[Linux-aus] breakdown of core LA activity

[Jamezpolley]

On 26/04/2012, at 6:49 PM, John Vandenberg <jayvdb at gmail.com> wrote:

> All of the arguments for a name change are related to major conferences.
> 
> Forgive me for not knowing, but what does LA do other than
> * support LUGs & tech spaces,
> * manage the wonderful jobs list and mirror site, and
> * support/manage (un-)conferences large and small
> ?
> 
> I see only a few historical and minor grants which dont fit in the
> above summary.
> 
> Doing the above it an almighty task, but am I missing something substantial ..?

I don't have anything to add, but I'd like to expand on what "support LUGs" has many for SLUG. I drove the move for SLUG to become a sub-committee - previously SLUG had been an Association (registered in NSW, just like LA).

As an association, SLUG had to hold an AGM once a year. This required sending out announcements to members, following a prescribed format, weeks in advance; going through the motions of an election; presenting and preparing president's reports and treasurers reports. It's not a huge undertaking, but I'd guess the AGM alone is about 40 hours of work every year.

On top of that, we had to take money for membership dues. We needed to collect to dues to pay for insurance, and bank fees, and our PO box, and the annual charges we had to pay when filing our required paperwork. We also (very occasionally) would spend a little bit of money on hardware.

Becoming a sub-committee of LA means we are covered by LA's insurance. We no longer need to raise $800 a year to cover that expense. This means weren't need to charge dues any more but it also means we don't need a bank account, or a PO box to receive the insurance reminders and bank statements. Right there, that's eliminated most of the overhead of running the LUG.

It means we have a reduced burden when it comes to electing leaders. LA still require that we demonstrate that the members of the sub-committee have the support of the local community, but that's easy for us to do - we're running an election using LA's online infrastructure. Not having any money means that we don't need a treasurer and don't have books to balance. If we do need occasional funding, LA should be able to assist us with any reasonable requests (we hope - if not, I'll be leading the charge back out of LA).

Even for an established oganisation like SLUG, it's been difficult to find people willing to take on tasks like organising meetings, because doing that also meant you'd be saddled with paperwork. LA's support in taking us on as a sub-committee has removed almost all of that burden, which makes it easier for us to get on with supporting the local community.

> 
> --
> John Vandenberg
> 
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