<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><br><div><div>On Apr 3, 2010, at 10:40 PM, Tim Chambers wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; ">I looked into creating a Perl Meetup, but<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://meetup.com/">meetup.com</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>charges a fee. I think for face to face meetings we should avoid fragmentation.<br></span></blockquote></div><div><br></div>FWIW, we use <a href="http://Meetup.com">Meetup.com</a> to announce meetings for the San Francisco Perl Mongers, and I think it has been tremendously helpful. Since we started using Meetup, the attendance and energy level have really improved.<div><br></div><div>Meetup does carry a small subscription fee, but it is usually pretty easy to recoup the cost by adding a $1 to the pizza & beer tab for each person. As long as everyone knows they are helping to fund the group, no one ever complains. </div><div><br></div><div>Or you may be able to find a corporate sponsor. Back when I hosted the meetings at my office, I struck a simple deal with my manager. I told him I was going to expense $50 every month, just to fund Perl Monger stuff. To him, it was a small price to pay for making contact with the best Perl hackers in the area.</div><div><div><div><br><div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>Jeffrey Thalhammer</div><div>Imaginative Software Systems</div><div>vcard: <a href="http://www.imaginative-software.com/contact/jeff.vcf">http://www.imaginative-software.com/contact/jeff.vcf</a></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><br></div></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
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