[Cialug] Cedar Rapids / Iowa City LUG

[Nicolai]

On Mon, Sep 12, 2011 at 10:35:09AM -0500, Prescott Kulow wrote:
> Hello CedarLUG and CIA LUG,
> 
> I just recently moved to Iowa City

Home of a large university :)

> Let me know if there is any interest

There is.  See above. :)

I've started groups before and been president of several, and starting
them is super easy.  As long as you take a genuine interest in people
the rest falls into place.  Since you're in uiowa.edu land, here is what
you do:

1. Talk to profs who work in technical fields and ask if you can
announce your group in person in the first 2 minutes of class one day.
Some will say yes.

2. Pass out small fliers (1/4 of an 8.5x11) at these class sessions.
The fliers should contain contact info and obviously some group
identification, but not an attempt to convince them of anything.

3. Send a personal email (not one with a long list of recipients:
remember, you're taking a genuine interest in people) to uiowa.edu
network admins and drop by in person to talk to various departmental
admins.  Talk to them and see if they'd be interested in joining the
list / coming to a meeting.  Be friendly but respect their time and give
them group contact info.

4. Put up fliers in buildings home to technical fields/departments.

5. Announce your group to related groups on campus.

6. When you have a meeting, do something worthwhile, something of
substance.

Meanwhile, as the group is coming together and you are learning more
about Iowa City, you can do similar reaching out to private businesses.

You will have to be social... Make eye contact, shake hands, find out
their names and interests.  A good determiner of how "successful" the
group will be is in how much interest the founder has for group members
and newcomers.

Starting a group is easy.  The more challenging part is making the
transition from a group where everyone looks at you to one where
everyone plays a role and has a stake in the group.  I think it's this
decentralization that makes a group so potent.

I'm excited for you because group creation is a fun process and
important learning experience.

Keep us updated,

Nicolai