> -----Original Message----- > From: Mike Miller [mailto:mbmiller at taxa.epi.umn.edu] > Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2007 10:19 PM > > On Wed, 7 Nov 2007, Chuck Cole wrote: > > > No point in further debate of this now. Maybe over beer and pizza > > someday :-) > > > OK, Chuck, but I was hoping you'd tell us more about the goodness > of TIES. > Do they have good meeting space? Is it free to us? Good parking? Easy > to get to? How do we sign up? Announcements get posted here often, and all info is on Brian's web site at http://www.penguinsunbound.org/ I'm not really involved, except as an interested participant. Don't know how much official support Brian has, but Linux is far more vital to TIES mission than to the mission of UMN, so the priority should be very clear and very high to give simple support. Very easy to get to: corner of Snelling and Larpenteur. Free and lotsa free parking. Many great places for food and beer nearby. Rosedale and Har Mar mall are close by, and Snuffy's and Keys are close by on Larpenteur. Really great "big pipe" internet wired and WiFi connections, since that's what TIES is all about. TIES provides internet and other online support for MN schools and teachers. Large and multiple meeting spaces, well-equipped - probably since they do some training for teachers also. > You don't like the U because they have canceled meeting reservations. I > get it, and that is a worry. It is also bad for parking when compared to > many other spaces. If the U doesn't (or does) "own" something, you can't count on any support or continuity or input. I tried for 5 or more years as VP of a real professional group and rep of a major corporation to build relationships with UMIT (even offering big ticket funding) and it was a hopeless effort. They are a political organization with their own agenda, and other documented, certified, funded, and academic-like interests simply cannot have a place on their ranking list. TCLUG is not documented, certified, funded, or academic. The UM situation has improved a little in the last 5 or so years, but not enough to matter for this. More than that, I think (ie, I learned... ie, BTDT) it's just the wrong venue, AND I don't like going there because of the congestion, etc. Would be very different in some other states' universities, but that is irrelevant here. For example, some major universities require that graduate faculty develop and sustain funded collaborations with industry as one of 4 parts of retaining tenure (4: teach, publish, lead research, and do). Publish usually means co-publish frequently with colleagues in industry. Not really true here, but changing. Chuck