@jenuvyel-- I have been closely watching a number of Free Open Source Software (FOSS) communities since I first became aware of them around 1991. They are a fascinating study in working anarchies and in a return to the gift economies that were the norm before people settled down into cities.

What we are attempting to do in building a blenderPDX group is considered as important a contribution to a FOSS community as giving code, stamping on bugs, or writing documentation and tutorials. This IS community building, and it is the strength of the world-wide community that makes things like Blender, Apache, and all the various wiki and blog packages go.

Jevelyan, just keep on doing what you are doing, but know that as you do this you are giving back to the community.

Some of the suggestions I offered for discussing the group's Vision at Meeting 000 sort of apply to this question:

• Learning 3D-art from our shared inspirations in Blender and accoutrements

• Frustrated newb support and casually curious encouragement

Since those suggestions came out of my head, my personal hopes vary only slightly:

• Active support group on all things Blender

• Substantial inspiration and encouragement for newbs

  (and to 2^nd will_w's input)

• To give back to the Blender community

I never expected to have any self-proclaimed Blender Masters amongst us. So, my confidence was in the collaboration of enough individual talents to come as close as possible to that of a virtual master. My ideas for a support group go beyond a formal monthly meeting to include a more familiar network, which the group's website work may offer some facilitation.

So far, I've desired but been unable to donate to the Blender Foundation. If I ever make money with whatever I produce from Blender, I will be further motivated and able. In the meantime, will_w's suggestion is a very worthy one. How we might go about specifically giving back to the community might take some determined thought and effort on all our part, but I'm guessing that our website might also play a role here too.

I would also 3^rd i_monk and p_maker's project collaboration proposal.

will_w 10-18-2012, 10:11 AM

WRT what I hope to get from BUG:

1. It is a way I can give back to the worldwide Blender community. I can't code nor do I know enough to submit a useful bug report, but user groups are important, too.

2. I would very much like to make things easier for newbies than it was for me.

3. I know I will pick up some better ways of doing things, just through hanging around with Blenderistas.

One of my dreams is to see Blender clubs in Portland high schools. I have been at the forefront of the word processing revolution, the email / BBS revolution (that eventually brought you the Internet), and the revolution that replaced wet photography with digital darkrooms. Blender is a big step toward The Next Big Thing.

irishspacemonk 10-18-2012, 7:57 AM

What I'm looking at getting from the Blender User Group:

1. Expand my general knowledge of Blender by sharing and learning from others

2. Meet other Blender Users and encourage new people to give Blender a try

3. Collaborate on projects

And I like the idea of perhaps an annual NW Blender Conference - sort of a SeaBug/PorBug mixup.

philmaker 10-17-2012, 10:50 PM

Now I'll express some opinion..

I was interested in attending SeaBUG before this group was formed, but I was not sure it would be worth it. I knew I'd probably learn something, but I wasn't sure if it would make me want to come back the next time. PDXBUG (or what else was propsed as a name) must be worth attending for us to last beyond 2012 and to get something accomplished. For me that means: an opportunity to see if there are any people interested in the same Blender things I am, being able to get some solid Blender knowledge from others, and to share what I have learned to assist others.

Maybe we should list the things we are looking to give/gain from this group to be able to form a clear group goal.

Here's a quick list of mine in order of priority:

1. Gain solid Blender knowledge.

2. Share my knowledge/ideas.

3. Collaboration.

4. Socializing.

The way I see it, we could have a mini Blender conference every so often.