[wplug] volunteers needed for wplug newsletter

[Beth Lynn]

Hello,

It has been suggested that WPLUG should have a newsletter.

The point of the newsletter would be a monthly way to share
news from a WPLUG-er's point of view. This would not be a
replacement for any of the mailing lists but a separate resource
for our members. It is meant for folks to sit back and read
and enjoy and not a media for discussions.

Types of articles we would like to see
+ local tech news
+ international/intergalactic Linux and Open Source news
+ short how-to's
+ book and product reviews
+ club news and upcoming events
+ pictures and minutes from meetings
+ anti M$ or SCO rants
+ screen shots
+ wplug at wplug.org post of the month
+ advertising (perhaps we're getting ahead of ourselves here)

Reasons why this would be cool
+ Some folks find the content of list overwhelming since they do
not have that much time or they do not have that much time online.
This would be a way to feel like they are still participating in
the community even though they don't read every list post.
+ If there is demand, we can distribute in hard copy and on the web.
wplug-announce at wplug.org will be notified when the new addition is out.
+ If we do hard copy, we can leave some copies places were geeks
are likely to hang out. It would be good for outreach.
+ This would be an additional aspect of our community. Some of our
members are unable to come to meetings and it would be a great way
to include them.
+ I suspect there are members who don't do public speaking and/or
they can't make it to meetings but have some technical knowledge
that they would like to share.
+ This would create a forum for book and product reviews. In the past
O'Reilly has given us free books, but we are supposed to write
*something* for a review. 
+ articles could be a few sentences or up to a page

In order for this to *happen* we need folks like you to *volunteer*
First of all, we would need an editor, you know, someone to take the
stories and put it all together and keep track of who promised to write
what. Then of course we need people to write stuff. Articles from
regular contributors and one-time contributors would be accepted.
Once that's done we will need people to publish and distribute.

Yup, it's all a pretty big job but it would be all worth-wile if you
answer yes to any of the following questions.
Do you miss Pittsburgh Computer User?
Do you want to see news articles about who's using Linux and why in Western PA?
Do you see this as a good way our community can expand?
Would you read these articles?
Would you write these articles?

I personally would like to be a regular contributor but we still need
an editor and other writers to make this happen. I'm willing to collect
email addresses of those who are interested in this project until someone
steps forward to be editor. email me bethlynn at wplug.org if interested

Keep in mind, this would be your newsletter so anything goes we'll see 
what happens. So there you have it. I'll turn it over for discussion 
to this list.

Thanks,
Beth Lynn