On 8/27/05, Louis Suarez-Potts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi Adam, * > > On Aug 26, 2005, at 1:02 AM, Adam Moore wrote: > > > On 8/25/05, Jacqueline McNally <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > >> Ian Lynch wrote: > >> > >>> On Thu, 2005-08-25 at 12:36 +0800, Jacqueline McNally wrote: > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>>> There were too few people able to commit promised resources to the > >>>> previous event. > >>>> > >>> > >>> > >>> I thnk the only thing we really lacked was artwork etc for the > >>> booth. > >>> > >> > >> And I still have lots of long threads in my mail box from volunteers > >> returning from DLS, saying that they didn't have "this" and didn't > >> have > >> "that" - none of which they prepared to take with them prior to > >> the event. > >> > > > > How about I try to prepare. With the time frame I had with the NEA > > conference I was able to get a sponsor and some items that were usable > > for the booth. All we can do is try. > > True. Some context: > > * Has OOo been invited to the 2006 DSL? If people recall, Michael > Robertson and Linspire marketing people contacted us well in advance. > We didn't go to the 2004 conference b/c there was not enough time to > pull together a team and no one was sufficiently interested (it was > hard too to see the DSL as anything other than a Linspire show), but > did think the 2005 DSL would be worthwhile. Linspire suggested the > idea of making it a Regional Conference. That is something more than > just a booth at a conference. It was supposed to be somehow a US > version of OOoCon. Consequently, the Community Council authorised > going to the DSL and money was made available by Team OpenOffice.org > e.V., which manages money for marketing events like this.
To my knowledge no one has been contacted about this. > > But what has resulted from the conference? For starters, it was not > what the CC envisioned. Yes it was fun for those attending. But > what else? Did it get much press? If so, where? Did it bring in new > developers? Who? Key users? Which? Did it represent OOo in a strong > light? If so, by whose account? Of course, no conference ever does > what we want it to do, but we generally want a conference to be worth > the effort and money. (One reason I didn't push for Linux World SF > was b/c, as Robin Miller has pointed out and others have also noted, > it's nowadays suits selling to other suits. OOo is lost there, or > used as a token app but that's it. Nothing has resulted from us being > there. No new developers nor large numbers of users. As far as press > attention goes, just having a booth showcasing 2.0 goes only so far > if we are not prepared with an entertaining and informative spiel and > show.) Just for the record I believe we were approached by Intel the first time at this conference and now they're sponsors of OOoCon > > I'm not saying that the DSL should be written off. I am saying I'd > like for us to consider what we hope to gain by being there, and what > level of effort and money is required. Conferences and booths can be > fun and are team (community) building, when done properly. Done > poorly, as at the Liinux World Boston earlier this year, they can be > a disadvantage. (The press, or at least one key press member with > influence, reported that the poor booth presence and attendance there > indicated that OOo was losing its steam and membership base; that > open source in general was on the ropes. We had to make a few calls > to set people straight, but it's very very hard to undo damage like > that.) > > I agree that having OOo present at a US conference is important, > which is why I think OSCON, which *is* taken seriously by all, should > be our goal for a major conference in the US. Or if not OSCON, then > another similar conference that brings together developers as well as > companies interested in working on OOo. DLS could be that event. > However, if we want to have a press event, then it is easier just to > do that, and to get a hold of Linux Word, Linux Journal, etc., with > updates (We do this anyway, actually, and not a week goes by, I > sometimes think, that an OOo member is not interviewed on OOo.) Of > course, it is also fun to attend and participate in conferences, and > we can certainly plan on doing that: there are smaller LinuxWorlds > where having an OOo presence can get more notice; and there are many > other conferences out there. And if there are enough people willing > to go to the DLS and manage it, and if there is funding for it, and > if it seems like it will be really worth it, there is that. Really I guess my question with this is who are we marketing to at OpenOffice. End users, developers, businesses, everybody? Having a Regicon gives us one big marketing tool. Everyone that comes to it is there to hear about OpenOffice. Scanning over the people last year there were school administrators, business owners and people from different parts of the Americas. It brings in a wide array of people. Are we going to get developers? Probably not, this would be a more focused event about OpenOffice and talking to end users and people that want to move from their office suite. > > Cheers, > Louis > -- Adam Moore Community Volunteer OOo blog: AdamMooreOOo.blogspot.com
