Ubuntu Install Fest -- Saturday July 21st

[ChuckFrain]

With thanks to Marco for offering and scheduling the space over at the Loyola College Center for Community Informatics, we will be holding our initial Ubuntu Install Fest. This will take place on July 21st from 10am-3pm.

While not required, please post here or contact me privately with your intentions of attending either as a helper or as an installee so we can get a rough head count.

If you wish to meet in person before the event please feel free to attend our July 19th meeting at the Howard County Central Library at 7pm.

As well as the install fest we'll be doing a GPG/PGP keysigning at about 2pm for those interested.

If you have any questions please feel free to post them here or the mailing list.

Loyola College Center for Community Informatics
8890 McGaw Rd
Columbia, MD 21045

*The only topic that will be banned from discussion will be the ending to the new Harry Potter book!

[rhoderickj]

I've signed up as a helper but I'm still relatively new to Linux. I've been using it for less than a year now. I've installed Ubuntu about 15 times, so I can follow instructions fairly well but I can't do a lot of hacking without a manual next to me. So I'm hoping to learn something from you guys. I may also bring my wife's laptop as well. The last time I tested the Ubuntu LiveCD on it, it locked up.

Secondly, I've never done a keysigning. What do I need to bring? Just a printout of my key fingerprint? How does this process work? I've looked at the info in the wiki but it didn't help much.

[phr0ze]

I will be dragging a friend to the fest with me. He will be interested in getting ubuntu on his machine as dual boot. None of the live CDs will start x on his system and I've tried all the options on the live CD. I have not tried the alternate CD yet, but I figure this could be good for him/us.

I will be there as a helper.

[ChuckFrain]

Any help is good help.

As far as the keysigning, all you need is a printout of your fingerprint and valid ID. If your key is on the servers that makes it easy, otherwise you have to mail your key to those who wish to sign it.

As for the process, those who wish to exchange signatures have to show id and make/get a copy of your fingerprint. If they are satisfied they will sign your key from thier home machine and send you the signed key back or upload it to the servers.

In my case I have business cards that I printed off the printer with my name, email, fingerprint, keyserver and a check box that you saw valid id.

[rhoderickj]

By the way, I missed the last meeting, so I apologize if this was discussed but what type of advertising/promotion has been done for the install fest? I've contacted the equivalent of the "Computer Science" club at Hood College here in Frederick but I haven't yet heard a response. Have other local schools been contacted?

[ronswift]

I am planning to attend. I have installed Kubuntu/Ubuntu on about 10 workstations, 2 dual boot laptops and a number of servers and I am still learning. I plan to help anyway I can.
Thanks

[loxety]

I voted Helper. I've been thinking about installing ubuntu on a Sun Sparc Ultra 2.

[Squid_blk]

Is the July 19 meeting a club meeting? I have been interested in meeting people who run Linux and Ubuntu. I converted to Linux a few months ago and so far I am very happy. But I can stand to learn more as I am self taught and have gotten all my information from several books and the Forum. Would be nice to have discussions with live people and to see how things are done.

[rhoderickj]

Is the July 19 meeting a club meeting? I have been interested in meeting people who run Linux and Ubuntu. I converted to Linux a few months ago and so far I am very happy. But I can stand to learn more as I am self taught and have gotten all my information from several books and the Forum. Would be nice to have discussions with live people and to see how things are done.

Yes, July 19 will be an in-person meeting at the Howard County Library's Central Branch. You can find all of the information on our team wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarylandTeam

Talking to people face-to-face is definitely a lot more fun than in the forums. Hope to see you there!

[ChuckFrain]

Is the July 19 meeting a club meeting? I have been interested in meeting people who run Linux and Ubuntu. I converted to Linux a few months ago and so far I am very happy. But I can stand to learn more as I am self taught and have gotten all my information from several books and the Forum. Would be nice to have discussions with live people and to see how things are done.

Yes, we will be live and in person on the 19th at the Howard County Central Library.

The two topics we wil lbe focusing on during the meeting will be some discussion about Software Freedom day and the Install Fest on the 21st.

Although the website has not been updated I believe that BaltoLUG is having a meeting on Tuesday at the Borders in Timonium (Seeing that you are in Baltimore).

[aboutblank]

This has nearly failed before it's started. We have zero advertising out the door. I'm now working my *** off and don't have time to do anything. Nobody seems to be helping, so at this point I'm doubting it's going to happen.

