On Sat, Aug 1, 2009 at 6:23 AM, Sean DALY<sdaly...@gmail.com> wrote: > I agree with you David, an excellent analysis. > > Walter - beyond my personal belief in the worth of software freedom > :-) being part of the FOSS ecosystem is a key differentiator for us > and i agree that should be part of the message.
I consider the fact that Sugar Lab provides an open source, collaboratively developed platform which is not under the control of a single company or SABDFL is a critical need that Sugar Labs meets. david > Sean > > > > On 7/30/09, David Farning <dfarn...@sugarlabs.org> wrote: >> On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 4:36 AM, Sean DALY<sdaly...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> > OK but I will need to think a little bit about this (and for the >> > moment no internet access in the house, truck unloaded yesterday & we >> > are in boxes, internet will take a couple of weeks at least) >> > >> > I have promised Tomeu to assist in recruitment but this is a tricky >> > one... the "magic" if I may say so is to find an "angle" that is >> > newsworthy... that will bubble to the top choices a journalist or >> > blogger will choose to write about. Unfortunately, "we need help" or >> > "we are succeeding an ambitious technical challenge", etc. are not >> > newsworthy in and of themselves. So we need to find a link, a "hook" >> > to generate newsworthiness. My instinct is to springboard from Sugar >> > on a Stick which has already captured the imagination of many writers >> > and bloggers. >> > >> > Marketing, advertising, even recruitment springs first from emotional >> > response, then reasoned analysis. If you listen to Red Hat's CEO in >> > the BBC link I sent two days ago you will hear him try to motivate >> > potential recruits in terms of social responsibility and making the >> > world a better place. I think all of us are deeply motivated by the >> > desire to educate children. >> >> >> I have come to the same conclusion. >> >> I have been uneasy about our shopping list of needs approach to >> engaging new contributors. Every open source article about attracting >> and engaging contributors talk about providing a easily accessible >> list of activities for contributors to get started. Yet, when ever I >> read those lists (and our lists) I end up saying 'Why should I help >> with this.' >> >> Further research on non-profit and my own personal experience has lead >> me to the conclusion that people help social benefit organizations, >> such as Sugar Labs, because we 'meet needs' not because we 'have >> needs.' As an example, I don't donate to Wisconsin Public Radio >> because they run those annoying 'please help us' campaigns every >> couple of months. Instead, I believe that Wisconsin Public Radio is >> providing a valuable service, thereby meeting a valuable community >> need. >> >> I think this was why the SoaS release made such a splash in the tech >> community. It was widely perceived as 'meeting the need' that Sugar >> be available without purchasing an XO during their limited periods of >> G1G1 availability. The 'value' of freeing Sugar appeals to certain >> people. >> >> OLPC in general is such a compelling project because it aims to 'meet >> the needs' of students in developing nation by leverage technology. >> The 'value' of education and the 'usefulness' of technology resonate >> _very_ strongly with many people. >> >> Overall, the message can take the form of: >> 1. Here is the need we aim to meet - >> 2. Here is our track record on making progress towards meeting that need - >> 3. Here is how you can help us meet that need - >> >> >> david >> >> >> > Perhaps, Slashdot-style, we can announce a technical challenge with a >> > deadline (cf. JFK man on the moon). For example: "Sugar on a Stick is >> > a liveUSB system and is based on liveCD solutions which impose certain >> > limitations on writable media; one of the consequences is a higher >> > failure rate for USB sticks than optical media. We want Sugar on a >> > Stick to be absolutely reliable for children and their teachers; who >> > can help us design and implement an improved liveUSB architecture by >> > May 2010, to prepare Sugar on a Stick for wide deployment by the >> > beginning of the school year?" >> > >> > This is only an idea, but the brainstorming aspect of it - we want to >> > do something which has never been done before - could raise awareness >> > among sharp geeks who could bring their experience to the project. It >> > would position ourselves as being at the leading edge of innovation, >> > bringing high tech on a $5 stick to kids. We could imagine a "contest" >> > with the only prize being the implementation of the best idea; but a >> > wiki page where we invite geeks to propose their best take on the >> > subject could build traffic amongst prequalified developers. >> > >> > This is a double-edged sword, because there are some pundits who love >> > to diss Sugar and OLPC by implying that Python is a silly choice, or >> > OLPC "failed" by doing X and not doing Y or Z. But we could maybe >> > minimize mindless trashing by asking the community for the best ideas. >> > >> > This might work best as a blog post not a press release... although if >> > we raise the bar of the challenge high enough, some tech writers might >> > want to write about it if it is a press release too. >> > >> > We absolutely have to improve the Getting Involved page as part of our >> > recruitment too, I had had some suggestions a couple of months back >> > but no time for me to find those today :-( >> > >> > I will think about this some more, feedback appreciated thanks >> > >> > Sean >> > >> > >> > >> > On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 4:01 AM, Walter Bender<walter.ben...@gmail.com> >> wrote: >> >> I will spare you the discussion details, but an idea that emerged from >> >> IRC would be PR around our technical challenges in order to recruit >> >> more interest. We could get Tomeu, et al. to draft some descriptive >> >> text and you could work your magic??? >> >> >> >> -walter >> >> >> >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Marketing mailing list >> > Marketing@lists.sugarlabs.org >> > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/marketing >> > >> > _______________________________________________ Marketing mailing list Marketing@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/marketing
