About The Houston Web Technology Meetup Group

UPDATE: The updates below were posted on 3/22/2008

I am here to talk web and chew bubble gum and I am all out of bubble gum.

2007 has seen a really good core group form with the Houston Web Design Meetup! We are averaging between 15-20+ people for each event and I?d like to see the group continue grow and become more active. Remember, we are all about interactivity by all levels of experience, knowledge and, of course, humor ability. To that end, I?m going to commit to a couple things for 2008:

1) A Group Vision- Over the next couple months I will be asking everyone I see what they want to get out of the group and putting together a cohesive vision. Remember this group is a Blourm (Blog and Forum combined) which means that I have already determined that the group is about all levels of ability, it is non-commercial, and the Meetups should be interactive. That being said, the more others will help take the reins and move the group forward, the better!

2) Meetup topics will be posted 2 months in advance. This will give people more time to arrange their schedules and me more time to find experts and structure the event.
UPDATE: Suggestions are always welcome! Please send me your topics!!

3) The group?s Message Board has been disabled and we will now use the group?s email distribution list. The primary reason for this is that I?d like to see members interact outside the events more and I don?t think the message board is monitored all that much. The email postings will be moderated for SPAM but otherwise they will not be censored unless there is a problem.
UPDATE: This seems to be working well...

4) We are looking for a consistent night to meet (i.e. the 4th Wednesday) and a consistent location. I would like to know how people feel about public places (like bars/restaurants) vs. a more office-like location (for example a classroom environment.) No matter where we go there will be free beer and soda, of course.
UPDATE: We always meet on the 4th Tuesday at the Stag's Head Pub now.

5) A new website. One of the problems with the Meetup site is that it is geared almost exclusively to scheduling Meetups. While the Meetup site will continue to be the primary place for announcements and scheduling, we will create a new site that is more of a repository and designed for collaboration.
UPDATE: Moved to the project list.

6) Lastly, if there is enough energy, the group will have a project for the year. In January, I will be soliciting help to form a committee to decide what the project should be and direct progress. You do not need to know anything about the topic, it just needs to be something you are interested in. Here are some suggestions:
UPDATE: I'll host, you add the content. We can pick Drupal, DotNetNuke or Joomla.