There was an OpenACS social in early September, with a pretty good showing. I bet if someone organized or offered to host another one, a good showing of OACS people would all of a sudden materialize...

talli

Hopefully we'll get OACS'ers from other states to show up. That'll be fun.

So, who knows, announce this and I *may* show up (of course, you don't have to let me in if you don't want to!)

Bay Area ... I wish I could've made the last one but IIRC I was on the road...

Somebody e-mailed me with the same suggestion (why not Salt Lake City?). Here's my response to him ("the U" == "University of Utah", BTW):

> On Fri, Nov 02, 2001 at 01:51:36PM -0700, xxxxxxxxx wrote:                                                                                                    
> > I'd love to come, but I probably won't do to the travel time. Perhaps                                                                                       
> > the U would be a more central location to host "the largest free/open                                                                                       
> > source software/Linux event in Utah" ?                                                                                                                      
>                                                                                                                                                               
> Probably, but our LUG/Free Software Club is at USU and that's where we                                                                                     
> get all the privileges of an official USU club: almost-free venues, money                                                                                     
> from the department, etc.                                                                                                                                     
>                                                                                                                                                               
> Most importantly, we took the effort. Nothing's stopping anyone from                                                                                          
> doing it at the U or BYU, but we are here and we were willing to make the                                                                                     
> effort to make it happen for 2 consecutive years.                                                                                                             
>                                                                                                                                                               
> If other events like this happenned at the U, BYU, Weber, SLCC, etc.                                                                                          
> excellent! We'd have more people looking at free software/Linux, more                                                                                         
> students finding out the possibilities, and more correct information being                                                                                    
> spread.
>                                                                                                                                                               
> Regarding travel time, it's only 1:30 h from SLC. Not bad at all. I think                                                                                     
> it's more than worth it. I drove 18 hours to get to Linux World for                                                                                           
> example. 

Don, I invited you (and Ben, and everyone else) to come to this forum about 2 months ago. I guess I should post a news item

We'd love to have you (Don) and anyone else in the OpenACS wagon hop along in this event. Jon Griffin just e-mailed me and is thinking of coming and perhaps setting up an OpenACS presentation (which I'd be glad to join in).

In fact, we are looking to have a "Open Source in Education" 'track' and OpenACS would serve as an excellent example, especially if someone involved with ACES/.LRN would show up (*huge hint*)!

While I appreciate the recommendation you gave to the nice men in white uniforms who carry the butterfly nets to come and play with me, I am somewhat perturbed that it was not you who chose to personally visit. Dr. Lecter and I enjoyed the meal these two fellows provided, but we did so wish that you could have joined us as well.

Please be forewarned, sir, next time there is an OACS social and the lampshade is once again is atop your head and your Superman Underoos are again around your ankles, I will be ready with my Canon e9600wx with 75 mm Nikon lens, dual TTL Kodak 320 Lightning flashes and Fuji 400 film. And believe you me, "Dr." Kurup, that picture will be posted on the InterWeb before you can say, "Nurse, I need another spong bath!"

Sincerely,

talli

Go here and you'll get to the main group page once you've bounced through registration. Then click the request to join link (I've set this group on with a 'wait' policy.) I've created some group-scoped forums and polls to facilitate discussion of this.

If there is enough interest, I also am happy to offer Epimetrics World Headquarters (ok, our house) as a meeting place. We're very close to Muni in SF and also have abundant street parking on our block.

(For those who don't live here, having a parking strategy is a crucial survival skill in SF. There a story told of a woman who the cops found lying in the street along the curb, and when they asked her why she was there, she said, "This parking space just opened up, so my husband has gone to buy a car.")

Anyway, if we end up meeting here, I'm also happy to provide beer&munchies. Even if there isn't adequate interest for in-person meetings, I'd like to foster better connections among local developers. It would be useful to know who is interested and available to collaborate on gigs. I have some things potentially in the works on which I may need some help.

Stan