[rhoderickj]

This has nearly failed before it's started. We have zero advertising out the door. I'm now working my *** off and don't have time to do anything. Nobody seems to be helping, so at this point I'm doubting it's going to happen.

What needs to be done? I'd be glad to help out. If we still have no promotional materials, maybe we can borrow some from another LoCo group and modify it to suit. I can do this if you like, but since I'm in Frederick, I'd prefer not to have to go out to Columbia to post them. I just added a TODO section to the event page on the wiki (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarylandTeam/Events/InstallFests/2007July21). Take a few minutes to fill this out with as much stuff as you think needs to be done and I'll get started right away.

By the way, we can hold an ad-hoc meeting sometime this weekend on IRC about this. I think that'd be a good idea, just so we know what needs to be done.

[phr0ze]

I'm always ready for an online IRC meeting. I just need about 1-2 days advance warning via email. I'll go look at the wiki page. Thanks for the help. I was thinking of making a post to Craigs list. My problem is I'm not the greatest at writing Ads but I can proof-read and provide feedback for them. So if you make a flier, I can proof-read it and then post it around town.

Finally, Is anyone willing to pitch in some bucks for Pizza and Soda. And would this be allowed in the facility? We can keep it all on a table off to the side.

I also got the official ubuntu stickers from System76 that we can offer to put on computers.

[rhoderickj]

I'm always ready for an online IRC meeting. I just need about 1-2 days advance warning via email. I'll go look at the wiki page. Thanks for the help. I was thinking of making a post to Craigs list. My problem is I'm not the greatest at writing Ads but I can proof-read and provide feedback for them. So if you make a flier, I can proof-read it and then post it around town.

That sounds good. I wish I had realized sooner that this hadn't already been done. I think this is a good example of why we should organize an events committee or subteam. It'd be nice to know who's responsible for coordinating events and delegating duties to team members. But that's a discussion for another time. I'll check in with a couple LoCos to see if we can borrow some of their work. It'd certainly save time. I'll post to this thread when I have something.

As for the IRC meeting, how is Sunday night at 7pm? Judging by the activity (or lack thereof) in this thread, it may just end up being a handful of us, but at least we'll have a chance to coordinate some of the time-sensitive issues before Thursday's meeting.


Finally, Is anyone willing to pitch in some bucks for Pizza and Soda. And would this be allowed in the facility? We can keep it all on a table off to the side.

I'll contribute. Maybe we can hold a collection at this Thursday's meeting?


I also got the official ubuntu stickers from System76 that we can offer to put on computers.

Awesome. I'd like to get one of those! :)

[phr0ze]

I'll gladly provide one or two stickers to each member of the LoCo. My main intent for them are the install fest guests now and in the future. However if you would like more stickers, system76 gives 4 of them for free to anyone. Just send a SASE to the sticker request address provided on the system76 site. They probably don't care how many times you send in envelopes, but your costs in postage is at least 82 cents per set of 4.

[Squid_blk]

Does anyone know the time that the Baltimore group is meeting at the Borders in Timonium/Lutherville on Tuesday July 17?

[rhoderickj]

Okay, I have a flyer ready to go. I'd like to get some feedback on it as well. I created it in Scribus but exported it to a PDF so you don't have to mess with it. I've test-printed a few copies and everything seems to turn out fine. Note that this is not in CMYK colorspace so it's not really suitable for professional printing, but it'll do just fine on a regular laser color printer. You can view the flyer here. (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarylandTeam/Events/InstallFests)

This is also loaded onto the "generic" install fest page even though it pertains directly to next weekend's install fest. Just ignore this for now. I plan to flesh out the generic page with templates for flyers and a bunch of other goodies, so this is just temporary. Everything will be worked out in the coming weeks.

[ChuckFrain]

All the things are really coming together well. I know that this is largly last minute but all the work everyone is doing is great!

I'll find out what the food policy is and then we'll go from there. I'm sure that we can take up a collection on the day as needed.

The flyer looks great. A craigslist posting will be nice to have if someone wants to write that up. Otherwise I'll take the wording from the flyer and post that if you want, or someone else can. Just let me know!

I'll be shooting off an email to Amy and Luis at the library with the PDF and seeing if they cann't get it posted on the notice boards at the branches.

