I have been extremely busy the past few months and haven’t had a lot of spare time to dedicate to #RefreshCA. From what I have gathered several of you guys in the community have been pretty busy yourselves. Last month I put out a feeler to see if anyone had anything they wanted to hear about or present at the monthly meeting and didn’t get a lot of response. I figure with Summer coming up this is probably to be expected. Our next scheduled meeting is the last Tuesday of the month, the 29th. Between now and then I would love to hear from anyone that has anything they want to discuss or present. We are wide open so any contributions you might have in terms of subject matter would be appreciated.
Drop me a comment and let me know what your thoughts are. I feel like #RefreshCA is a great asset to our industry and our community in Central Arkansas and definitely worthy of keeping alive, just need some ideas to help us keep it flowing smoothly. Also, anyone else interested in helping plan the meetings, coordinate w/ presenters and the Saucer would be a huge help, as I mentioned earlier, I have had a lot on my plate the past 2 months as have some of the others that help keep things running and I don’t see that changing the next few months.
Once we get back into the swing of things I am going to reach out to some of our corporate sponsors to see about getting more software licenses, t-shirts, books, and miscellaneous swag donated so we can start all of that up again. I also have a couple of nationally known speakers that I have communicated with that are interested in coming in for presentations, I think we can cover their expenses through local sponsorships, just need to get everyone together and decide on which ones we want to bring in. So, drop me your thoughts in the comments and let’s get a discussion going. Thanks.
BTW, if you haven’t already RSVP’d for this month meeting, it’s up on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=124353947603423&ref=mf
I can tell you from the past two Summers of experience that our group, @RefreshJoboro, always enters a natural lull in the Summer. Ball games, lake trips, soccer games, cookouts and 100 other things are much more fun to everyone. What little time they have left, they just want to chill. We have adapted by having mojito nights and potlucks in the Summer months. Giving everyone a brain rest when it's needed and then in the Fall/Winter months we get our geek on hardcore. Don't get discouraged. All community groups have natural ebbs and flows.
Oh yeah, I kind of figured that as well. I'm not discouraged because I know from talking w/ others that they also see a lot of value in a group like #RefreshCA, I think I am just fearful that if we don't all get together and discuss the future of the group that it might fall apart or something. We have had some very valuable friendships forged at these meetings, not to mention in-depth learning from one another. I would hate to see that go away, and I don't think that will happen.
Maybe you combine the “chilling” with brainstorming at the group meeting. Spend the next two or three months just chilling but brainstorm a little about the fall, etc. You could also do an active thread or twitter hashmark to give those who can't make it an opportunity to contribute.
Yeah that's a good idea. I talked to Steven from Jonesboro Refresh and he said they have a lot of group discussions that are entertaining. Maybe we do that while we have limited attendance for a while and see how that goes. I know firsthand that if you get about 10 or so of us in a room and start talking, some interesting things come up. Happens everytime.
Great ideas! It would be nice to hear a recap on word camp. This could help others to see the value in attending next time.
Good idea. I am sure it will come up at some point if we do a group discussion type of meeting.
I consider myself more a consumer than a contributor at RefreshCA but I'd be interested in a “speed dating” type of presentation with a 2-minute overview of several recent issues/apps. 2 minutes x 15 issues/apps = 30 minutes with plenty of Q&A time. Keeps the pace fast. ??
That's an awesome idea Katie. 🙂
Cotton, as you know I'm in Conway. I'm also more of a consumer than contributor, but am interested in getting my name out there as a Project Manager and would offer my services to speak (as appropriate) and helping with he group…Let's talk 501-908-3571.
Hey Ross – Good to hear from you. We are planning to discuss the format for our upcoming meetings at our next meetup. You are welcome to come hangout if you want. Would love to have you present sometime. Thanks,