little room for the
remaining participants to contribute.
2. It follows that this is not an opportunity to get your specific
problem fixed; it is to elicit the experiences and knowledge of
others at a more general level.
3. The questions will be answered by multiple people and so should
not be addressed to anyone in particular.
4. The answers to the questions should be facts or opinions based on
each person's individual experience, so there will be different
answers from different people.
5. The questions should be relevant to the purpose of the group.
6. The group may decide to veto any question which is deemed to be
inappropriate or trivial.
As an example, and to get us in to the rhythm, the first question
out of the hat will be, "When did you first encounter Linux?"
(Don't use that as your question; it's already taken!)
Remember that we need to fill in the evening, so it's better if we
have questions left over than to run out fifteen minutes in.
But to start off, John will report on his visit to the Waikato LUG's
March meeting on Monday. There are some ideas which have arisen
from that which we ought to kick around.