On Sunday 09 September 2007 22:22, Ian Lynch wrote: > On Sun, 2007-09-09 at 15:58 +1200, Graham Lauder wrote: > > It seems we were caught out a bit by SUN's generosity. For instance Aug > > 31 is the end of my financial year so I wasn't able to participate in > > the initial stages of the discussion. I think that probably holds true > > for a number of other people who have things outside the project that > > demand their attention and so can't contribute immediately. This is > > something that those who are gathering a salary from their OOo / Sun > > activities need to take into account. Many of us would absolutely love to > > be able focus 100% of our energies on OOo, but for obvious reasons > > that's not always possible. > > > > A couple of suggestions for next time: > > More time please, the longer the better, but at least four weeks, six > > would be better. > > I think more, eg 3-6 months. I have several deadlines this month so > while I can do some things that I can either delegate or coordinate, if > it requires a lot of physical time I just can't do it. For example there > is no real time to coordinate anything for software freedom day as its > only a few days away but if we had decided to do that 6 months ago I > could probably have mobilised groups like OSC, SFUK, LuGS and ODF to do > something specific in the UK. To co-ordinate large numbers of people is > not necessarily massively time consuming but requires quite a long lead > in time for the message to get round and consensus on decision making to > happen.
I agree, the longer the better and certainly if it requires coordinating people on the ground. Online and Print ad campaigns don't require quite so much coordination > > > Have an RFP (Request for Proposals) process, Instead of having a mish > > mash of ideas coming from all directions. > > +1 > > > > > For a worldwide campaign > > > > tho' it would be a rather expensive way of getting to people and > > > > definitely > > > > limits the numbers that you can interface with. > > > > > > I think the real merit is also to initiate programs that we can later > > > efficiently exploit. > > > > First then we need to define _how_ we're going to exploit this later. We > > can't be expected to go after a moving target. > > > > What are these programmes and how can we efficiently exploit them later. > > That's the question. 80% online ads 20% merchandise isn't a plan > > > > Without a plan with a distinct objective then we are better to say to SUN > > "Save your money for later and we'll come up with something really good > > instead of something thrown together at the last moment." > > Depends on how Sun budgets though and whose pot the money is coming > from. Could be an under-spend they lose if not spent by a certain date. > There should be ways round that though eg invoice from a stakeholder. In > principle though having an advertising and promotion plan and then > looking for sustainable ways of supporting it seems to be sensible. +1 > > > I would rather that we come up with definite plans to pitch, with > > concrete goals , budgets and campaign strategies as well as a benchmarks > > to measure the effectiveness of said campaign. > > And a strategy for making it sustainable rather than just a one off. That in itself is a challenge without at least having a notion that the funding is ongoing at least in the medium term > > > > > CDs are reasonably cheap but even then we're probably looking at > > > > around US40c > > > > ea for 20,000 including pressing, printing and freight. Assuming > > > > local > > > > packaging of course. Getting them packaged in a sleeve at source > > > > considerably increases freight costs. It's better local in any case > > > > because > > > > they can then be printed with more relevant local info. > > > > > > Yes. That's always been my impression. Also, a cdrom is ephemeral. > > > > So is a usb drive. It will end up at the botom of a drawer because the > > software on it will get superceded and the drive will be too small very > > quickly but admittedly possibly not as fast as a cdrom. I'm waiting > > for the day when we'll be able to embed OOo onto a credit card sized usb > > readable device. Not that far away! > > I'm not sure about CDS or USBs. Its so easy to download and install > stuff from the internet and most people we would target ie schools in > Western economies have fast broadband. USB "giveaways" would probably be > more useful in places where there is not so much broadband and the value > of a USB flash drive is relatively higher. A better alternative in the > west would be to get volunteers to sell USB drives for a small profit > and send that back in to the centre to provide a sustainable sales > budget. > > > > > As far as T-Shirts are concerned, there is a local guy who has a > > > > machine that > > > > will produce 600 t-shirts an hour with a two colour print. I'll > > > > check to see > > > > what he charges. > > > > > > Great! Again, for local things, like t-shirts, cdroms, etc., it's > > > important to have