install Fest Action Items

[kejava]

Based on the info in the meeting minutes (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PennsylvaniaTeam/Philly/MeetingMinutes) from 4/28/2007, we have several high priority action items to address within the next two weeks. The are listed in what I believe should be the order of completion. Please speak up if any of you want to own parts of these.


Schedule

Use three 2hr session with 1/2 hour breaks between.
Are we all agreed on this? Is it overkill?

Registration

Registration info: contact info, hardware specs, buying PC from NTR, etc.
Install Fest description
Attendees must sign up for a specific session

Advertise

Flyers: need design with content, where to place them, how many, cost
Use mailing lists: have content?
Radio broadcast: WMMR, WMGK, WXPN, what do we say?
We should be able to make some pretty generic content and then apply it each item above with some minor modifications.
Other website services like installfest.org.

[andrewPCT]

I'm wondering about the 2 hour / .5 hour schedule. Can someone elaborate on this? What if someone shows up during one of these 'breaks'. My opinion would be to just have help when people can be there, and take breaks as needed.

[kejava]

There shouldn't be any spontaneous "showing up" if they're registering for specific sessions. The 2hrs sessions are mostly being done to pace we the volunteers. If we are short handed, we need to force breaks on ourselves. The 1/2 hour is also good to regroup if things get out of control. I've done the Bring A Computer Workshops with NTR in the past, it can be a lot more work than you'd expect.

Definitely not set in stone. If any more of you think it's a bad idea, we can certainly remove it as an option. Again, people shouldn't show during th 1/2 breaks if they are registering for sessions, but if they did, we certainly wouldn't push them away.

[lamalex]

we could easily just say to them "hey you showed up a bit early just hang out for a little and we'll get you set up in x minutes"

[kejava]

even better, would tell them to browse NTR's thrift store. i'm sure Stan would love that :-)

[kejava]

I think the next item to tackle is a description of the install fest. This should be generic enough for us to make minor modifications for use in the radio broadcasts, flyers, and mailing lists. The reason for the generic template is for consistency between each form of media.

Alex will also need this content before he can complete the description page / registration form on meetlinux.com. It will be great to get this fully completed before we get started with full blown advertising, something I hope to get started at least two weeks before the install fest.

I can get started on this but if anyone else is interested in working on this with me, send me an IM or reply to this post.

[jedijf]

First of all, great job with everything. The wiki, the notes, meetlinux, etc.

I just thought of something that we touched on while touring NTR; the
establishment of a set irc support night.

I believe that alex recommended Thurs evening. An evening that would be set aside for us to offer assistance to anyone who needed it.

I will, eventually, review the rest of my notes on the meeting and see if there is anything else. I doubt it, Kevin documented (and formatted :>)
everything superbly.


jedijf
jim fisher

[kejava]

thanks for the reminder. i just added it to the meeting minutes. at first i didn't think it was an action item but it will certainly be needed for the advertising content. thanks for the catch Jim.

perhaps we can hammer out a time in the chat tomorrow night, or at least a set of preferred times, and then "poll" it to death. i would also like to set up another team meeting for those that couldn't make it to the last one.

[kejava]

Not sure if this has already been mentioned in the forum or not. Just searched and didn't find anything. I was trying to find some documentation on installfests, decided to look on the The Linux Documentation Project (tldp.org). guess what? they have a nice howto on installfests (http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Installfest-HOWTO/).

There's a nice section (http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Installfest-HOWTO/datasheet.html) that will give us ideas for our online registration.

There's also a legal protection section (http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Installfest-HOWTO/legalprotection.html) that covers most of our waiver form.

I have to figure out how to wikify this stuff ....

