[Dfey-nw-discuss] Less emphasis on the North West?

[Marz]

I think that DFEY should as a whole distance itself from its North West
location. When I first found the group, it was made very clear that DFEY
is focused around the North West, which made me unsure whether I should
contact you or not. Obviously, this means that it is not very appealing
towards people who live in other parts of England. It is understandable
that this is the case because, obviously, the majority (if not all?) of
you live in the North West. However, if the DFEY is to grow, it would
certainly be beneficial to appeal to those outside this very specific
region.

I suggest that the DFEY drops the strong connection to the North West as
a whole, and instead simply states that the meetings, rather than the
entirety of the group, are currently focused around the North West. This
means that people will see it as a national group, and join from
wherever in Britain they are. Although they will likely not be able to
attend the meetings, they will still become part of the community; and
members are of course important. The more members you get, the bigger
the activity and the appeal will be.

If enough people from other areas join, they will be able to set up
their own meetings; but this won't happen if they don't consider
themselves a potential member. The first sentence in the DFEY wiki
reads, "Recently, an increasing number of teenagers and young people
have been active within the Free Software world, in the North West of
England". This will immediately deter those from other areas, as they
will feel that they could not join the community. There are a great many
other deterrents, even counting only those on the front page.

What do you think?