As far as the Sunday night IRC chat I might make it for the tail end of it depending on how long it goes. I have prior commitments. If someone could log it and send it to Josh or post it to the Wiki that would be great.

Thanks for the offer of stickers, I'm still waiting on mine to come in.

As for the BaltoLug it's normally a 7pm start time.

[aboutblank]

rhoderickj I don't know who you are or where you came from, but I freakin' love you. You are exactly what this team needs! The flyer looks great. The flyer does NEED information on what a person should bring with them.

One of my many projects for the weekend is to get an apt-proxy box working.

Chuck, can you confirm the time on the flyer (10am to 3pm) is correct? I would guess setup and teardown would be about an hour.

After the flyer is finalized, I will attempt to post it in compusa. I'm not sure how they are going to like that.

rhoderickj, can I get in contact with you today or tomorrow? AIM, email, etc is in my profile or launchpad. I'm free from the shackles or work for only 2 days you know :)

Thanks guys, there's hope for us yet.

[aboutblank]

I think this is a good example of why we should organize an events committee or subteam. It'd be nice to know who's responsible for coordinating events and delegating duties to team members. But that's a discussion for another time.

Dang, now that is a good idea!!!
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=455786

No, really, it's a great idea.

[rhoderickj]

As far as the Sunday night IRC chat I might make it for the tail end of it depending on how long it goes. I have prior commitments. If someone could log it and send it to Josh or post it to the Wiki that would be great.

I'll be logging it and I'll post it immediately afterward. I'll post in this thread with the link.

[rhoderickj]

rhoderickj I don't know who you are or where you came from, but I freakin' love you. You are exactly what this team needs! The flyer looks great. The flyer does NEED information on what a person should bring with them.

Thanks man! I really appreciate that. :)

As for the flyer, just let me know what you want people to bring with them and I'll add it. I think we can get the flyer finalized and ready to print by tomorrow night.


After the flyer is finalized, I will attempt to post it in compusa. I'm not sure how they are going to like that.

I'm going to drop a few off around here too... pretty much wherever I can find a community bulletin board with an audience that I think would be interested. By the way, when you find a place that is hospitable to our flyers, post the name and location in the wiki (on the generic install fest page) so we can eventually make a checklist of Ubuntu-friendly places throughout the area. I'll set up a section on the wiki just for this purpose.


rhoderickj, can I get in contact with you today or tomorrow? AIM, email, etc is in my profile or launchpad. I'm free from the shackles or work for only 2 days you know :)

Sure, I'll send you an e-mail. Or we can also use #ubuntu-maryland, as it's pretty quiet in there. By the way, do you still want to do the IRC meeting Sunday night?

[rhoderickj]

Dang, now that is a good idea!!!
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=455786

No, really, it's a great idea.

Hmm... I didn't see that post. It's a shame no one responded to it. I think we can work all of this out after the install fest when we have some time to pay more attention to the team's organizational structure. I'm guessing that Chuck will find these ideas helpful too.

[aboutblank]

By the way, do you still want to do the IRC meeting Sunday night?

Yes, I will be there. Tonight at 7.

[rhoderickj]

The revised flyer is now available. Find it here. (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarylandTeam/Events/InstallFests/2007July21) The page where I posted the old flyer is intended to be for templates and information that applies to all install fests, so I removed the links to the attachments and I will post flyer templates and other stuff there soon.

I've also updated tonight's meeting page with the IRC log. You can find that here. (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarylandTeam/Meetings/2007July15)

[phr0ze]

Excellent, Thank You. If I get the time I will work towards a presentation or other material. However with my schedule, that is a big IF.

[rhoderickj]

I've posted the directional signs to the wiki (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarylandTeam/Events/InstallFests/2007July21) in both PDF and ODT format. I do not have a color printer at home, so if you'd like these printed in color, someone else will have to print them. I think we'd need no more than a few, probably 5. If you print these, please leave a note here to let me know. If I don't hear anything by midnight tonight, I'll just print them in black-and-white.

[rhoderickj]

I have completed two more documents, the install fest data sheet and the release agreement. These are modified versions of the documents Craig posted a link to. I don't know if we plan on using the data sheet or not, but it's there if we want it. You can find them here on the wiki (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarylandTeam/Events/InstallFests/2007July21) (and on the general install fests page too).