[CLUG] LAID, thanks.

[Donncha O Caoimh]

Yes, LAID was a success. I'm not going to go on about it here. I'll
write up a report over the next few days and post it at the end of the
week. Telsa mentions us in her diaries linked off
http://www.linux.org.uk/ as I'm sure Alan will do so eventually.

There are many people to thank for their help organising everything. I'd
like to attempt to thank you all here but I'm afraid I'd miss someone
out. Needless to say, if you helped out on the day please take a bow and
accept my thanks for a job well done. 
Besides the visibly excellent job done by the speakers on the day, I'd
like to acknowledge the job done by many people in the weeks before. 
Denise Brown in Indigo was very helpful in organising flights for Alan
and Telsa. She also helped cover the travelling costs for some of the
speakers, and booked 2 of them into the hostel. Thankfully she kept me
fully informed in the past few weeks and never let anything slip by.
Ann Marie O' Connell in PFH helped us by lending us a machine running NT
for the Demo Hour.

I'm loath to start mentioning names of Cork/I/LUG members because I
_will_ forget someone, but I'd like to mention the amazing amount of
work put in by Dermot Conner last week. I was frequently at his flat
until the early hours either arguing over fliers, mulling over the Demo
Hour, or just plain telling me to relax. Mark Twomey edited and vastly
improved our flier on Sunday night. Despite having just completed a day
at work he helped us until after 1am in the morning to come up with a
flier we could throw at business and home users. Ken Guest of course
helped with our Demo Hour.
I want to thank Owen Kelly who drove like a mad man around Cork City on
Thursday actually delivering the fliers to shops and colleges. 
Ian Swainson provided invaluable ideas for our demo hour on a Saturday
afternoon in Tribes a few weeks back. As did Mark and Dermot. Between
them, Mark, Ian and Dermot kept me clued in to what the punter wants and
needs to see, and not what your typical techie already knows about. 
Quite late in the game, Peter Flynn in UCC joined in and somehow filled
in all the holes we didn't realise we had. He's the one to thank for all
the programs and the folders on the day.
He was "our man in UCC" organising coffee and tea breaks, signs,
standing outside and greeting people, among numerous other things.

I must also thank the other members of the CorkLUG who regularly
attended our meetings in the Metropole, Donnchadh, Christian, Ski,
Martin and others who kept the spirit alive and kicking.

In my opinion, the Linux Community is very lucky to have as members all
the people who made LAID possible. This much energy and enthusiasm
speaks volumes for the future of Linux, not just in the techie community
but outside in "normal user" land too.

This is my own personal thank you to those that helped me make my job
and responsibilities easier. 

Donncha.