[Brug-talk] Setup BRUG website

[Peter Vanbroekhoven]

Maarten Porters wrote:
> That logo kicks ass! :) Really cool. Maby I'm wrong but maby the rails 
> aspect
> should be more involved in the logo or name. Because I have a feeling 
> that most people
> use Ruby for rails. Again, maby I'm wrong.

Maarten,

The way I see it, what binds us is Ruby. I think this is a bit tricky;
on the one hand, mentioning Rails explicitly may scare off people not
interested in Rails, on the other hand, not mentioning Rails may scare
off people who are only interested in Rails. We can change the official
name to the Belgian Ruby and Rails User Group, and still abbreviate it
as BRUG, but I don't know if that eliminates either ill effect.

The thing is, though, where do we want to go? How big do we see this?
For the moment, we have Ruby and Rails. What if other web frameworks
emerge, or what if Ruby catches on in other fields, and interests
diverge even further? I believe that it is bad to fracture the Belgian
Ruby community; it is better to have one large community with possibly
separate divisions, but that can share infrastructure and organization
if needed, and that allows coordinating events. I think we should take
that into account, and make sure we are prepared for that.

I also want to ease all fears; the user group will not be pure Ruby, and
not pure Rails. We have a mix of people with different interests and
that mix should be reflected in a comparable mix of topics and activities.

But getting back to the logo, it may be interesting to have two logos.
The one we have now (which is great BTW) can be used in places that
require a compact logo. We can have a bigger logo that does incorporate
Rails in some way. One idea would be the outline of Belgium in the back
(tricolored maybe, but the way I see it just whitish with a blackish
outline and a shadow), some rails leading "into" the map, and the logo
with have now on these rails with the gem on top of the bridge. The
rails could have the shape of a bridge. That way, we don't use the Rails
logo directly, so it should pose no problem with trademarks, and
certainly not if the rails are drawn in a different way than in the
Rails logo. I'm not a graphical designer, so I can't work out this logo
design myself. Again, if someone feels up to it...

Regards,
Peter Vanbroekhoven
XaoP