Re: [ubuntu-marketing] The Free Software, Open Source promise: what FOSS means for non-coders
are you sure this example of yours makes sense? I mean, are you saying that DRM happens because proprietary software exists? I am not sure I follow you here. Marco Not to mention a blanket-statement like this is FUD that the Internet slams corporations for. DRM as a concept is not inherently bad. Its simply poor implementations we've seen up to this point and how its been co-opted by media conglomerates that force us as a community to paint it in a negative light. Someday, someone may actually get it right. In fact, the angle in this situation would be to promote FOSS as a possible savior of DRM by letting the community build something that works correctly and protects the rights of the users throughout the world (not just the US and the Fair Use clause). There is no need to vilify the opposition when they do a fine job smearing egg on their face without your help. Instead, I personally would opt to proclaim the limitless possibilities that exist in software that is free and open to the world, since that is a more positive approach in a world plagued with far too much cynicism. John -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
[ubuntu-marketing] Ubuntu Community Marketing Team Restructure Proposal
, there is a need for resources dedicated to making sure Ubuntu lives up to its potential and its existing reputation. In many ways, this step reinforces the roots in a way that none of the other aspects truly can. We need to make sure the new users we bring in have a clearly delineated user support system that helps them get started and addresses the questions they may have when they come up. We need to make sure we are all staying on message. We need to make sure new projects get the exposure they need to get the resources they may be require. Finally, we need to make sure that distributions both upstream and downstream from Ubuntu benefit from from our work, and hopefully we can provide them with templates and tools useful for them to carve out their own niche. Restructuring the Community Marketing team in this way would allow for new volunteers' talents to be used more quickly and much more succinctly than we have ever before. Once you have structure in place, I recommend realigning the Marketing materials on the wiki to provide those people interested in helping with the exposure of Ubuntu a clear path to getting into projects right away. This could consist of easier navigation paths, more simplistic explanations of tasks available, and project and task templates to showcase exactly what needs to be done more quickly. In order to achieve this goal, I do think that the community would best be server by a committee of volunteers that help to undergo the transition. There are some brilliant minds and strong willed leaders here who could help either with a plan like this or any other, and I think without their direction or any change in the status quo, the Ubuntu Marketing Community will continue to underachieve. Its my belief that the best way to handle this would be to have members submit the names of candidates and then have the group as a whole vote 3-5 of them into a committee. That way, representative democracy could be achieved, and everyone would feel that they had a voice in the proceedings. I look forward to furthering the word of Ubuntu behind your leadership and direction so we can begin to truly change the way the world thinks about their choices in the world of computers. I hope you realize that every one of you is capable of leading this charge and you have the power to make change happen right here, right now, and for the better. Good luck, and I wish you all the very best! John Vilsack 24-Feb-10 -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Creating Viral Videos - Who's interested? (jared)
Since this seems to be a thread about commercial brainstorming, I might as well just throw this out there. Ubuntu. For you. And you. And you. And you. And you. And you. And you. And you. Ubuntu For You. In my head, I see a giant mirror that you are required to hold with two hands. Make it circular, and the Ubuntu logo is the frame with the middle being reflective. Each scene of the commercial has the person holding the mirror out saying For you while you see the reflection of somebody else in the mirror. Then the holder gives the Ubuntu Mirror to that person or persons, who repeats the process. The end could be a reflection of the world and its handed offscreen to fade to white. Of course, something like this actually would require a budget, planning, and subsequent planning how each case was really Ubuntu for the masses. But it would help to define a more authentic branding that doesn't have to associate with other products in the same niche for recognition. John Vilsack -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Creating Viral Videos - Who's interested? (jared)
The advertisements you are referring to are being shown worldwide, with regional influences dictating which ads are shown predominantly in those regions. The idea behind the campaign is for Microsoft to place emphasis on their response to customer feedback and how they claim it has been directly integrated into the changes in their latest operating system. The basic premise behind many of these commercials is the same: A Joe or Jane every person begins explaining how they had a moment where they had a revelation of doing something in Windows a little bit easier. The scene changes to a re-enactment of the moment featuring a significantly more attractive model playing the character of Joe or Jane. They then go on to say how they contacted Microsoft and boom, they are responsible for why Windows 7 is great. The campaign was designed to be a counter-attack to the largely successful I'm a Mac ads Apple has been running for the past several years. Half of the ads target families shown at home or about the house which emphasizes Microsoft's personal push to identify more with families than with hipsters. The other half target younger professionals that are attractive and ambitious without having to resort to an Apple tax to prove it. The past 12 months of Microsoft's advertising have been largely successful but its also because they are able to put these ads in front of eyes that it can make a difference on ( http://theappleblog.com/2009/05/22/microsoft-ads-winning-over-more-consumers-than-apples/). Keep in mind that Microsoft and Windows are household names with almost 30 years of market dominance, they spent hundreds of millions of dollars in failed campaigns up to this point, and it still took them years to find a message they could use on a global scale to counter the damage Apple did with their ads. John Vilsack On Sun, Feb 7, 2010 at 4:20 PM, Paul Schulz p...