models available and contacts too, so that we can > > > get these out to meritorious events, give them as gifts, say, or even > > > make them available for purchase (yes, you read that right) from OOo > > > or a designated site. > > > > Heh, Not surprisingly you'll get no argument from me on that one! :) > > I'd like to see every MarCon in the world running an ooogear.co.xx site > > in their local area. > > That is a good idea. Could be a little competition to see who could > raise the most money from sales. Give them a prize if they raise more > than a certain amount etc. Provide incentives and look to lever the > available resources. > > > As to T-shirts, I haven't pushed them in our local market because you > > really need to have a specific target audience to get the numbers that > > warrant spending the cash. T-shirts are a giveaway item and I don't have > > the cash to spend on such a bulk order. I do however have contacts in > > India who can do the bulk stuff cheaper than locally but orders have to > > be >2000 odd to make it worthwhile for freight. > > Shared between Marcons, that number would not be enough and Sun's > funding would easily cover it. If it failed to raise money the T-shirts > could always be given away so its a low risk strategy with some chance > of becoming sustainable. My son runs a local music venue and bands sell > T-shirts, sweat shirts etc at a premium so they can make $10 an item. > People buy them because they support the bands - even ones that are not > very well-known. At the right events eg Lug Radio Live, Linux expos etc > these shirts would sell to supporters of free software. "Wear OOo with > pride" "Proud to support software freedom - OOo" etc. There are 10s of > thousands of potential customers and volunteers who would sell them but > you have to appeal to their emotions and make them feel they are doing > their bit. You want to help? Great, sell 10 T-shirts for us. Its simple > and predictable commitment. Actually it occurs to me that the Enterprise > INGOT requires students to raise money for a good cause and since they > are learning about open systems, some might use an OOo T-shirt business > as a project do that. Its a simple way for kids to join and contribute > to the community and the qualification requires them to raise money for > a good cause. We already have 10,000 students registered and we are > growing all the time so probably getting some to do this would be > possible. The Enterprise INGOTs have only just been agreed with the > regulators so it will probably take a few months but that gives us some > time. > > > On ooogear I stick to embroidered gear and pens because my contacts are > > more SMEs than any other For the University Campaign I was planning, > > screen printed t-shirts would be much more appropriate. That was the > > Google:OOo campaign idea that met with a deafening silence back in Feb. > > :) > > > > (NB: Both John and Bernhard have my Polo Shirts that they were supposed > > to have before last conference but they got stuck in German Customs. Heh! > > and I outfitted the others in the OOo team at LCA 07, Jon Coombes and Jim > > Watson. Heh not bad since I had to guess their sizes before I left NZ) > > > > >For instance, someone downloads OOo and sees > > > not only where to get updates, extensions, ancillary apps, support, > > > but also lots of fun and totally tangible things. > > > > +1 in spades, plus local contacts. It is most important in the SME/SOHO > > space for people to be able to pick up the phone and speak to someone. > > Maybe better to concentrate on shows and events. I have been offered > stand space for free at a number of venues to promote OOo but I have no > source of merchandise and no mechanism for knowing if my time is going > to be usefully employed so I no longer take it up. I don't think there > is a shortage of possible venues for promotion, it just requires some > central support and volunteers willing to give up a day. NEA cost me > about $5000 to attend and was not something I would personally repeat > but it did prove you can sell OOo CDs to people who had never even heard > of it and in fact selling for $1 was as successful as giving it away. So > selling T-shirts at free software shows should raise further funds as > well as getting the message out. > > Ian Agreed wholeheartedly there were a number of tradeshows and events both here and in Australlia particularly in the SMB and Education arenas that I would have liked to get to but funding was the limiting factor. --> Louis, is there a mechanism by which we can perhaps earmark some of this for events such as this? Cheers GL -- "GET LEGAL - GET OPENOFFICE.ORG" http://why.openoffice.org ISO 26300 compliant Graham Lauder, OpenOffice.org MarCon (Marketing Contact) NZ http://marketing.openoffice.org/contacts.html INGOTs Assessor Trainer Moderator New Zealand (International Grades in Office Technologies) www.theingots.org.nz GET DRESSED GET OOOGEAR http://ooogear.co.nz --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
