re: "feel the 'spirit of OOo' and have a lot of fun. This is more than just
feeling good: It keeps the dedication to OOo and therefore it's one of the
strongest reasons to spend a lot of spare time for the project."
Yes... I am in very strong agreement with this. In fact, some would say that
we (as a specie) are genetically driven to share our cognitive memetics in
social settings. That 'socializing' (especially 'playfully having fun') is
as essential a component of (personal and professional) 'growth and
development' as is rigorous (intellectual) research and (physical)
participatory work.
Thus designing and developing a conference is -- by strict standards of
'engineering empowerment' -- really all about 'staging an environment' where
folks feel safe and comfortable to relax, unwind, share 'wild' ideas,
express unique opinions, do crazy 'once in a lifetime' things and experience
immersion in the conviviality of esprit d'corp camaraderie <smile>.
And just so you have some basis by which to understand my opinions on such,
I am 60 and have been engaged in business development, media management,
public relations and marketing stuff for 35 years. The last major event I
produced/coordinated was
http://www.holleymountainairpark.com/holleyfest/holleyfest2005/index.htm --
which it was my responsibility to organize and promote from inception as the
capstone of the marketing strategy we developed to build a residential
community of aviation enthusiasts.
Also FYI, the Holley Mountain Airpark webiste is no longer under my control
and thus some images are missing from the Holleyfest section, which is now
essentially defunct as the community is pretty-much fully developed and this
annual 'public event' is no longer held. However the 'Master Planners List'
from the 2004 conference is still online
ttp://www.holleymountainairpark.com/holleyfest/holleyfest2004/masterlist091904.htm
and it shows the point-by-point production agenda for the 2-day program.
This comprehensive Master Planners List started with a face-to-face strategy
session where the group members (there were about 20 the first year)
'creatively imagined' that they were attendees at the event and that
everything was 'perfect' to their own unique standards...
As these ideas were expressed, everyone got an idea of what 'perfect' looked
like to others and these ideas coalesced as an outline of activities
(keynote speaker, catered lunch, educational program, exhibitors,
safety/compliance precautions, games for kids, aviation/automotive parking,
etc.) that everyone in the group agreed would be a conference which they
themselves wanted to attend.
All of which I hope adds appropriate emphasis to the importance of the point
in discussion: That the overarching purpose of a conference is to 'build
community'; that 'face to face' connectivity is more than a critical
component of a conference, it is one of the most important reasons for
having a conference; that 'engineering' the staging of a conference
environment to 'feel good' does in fact stimulate creativity and thus
enhance productivity, all of which compound (personal and group)
satisfaction... which is at the core of pretty-much everything that
everybody seems to truly want... <grin>.
Anyway, that is my take on conference planning and development: Start with
the end in mind. See yourself having the best time of your life. Make note
of the things you imagine yourself doing, share your ideas and
collaboratively develop a master planners agenda. As always, hope these
suggestions are of some use <smile>. ~Christine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bernhard Dippold" <bernh...@familie-dippold.at>
To: <dev@marketing.openoffice.org>
Sent: Friday, December 18, 2009 4:52 PM
Subject: Re: [marketing] Virtual OOoCon 2011?
Hi all,
Christine Louise Beems schrieb:
Here's an idea on conferences to add to the mix:
This is exactly the idea I had ;-)
Face-to-face networking and socializing is essential for both community
and business development, so how about having an annual face-to-face
'global' conference with multiple (regional) venues, all held on the
same date(s). This would give folks the option of staying closer to home
-or- traveling to a distant location, being somewhat able to accomplish
the same networking/socializing purpose at any location...?
I see the reasons to reduce CO2 emission (and the possibility for a
dedicated marketing strategy) as well as the effects of face-to-face
meetings:
- avoid mail misunderstandings by knowledge of tone and mimic in
discussion
- reach faster agreement on difficult topics
- work collaboratively more effective than online
- improve knowledge on other community members resulting in better
communication later on the lists
- feel the "spirit of OOo" and have a lot of fun. This is more than just
feeling good: It keeps the dedication to OOo and therefore it's one of the
strongest reasons to spend a lot of spare time for the project.
Less real meetings will have negative effects on the community (feeling
and actual work) - and these effects will have to be weighed against the
environmental profit of not moving to the OOoCon location.
For myself I don't want to reduce the number of personal meetings, but we
should try to make them as environmental friendly as possible.
Christine's idea is a good compromise - small local meetings with a
central virtual conference.
In my opinion these RegiCons should be located at places where many OOo
members don't need to move (or move just a short distance).
With one large OOoCon every two years meetings between people from far
away would be possible and keep alive the personal contact.
Best regards
Bernhard
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@marketing.openoffice.org
For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@marketing.openoffice.org
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@marketing.openoffice.org
For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@marketing.openoffice.org