[kejava]

Things are looking good. We're knocking action items off left and right! Everything for action items 1 and 2 are done. Next is advertising. I just posted to the following mailing lists and websites:
CTCNet ML (http://mailman.dca.net/pipermail/ctcnet/2007-May/002258.html)
NTR ML (http://listsrv.ntronline.org/pipermail/ntr_vol/2007-May/thread.html) (pending)
MLCUG ML (http://mlcug.org/)
MALT CVG (pending)
Phillyblog.com (http://www.phillyblog.com/philly/showthread.php?p=483186)
PACS Linux SIG (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/pacslinux/message/394)
Installfest.org (http://installfest.org/) (pending)


I'm tapped out at this point. I've emailed the people at Philly Metro paper (http://philly.metro.us/). I'm hoping to find out how much it costs for a little ad space.

The next thing to focus on will be the flyers. I'm hoping to build some of that tonight and tomorrow. I'm not sure how this thing should look but I'll take a stab at it.

You guys get anywhere with your contacts at the radio stations?

-kevin

EDIT: almost forgot. I have to finish the waiver too.

[andrewPCT]

Hrm, the most recent entry on installfest.org is over 4 years old...

[kejava]

ha, i didn't even notice that! the site must be dead.

[bfledderjohn]

I'm thinking that one business card ad will be around $500 in a free Philly newspaper. But then again, I could be WAY off!
Let us know what you find out Kejava!

[jedijf]

Simple flyer to start posting in Center City tomorrow and possibly Manayunk Friday morning.

What do you think?

jedijf
jim fisher

[kejava]

Jim and I have been posting flyers all over the place. I think he's hit more places than me but I may be able to catch up with him tomorrow. So far I've posted to these places:
Mt. Airy CVG on Wednesday
Nonprofit Technology Resources (NTR)
Roxborough Salvation Army
North Light Community Center in Manayunk
For tomorrow, here are the other places:
MLCUG and the Villanova campus
Main Street in Manayunk (coffe houses too)
NTR again at the Bring a Computer Workshop
I also plan to post to whatever public libraries cross my path. Please mention your flyer posting experiences here when you get a chance.

[jedijf]

Flyer Posting

Strayer University - 15th and Parkway

Coffee Tree Restaurant - Cottman Ave

Free Library - Cottman Ave

Septa / Casino Bus Stop - Cottman and Bustleton Aves

Manayunk Diner - Main St in Manayunk

New Ridge Diner - Ridge Ave in Roxborough


jedijf
jim fisher

[jedijf]

Flyer Posting - Last Week - Final Push


Abington Library
Penn State - Ogontz Campus

[lamalex]

I will be hitting center city tomorrow night, passing them around at Critical Mass (WHICH EVERYONE IS INVITED TO!) and then Saturday/Sunday around West Chester. I didn't think about PSU Great Valley until Jim said something but I can get there as well.

[kejava]

Here are some other items to get settled:

Image for grub boot loader. Perhaps use our new logo in it.
Ubunutu PA LoCo business cards. I get free ones from vistaprint.com
A cool video to play on an overhead projector while the install-fest runs.
Come up with a small disclaimer instead of a waiver/release. No signing involved.


I just got a sample disclaimer from Stan Pokras so I'm almost done that. I didn't like the waiver/realease form because it was unreadable and people had to sign their name to something they wouldn't understand. It was just a big bowl of bad. The disclaimer should cover our collective asses nicely. Check here (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PennsylvaniaTeam/Philly/Disclaimer/) for updates to the disclaimer.

Another reason to ditch the waiver/release is that in PA, if you're under 18 yo, you need a guardian or parent as a witness to your signing. That could create problems for high school students that want to attend.

[jedijf]

I think the information about the computers that people are bringing should be known to the volunteers now, so that we can research any / all known installation issues.

With this info, we can be prepared and instill a sense of confidence in ubuntu as a ready for prime time alternative to other operating systems.

[kejava]

The disclaimer is done! I'm not sure how much we need to change it at this point but feel free to offer your suggestions. You can see it here on our wiki (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PennsylvaniaTeam/Philly/Disclaimer/) or you can download it as a pdf (http://meetlinux.com/download/june_2007_install-fest-disclaimer.pdf) from our website.