| Summary:
Experience reports from members of London and Melbourne Java Communities.
Some Discussion Points
Do Different Kinds of Activities:
- informal monthly meetups at a pub which make it easy for not-yet-members to get into contact with the community; there is usually a theme for the evening and some Java topics are usually discussed, but there are no presentations/talks (possibly lightning talks)
- yearly Open Spaces Conferences
- online chats via meetup.com
- coding dojos/hackathons
Make it Easy for Others to Join:
- have greeters at events, which welcome newcomers and introduce them to how things work at the event, help them get to the right place/talk
- informal meetups (see above)
- lightning talks may be a good intro to get newcomers to eventually become presenters
- graduate community: mentor students ("speed mentoring");
Organisation:
- not a single manager, but a steering/core group, which organise
Events/Publications
- create win-win situations: example: use facilities of a training provider to do more formal evening events/talks; the facilities are normally unused in the evenings; the training provider can in this way show his facilities/training program to a possibly interested technical public
- provide training material created for events to interested sponsors
- publish in Java Magazine
Problems with Recruiters:
- recruiters are welcome to come and learn about the area they are recruiting in
- actual recruiting activities will be blocked (e.g. attempts to recruit via mailing lists will get recruiter excluded from list)
Legal Issues:
- when working with sponsors and publishing through them watch out for legal issues (e.g. copyrights/disclaimers/non-disclosures to be signed)
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