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In lugnet.trains, Steve Barile writes:
> Hi All,
> I would like to get some feedback from members of LUGs and LTCs on their
> opinions of what the differences are. Some areas that I'm interested in are:
> goals of the club, public interactions (aka shows/venues), membership
> structure/government, fellowship expectations (friends vs acquaintances)...
Steve, and all...
I actually love to debate/discuss this very question. I will give my personal
view which I think translates into the way NELUG http://www.nelug.org/ works.
I have crossposted to the NELUG group so that anyone that disagrees with my
views can. (again we are a LUG so many of our members probably don't even read
.trains as odd as that may sound :-).
As our name suggests we are a LUG but we have been doing at least 2 train shows
a year for almost 3 years now. New England has a big Greenberg presance but
GATS is just getting going, I think they had one show in Portland ME last year,
and NMRA is non-existant. Beyond that we have participated in Mindfest at MIT,
built custom projects for the New England Home Show in 2002 and may again for
2003, and we designed and built a 3'x5' MasterCard for a trade show.
Those are our "official events" which we have been paid between $0 to several
thousand dollars. So far most of our spending has gone into supplies for the
train shows but we now have a significant collection of basic bricks and parts
as well.
We have a much more informal political stucture than you might imagine. I
suppose I am the defacto treasurer and webmaster but that just because I have
access to the money. We are set up as a Partnership and file tax returns
yearly but that is mostly because one of our "clients" would not write a check
to an individual and required that we have a tax ID number. This is less of a
hassle than it seems and the money was significant so it was worth it.
Dispite one members insistance on calling me "Mr. President" we make all
decisions as a group. In general no member carries any more clout than
another, although the amount of a members participation does get considered
when a decision is a close one and there is a distinct differance in
participation levels.
I do consider many, if not most, of our members friends. Some I even consider
close friends and that is what really makes this all work. I doubt very much
if I would put the effort into the group that I do if I didn't consider a large
number of members good friends. For me the friendships in the group are the
best reason to keep the group going. I could do without all of our public
successes as long as my friendships stay intact.
We generally meet once or twice a Month at our favorite store and then have
diner at one of two restaurants in the area that accomidate us at no charge.
Beyond that we have several Brikwars games durring the year. Our only
membership requirement is that you be over 18, you don't even have to attend a
meeting to be a member, although, as I said before, at decision time
participation does become a factor.
As for how I feel about the differance between a LUG and an LTC. I think a LUG
covers all the bases where an LTC is focused on Trains. Therefore a LUG can
have a sub-LTC but not the other way around. That said I think that LTC's and
MUG's (Mindstorm User Groups) are the only "sub-LUG's" that can currently stand
on their own and succeed. Thats where LUG's help. They let Castle heads or
Space heads get together with other enthusiasts in a group that is large enough
and diverse enough to be self sufficiant.
Now I am a huge train so don't shoot me but I think in many ways LTC's have it
easy. Train shows were around long before LEGO ever made a train so the
infrastructure was already there when we finally did organize. We just had to
make a contact and get someone to give us some space. If the same
infrastructure existed for Castle or Space folks I think they could be just as
successful as LTC's. But that is all speculation because things are what they
are, I just think Castle and Space heads are just as capable of organization as
Train heads are.
I think LTC's and LUG's can be as financially successful as they want to be but
it takes a lot of work, time, and some luck to get above a couple hundred
dollar appearance fee. Then again financial success may not be a goal for a
LUG or LTC and thats great. We just like the fact that now when we do a train
show we know we will have all the Table's, Baseplates, Track, and Trees we need
for the layout without having to rely on any one members contribution from their
personal collection. Of course Trains and MOC's are necessary but at this
point the club can't own everything.
I don't think its that important whether you call yourself a LUG or LTC except
for the fact that some non-train folks might be scared off by a train group.
NELUG does own both nelug.org and neltc.org but we have never pursued NELTC
beyond that. We only registered the name to protect ourselves. So far in our
3+ years of existance we havn't had the need, our group dynamic is such that we
don't need the deliniation between LUG and LTC. We know some groups desire or
need that differentiation and thats fine.
In the end fun is the most important thing when setting up a LUG or LTC. If
being focused on trains makes things more fun for you then I think an LTC is
important. For those groups that can channel their focus in different
directions and that doesn't upset the tea cart then I think a LUG suffices just
fine.
Someday maybe we will have a need to break out our NELTC hats but for now they
are in deep storage. Their may only be one or two LUG's that can function that
way but at least for now we are one of them.
Now if you read to this point I congratulate you because that was by far my
most long winded post in a very long time...
Eric Kingsley
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Definitions: LUG or LTC
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| In lugnet.trains, Eric Kingsley writes: [snip] (...) Thanks, but I must also congratulate you on such a good post, regardless of length. (I'm guilty of long-windedness too anyway.) I just want to agree with most everything Eric wrote about LUGs and (...) (22 years ago, 5-Sep-02, to lugnet.trains, lugnet.org.us.nelug)
| | | Re: Definitions: LUG or LTC
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| (...) Eric, can you tell me more about why you set up the club as a Partnership, what where your other options (i.e. non-profit group, Incorporation, etc.) The reason I ask is that I've been thinking of doing something simliar with the NGLTC but I (...) (22 years ago, 5-Sep-02, to lugnet.trains, lugnet.org.us.nelug)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Definitions: LUG or LTC
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| Hi All, I would like to get some feedback from members of LUGs and LTCs on their opinions of what the differences are. Some areas that I'm interested in are: goals of the club, public interactions (aka shows/venues), membership structure/government, (...) (22 years ago, 3-Sep-02, to lugnet.trains)
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