Live in southern Ontario? Attending dinner meetings is free.

Thursday, December 16, 2004

Attendance

Ken B, Mel W, Chris B, William P
Chris Jz was unable to attend for personal reasons.
Dan B was unable to attend due to babysitting

Annual Charity Christmas Party

Instead of the regular dinner meeting, PegaSoft held its Annual Charity
Christmas Party to raise money for the CHUM-CITY Christmas Wish, a
program to deliver toys to poor families.

Party Promotion

The party was promoted to:


comp.os.linux.announce
comp.os.linux.development.apps
linuxpr.com
York University computer science club
Brock University computer science club
Toronto Linux Users Group (TLUG) Mailing List


Ken signed up to TLUG and KWLUG but was unable to post.  He thought his odd
email setup might be interfering with the posts.  William P. forwarded Ken's
announcement to TLUG.

The people present were disappointed that the announcement of upcoming
Linux contracts didn't attract any new members.

Recruiting Staff to Handle the New Contract

Ken pointed out that PegaSoft was at a crossroads.  PegaSoft moved from
St. Catharines in 2001 to Toronto in the hopes of recruiting more members.
The response from the area was below expectations and there were no visitors
to the monthly meetings in 2004.  Clearly the possibilities of the Toronto area
was exhausted.  Further, most members were from the West End of the city while
the PegaSoft meetings were held in the heart of Toronto.

PegaSoft has 2 or 3 openings for Linux contractors to assist in the new
client's account.  Despite announcing this on the TLUG mailing list, etc.,
no one came forward interested in the work.

Mel W. would not be able to commit to a new contract until late spring /
early summer.  William P. was still interested in the new contracts.  The
client would announce the details of the projects in January or February.

Because of the contracts, it was decided to have at least one more
PegaSoft dinner meeting to find Linux contractors to handle the client's contracts.

It was decided that the next meeting would be held at the Kipling subway/Go
station or westward.  William P. preferred meeting somewhere withing walking
distance of a Go station since he lived near a Go station.  Meeting in St.
Catharines, although difficult, was not ruled out.  Chris B. would be unable to
attend future meetings if they were moved since he lives near Scarborough.

Ken said that to be a successful Linux contractor company, PegaSoft needs
at least 10 core members.  Chris B. suggested contacting a Linux group near
Oakville that was exploring similar ideas.  If the two groups combined, there
might be enough members to allow PegaSoft to meet the new contracts and grow.

Chris B. also suggested that PegaSoft relocate back to St. Catharines.  Ken
said that the St. Catharines Linux scene was dead.  When PegaSoft was
previously based in St. Catharines, about 4 people showed up in 2 years and
none of them became members.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be the Annual Year in Review meeting where we look at
our predictions last January for 2004 and we make new predictions for Linux in
2005.

Location: Further meetings will no longer be held in Toronto.  William P. will contact
a Linux group around Oakville and discuss forming a new, combined PegaSoft
group.  Mel W. will check out possible restaurants near the Kipling Subway/Go
stop.  Ken would ask Dan if there were any suitable locations near the Appleby
Go station.  The location will be determined on the mailing list.

Date: Thursday, January 20, 2005.