On Fri, Aug 24, 2001 at 05:05:03PM -0400, Robin \Roblimo\ Miller" wrote:
> If anyone cares to send me a brief e-mail round up about the picnic
> (first person), I'll combine it with one from a guy at the Sunnyvale
> "home" event (750 people signed up so far), add some links, and create a
> Linux 10th metastory for NewsForge, possibly Slashdot as well.
>
> - Robin
On short notice, the Suncoast Linux Users Group (SLUG) managed to secure
a booth at Lowry Park (where our Tampa zoo) is for the 10th Anniversary
of Linux Celebration. Short notice? Well, an enterprising member
mentioned it a couple of weeks ago on the list, but few chimed in in
favor of the idea. As a result, no one really took responsibility for
the idea until a few days before the Saturday it was supposed to happen.
Finally, our Bill Preece, the guy who's organized our last two
(phenomenally successful) CTS shows, started the push to get people
enthused, and contacted me on Thursday. I put out a notice on the SLUG
Announce list, and encouraged people to RSVP for the event. Bill wrote a
personal check for the pavilion at the park, and another member's
girlfriend managed to get away to deliver it to the park authorities.
Of course, it couldn't be that easy. The money was delivered before the
park authorities closed on Thursday afternoon, and we were assured of
our pavilion. Until Friday morning, when they called Bill and said that
we'd have to take a pavilion somewhere in another park. Seems someone
else had paid their money for the pavilion before us, but had not
included all the proper information necessary to ensure the space. By
the end of Thursday, she had.
Of course, Bill was in no mood to take "no" for an answer, as hard as
he'd worked to get this organized. He was completely rigid, asked to
speak to supervisors, and threatened to call in the news media. In the
end, he won, and our space was secured. (I feel for the park employee
who took Bill's call, and for the lady who got "bumped", but....)
All day Friday, responses came in to Bill, asking what to bring and
indicating how many people from each member's party would be there.
Saturday morning, at the Dunedin meeting, I made sure everyone knew
about the event, where it was, when it was, etc. We cut out a little
early from the meeting (due to end at noon) to get over to Lowry Park by
noon, when the party was to start.
When I got there, food was already cooking, and the smell of charcoal
pervaded the pavilion. Maybe eight people were already there. Two
laptops were hooked up, and one was playing CDs. I unfurled our SLUG
banner, hopped up on a trash can, and attached it to the side of the
pavilion, where it would be visible from the road.
People began drifting in, including a few people who came all the way
across the bay from Dunedin, as my wife and I had. Like most of our
gatherings, there were knots of conversation, trips to where the
hamburgers and hot dogs were, and coolers being raided for water and
soda.
After the eating died down, there were new and different knots of
conversation-- science fiction, Linux, job stuff, family stories, etc.
One group could be found way on the back side of the pavilion, geeking
out. They were gathered around a laptop, troubleshooting some problem or
another, making jokes and checking out config files.
I think my wife and I left about 3:30. By that time, maybe ten people
had left, and there were still twenty or so left. There were mounds of
buns, catsup, one uneaten watermelon (we'd polished off the first one),
and several coolers half-full of sodas and water.
I'd brought a couple of Frisbees, and several other people had brought
Magic decks, but I never saw anyone play with either one. Too much
talking, laughing and eating to do. There was talk of going to the zoo
at one point, but I don't know if anyone made it. The hardcore geeks
were still gathered around the laptop in the back....
Paul M. (Cub Reporter) Foster
President
Suncoast Linux Users Group (SLUG)
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