Earlier this year, O’Reilly’s Rob Orsini and Keith Fahlgren founded the North Bay Ruby Users Group. The group has had several meetings, but the turnout has been small. Faced with lackluster attendance and a plethora of other demands on their time, Rob and Keith decided to pull the plug.

I’ve agreed to take over the shepherding of this group so we can take another shot at giving it life. With the luxury of not having a real job, I’m able to devote a little more time to it than they were able to, and with the steadily increasing interest in Ruby on Rails I think we’ll be able to build a vibrant group. We’re the only Ruby users group between San Francisco and who knows where to the north—perhaps the only group for Sonoma, Marin, Napa, and Mendocino counties!

The group meets at 7 pm on the Third Thursday at O’Reilly headquarters in Sebastopol. We welcome everyone who is using Ruby, or Ruby on Rails, or is just interested in either, to join us. We’ll order in pizza when everyone arrives. So please join us on June 21, and we’ll figure out how to celebrate Ruby, Rails, the North Bay, and the summer solstice all at the same time.

I’ve built an embryonic new web site for the group (content to come soon…). I’ve also set up a Meetup group to help publicize and coordinate the meetings; that’s the place to go to RSVP. And, finally, there’s a Google group for discussions.

Another Option: North Bay Internet Society

I’m also still organizing the thriving North Bay Internet Society, which meets on the second Thursday of each month at various restaurants. This group uses a private Yahoo group; if you’re interested, send an email to northbayinternet-subscribe (at) yahoogroups.com telling me a little about yourself and your interests. This group is focused on Internet-related ideas and entrepreneurship, rather than hard-core technology.