[tpm] Meetings

[Olaf Alders]

> On Aug 16, 2017, at 11:20 AM, Dave Doyle <dave.s.doyle at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi All,
> 
> So I've been in my new job for 3 months now and my calendar has gotten crazy.  I can no longer guarantee my ability to host or organize due to job constraints.
> 
> For example, I will be flying Wednesday Aug 29th so I can't host a meeting this month.
> 
> This somewhat accelerates my need for another organizer to step up.
> 
> So... what say ye all?  Is there someone who can step up?  Is there anyone who has access to another venue?  I can likely OCCASIONALLY provide the venue at this point, but no more than that and it's subject to cancellation due to the project I'm on. Or should we fold it up because I've gone from not much time to zero time?

First off, let me thank Dave for carrying TPM on his capable shoulders for so long.  Aside from the question of a venue, I'd like to propose shifting to quarterly rather than monthly meetings.  Lightning talks in Sept, a social in December and technical talks in March and June.  This *might* raise attendance and bring more of a social aspect back to the meetings.  I've noticed that the meetings I've been to lately don't regularly have a social aspect afterwards, which really is a nice part of the group.  If I know this is only happening 4 times/year, I'm more likely to block it off in my calendar.  We could always switch back to monthly if somebody had the energy to take that on, but fewer meetings seems like the path of least resistance.

We could still organize ad-hoc meetings if somebody really needs to give a talk or if someone is going to be in town (like Damian or Jim Keenan), but I think it takes a lot of effort to get quality talks in month after month and this would allow the PM group to continue with less stress.

Olaf