Meeting – Thursday 01 OCT 2028

Action Items

  • [ ] Robert Buchholz to compile formal meeting notes
  • [ ] Create promotional slides for campus TV screens advertising the next meeting
  • [ ] Create new campus signage reflecting the club’s rebranding
  • [ ] All members to personally recruit students to attend the next meeting
  • [ ] Finalize new club name before or at the next meeting
  • [ ] Prepare show-and-tell content for the next meeting
  • [ ] Fill student leadership roles (president and vice president) at an upcoming meeting

Club Rebranding

  • The group agreed the club needs to shift identity away from “Web D2” / Web Club, primarily because the web development program is being retired and to appeal to students in other coding areas
  • Name ideas brainstormed: Coding Club, Web Coding Club, C2, Coding Too — no final name chosen yet
  • The rebranding should be framed positively: “the web club is becoming the coding club”

Promotion Strategy

  • Create new campus signage to announce the rebrand
  • Use campus TV screens for promotional slides — noted as effective and easy to set up previously
  • Members should personally reach out to students in their classes (e.g., C# Part 1, upcoming sessions) and invite them
  • Serenity, a previous member, was noted as likely to be interested again

Meeting Schedule & Timeline

  • Current date is Thursday the 1st; the first eight-week session ends the 12th
  • The group agreed to meet next week, same time, for a shorter (~30 minute) check-in
  • After the break, a Wednesday afternoon time slot was suggested as a possibility to accommodate the JavaScript class schedule
  • Leadership role sign-ups will be handled at a future meeting rather than rushed

Club Activities Ideas

  • Show and tell / “Lunch and Learn” format: members share something they’ve been working on or exploring, no major project required
  • Robert to present on a topic each meeting — members expressed interest in Robert covering technology topics such as WordPress, AI, or Nop Commerce
  • Podcast or videocast revival: previously done, low lift to restart, just needs committed members in front of a mic and camera
    • Suggested topic example: “AI is wonderful or AI is going to destroy the planet — discuss”
  • Social and networking aspect emphasized as key — students are missing the in-person college social experience post-COVID
  • Formal group projects noted as difficult without a tight working group; informal activities preferred to start
  • Dana mentioned interest in a terminal demo — gained extensive terminal experience troubleshooting a computer issue

Leadership Roles

  • Official student club requires at least two students in leadership positions (president and vice president); three preferred
  • Rushing to sign paperwork today was discouraged — this will be covered at a future meeting

Member Updates

  • April works as a marketing specialist at Independent Printing and Packaging in De Pere, handling digital marketing: five WordPress sites, graphic design, emails, and social media
    • Recently completed a first custom WordPress theme
    • Now tasked with building a new site in Nop Commerce (built on ASP.NET), a platform neither April nor Robert had heard of
    • Noted that C# background is proving useful, though April felt a lighter C# track focused on web would have been sufficient
    • Plans to return for JavaScript coursework, citing its widespread use in WordPress and Nop Commerce
    • Limited to Visual Studio Code (no full Visual Studio), so must work with an existing theme and modify CSS
  • Dana obtained a 2022 laptop (Intel Core i9, 12th gen) that their employer was retiring, and is planning to install Linux on it
    • Considering Linux Mint; Ubuntu recommended as the better starting point — mature, turnkey, and works well out of the box
  • A book about the modernization of the Chinese language and Unicode was mentioned as a potential future show-and-tell topic

Side Discussions

  • Brief discussion about ASP.NET server access being restricted to on-campus computers, causing friction with class assignments
  • IT governance and database security touched on — SQL Server should not be exposed to the internet
  • Tech chat: iPhone 18 hardware glitch (display lines) , Apple M6 chip in the new Mac Mini , working in virtual machines described as frustrating