Our first victi...run could be with the FTW-Geek Dinner people.
Reasonably technical so they could spot problems, but loaded with
Windows and Mac people so we'd reach someone.
Since Microsoft cheats all the time, lets make sure that the Vista (or
hell even XP) machine is at or near the baseline requirements for that
OS then show them how much better it is with even a LiveCD.
Simon: As I'd like to formally volunteer. I'd love to work the booth and
man the trenches.
On Sat, 2008-10-18 at 16:07 -0400, Rob Ludwick wrote:
> Simon,
>
> One of the things I think I could see being useful would be an FAQ that
> provided easy answers to questions.
>
> * Software that exists in ubuntu or equivalent versions
> * Basic questions like "How do I burn a CD / DVD?, How do I setup my
> wireless network."
>
> Maybe someone has one out there already. It would be nice to have
> something that the volunteers could give quick responses from, so that
> answers could be answered quickly.
>
> Another thing that would be nice is a box / or laptop with vista on it
> that could be easily restored back to vista, so we could reload linux on
> it over and over again.
>
>
> --R
>
>
> On Thu, 2008-10-16 at 23:04 -0400, Simón Ruiz wrote:
> > Hello, all,
> >
> > For those that weren't at the LUG meeting tonight, Carol Rutz, my wife
> > Sarah, and myself announced our intention to organize an event at the
> > Fort Wayne Public Library (downtown branch) aimed at getting Linux a
> > bit of exposure amongst the absolutely non-technical general
> > population.
> >
> > Our target audience is the sort of people who don't care what an
> > "Operating System" is, and glaze over when you start enumerating the
> > four freedoms. We're not looking to evangelize to the unready so much
> > as hoist the banner and sound the call for those who would be
> > interested if they knew there was an alternative.
> >
> > Tonight's meeting was a perfect example of why the FWLUG, while an
> > excellent resource for us geeks that have already drunk the kool-aid,
> > is pretty intimidating and probably more harmful than useful for the
> > less-than-geeky that might be interested in experimenting with Linux,
> > but aren't yet ready to inhale.
> >
> > So far our idea is to hold an event that features some (interactive)
> > talks BY beginners and FOR pre-beginners raising awareness that there
> > is an alternative to the proprietary software culture.
> >
> > Some ideas we've tossed around for talks include a tour of the default
> > desktop ("Here's how I browse the web, check my e-mail, write letters
> > to my mom on a word processor, balance my checkbook on a spreadsheet,
> > chat with my friends on AIM...and play mahjongg!"), maybe a talk about
> > "What is Free Software?" or "How can all this great stuff be Free?" or
> > something explaining the basic differences between the free and
> > proprietary software worlds in a totally practical, beginner-friendly
> > way, and a demonstration of the installation process at the end.
> >
> > Having a booth out front to catch the curious, answer questions, and
> > let them know they're welcome to come on in would be good.
> >
> > We'd also like to have a hands-on demo "lab" so that people can sit
> > down and play with a running Linux system while they're listening to
> > the talks.
> >
> > We're planning to use Ubuntu for a) its general beginner-friendliness
> > and b) the fact that both of us are Ubuntu users and active Ubuntu
> > LoCo members. We're not interested in dissing the other distros, and
> > this sort of event is not the time to throw the rainbow of choices at
> > people.
> >
> > We want to make sure interested people leave with a CD and some
> > literature as a) a physical reminder of what they saw/heard b) a
> > starting point for their personal experimentation and c) information
> > on how to get a hold of help when they need it.
> >
> > It would be really cool coordinate this with a FWLUG InstallFest
> > (haven't had one of those in a while) that we can advertise at the
> > event for anyone who's interested in making the switch and doesn't
> > have the confidence to go through an install alone.
> >
> > We're totally willing to drive this so we're not asking anyone else to
> > take point on it, and we would love your help. So far, we're still in
> > brainstorming, information gathering and planning mode, but have never
> > planned something like this and would appreciate any ideas, guidance,
> > and experience.
> >
> > For instance, we'd like to have a decent, coordinated marketing effort
> > for about a month before the actual event (no date planned, yet,
> > probably early 2009) to get the word out, and aren't sure of all the
> > media outlets we should target and such.
> >
> > Also, we'd like to pick a good, high-traffic time at the library to
> > attract the innocent by-standers but aren't sure when would be best.
> >
> > As far as day-of help, we'd like to get some of you who aren't
> > uber-geeky to participate, to be the face of this. People who think
> > ways of creating hash tables in bash are cool tend to scare off our
> > target audience. ;-) (No offense, Rob. I think it's pretty neat, too.)
> >
> > Anyhow, I just wanted to throw this out there to stimulate thought.
> >
> > We'll be hitting up the library soon to get clear about how that part
> > of the equation will work; how to request the facilities, what we can
> > do, what kind of space we'll be able to use, etc.
> >
> > I'll keep the list updated on how this vision develops.
> >
> > Sleep well, especially those who have work meetings at 7:20 tomorrow
> > morning... ;-)
> >
> > Simón
> >
> > P.S. James brought up the excellent point that this sort of thing
> > would be more effective as a repeated series so as to generate buzz
> > with the first ones and attract more people for the subsequent events.
> > We're kind of leaning towards organizing one to begin with and seeing
> > what the reaction was, and where we go from there. I'd like to hear
> > your thoughts one way or another on this.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Fwlug mailing list
> > [email protected]
> > http://fortwaynelug.org/mailman/listinfo/fwlug_fortwaynelug.org
>
>
>
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Jon Bartels
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