@mawsonlakes.org wrote: Greetings, In Australia we are seeing the I'm a PC and Windows 7 was my idea advertisement campaign, where people (actors?) are put in fron of the camera to explain that they had a feature that that they wanted their computer to do, which Windows Vista didn't do, and which is now included in Windows 7. The ad. ends with I'm a PC and Windows 7 was my Idea. After a quick browse on YouTube I suspect that we are only seeing a selected portion on the Ads, or they were pulled, as we certainly haven't seen all of them. but.. this got me thinking. How could this idea be applied to the Ubuntu community? We could actually create a video if the developers themselves and say I'm Ubuntu and feature blah was my Idea, or get Mark saying I'm Ubuntu and Ubuntu was my Idea. How else can we play to our strengths. On another note..I feel that these ads. are somehow missing the point, as I don't really understand what they are trying to achieve. Are they trying to position Windows 7 as a competitor to Ubuntu? Ubuntu might give you blah but remember we gave you what you wanted last time when you asked for it?.. so why not stick with Windows. Just my $0.02 worth.. Regards, Paul On Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 2:51 AM, markusmu...@yahoo.co.uk markusmu...@yahoo.co.uk wrote: Couldn't agree more Jared, this assumption is one I get really sick of: yes, but how CAN it be better if no one wants to fleece me for it? The profile of this type is a man; 30something; who knows computers (windoze) because he can use one at work; drives a frequently modded car with hundreds of expensive extras he doesn't need and who wears last season's designer everything. He has entrenched small c conservative views and would have defended Vista all the way up to the release of 7. He is emphatically NOT about early uptake of new tech unless produced by established companies with a lot of existing market-presence. I s'pose he's basically the bad parts of both characters in the i'm a PC/Mac ads. Is he really the guy we want to reach? He's not going to be an Ubuntu user until it is SOLD to him in the traditional sense of the word, money and all. Unless the landscape changes around him and he sees other people getting more from their machines for less. I was thinking we need to work out, say five specific types of users we want to aim at and make specific ads that are tailored for them. Any ideas? --- On *Sun, 7/2/10, ubuntu-marketing-requ...@lists.ubuntu.com ubuntu-marketing-requ...@lists.ubuntu.com* wrote: From: ubuntu-marketing-requ...@lists.ubuntu.com ubuntu-marketing-requ...@lists.ubuntu.com Subject: ubuntu-marketing Digest, Vol 50, Issue 6 To: ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Date: Sunday, 7 February, 2010, 12:00 Send ubuntu-marketing mailing list submissions to ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.comhttp://mc/compose?to=ubuntu-market...@lists.ubuntu.com To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing or, via email, send
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Creating Viral Videos - Who's interested?
Doesn't that seem sort of hypocritical since you just said that a list that had 2) The under-served. They haven't quite figured out how to make their computers work for them and just want something simple. was 'Awesome?' On Sun, Feb 7, 2010 at 11:08 PM, jared ubduc...@gmail.com wrote: You just described a huge chunk of the population where I live :) There is a lady where I work who should be legally banned from using a computer because she has the brain power of a rock. She will never, ever be able to learn how to use any OS. I've tried to help her, as did others. If she can hardly use Windows, she sure won't be able to figure out Ubuntu. It's like watching Homer Simpson look for the Any key when the computer says Press any key to continue. Personally, I think this type of person is an example of who NOT to target. Jared -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Creating Viral Videos - Who's interested?
Great idea, but the question nobody seems to be asking is Why? When allocating time and resources to a project, you have to have a goal of what you wish to accomplish with it. What is the end result you wish to see? How are you going to get the video viral? How are you going to get the video into the hands of people who are unfamiliar with Ubuntu and use the video as a means of convincing them that Ubuntu is the clear choice for their OS needs? How would hosting it on Blip.tv, a website with far less of a userbase (and substantially more technical oriented, I would imagine since its niche caters to those that care about ogg) that would benefit from exposure to alternatives to paid operating systems give the hard work you all want to put into this a substantial advantage in getting your word out? If there are any answers here that can be backed up with data and facts, then by all means go at it full force and godspeed. If its just because you want to then again, I wish you the best of luck. Other than that, wouldn't simply creating several videos for the casual computer user about how to download, install, and get started in Ubuntu be easier and more beneficial than a commercial? Danny Piccirillo created a fantastic Top Things to do After Installing Ubuntu post on his site that is one of the first things I link to new users. Its concise, its well presented, and it serves a purpose by delivering a clear benefit. This message is not meant to dissuade any ideas, but I'd hate to see all of your hard work end up being a link passed between people who already know and love Ubuntu while it never delivers on the initial promise. -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Creating Viral Videos - Who's interested?
I make no assertions based on any opinion since I am only asking questions asking for empirical data to support what could be a good idea if approached properly. If the answer is There is no data to support either side of the argument then work should be done to see if there is any corollary that can be drawn to similar circumstances and the outcome of any such experiment. As for that little 'hero' dig, you could have gone the politically correct route and talked to me off-thread like a professional, but since you're keen on trying to embarrass me, I've had real world things like my career and family to worry about. I put in what I can when I can, and I took this entire week off to help catch up on my extracurricular volunteer projects. I wouldn't expect you to understand so please, just continue to point the finger at how *I* fail to meet *YOUR* expectations. On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 10:50 AM, Martin Owens docto...@gmail.com wrote: On Tue, 2010-02-02 at 10:26 -0600, John Vilsack wrote: Great idea, but the question nobody seems to be asking is Why? Because it's not been done before, and it needs trying. Your assertions are based on opinion as much as anyone elses until it's been tried. Martin, P.S. nice job hero -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
[ubuntu-marketing] Upcoming IRC Meeting Agenda
== For more information on this meeting, please go to: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam/Reorganization Hope to see you there! == Greetings! In a few short hours, we will be holding a meeting on the #ubuntu-meeting channel to brainstorm and discuss some of the changes we would like to see in the Community Marketing Team's focus moving forward. As mentioned before, this meeting is not mandatory and everything discussed will bleed out to these mailing lists, but it may be a good way to interface with our fellow Ubuntuers in real time. The agenda will be fairly free flowing, given that we expect to see several more active members in the community not in attendance due to the developer conference. Here's how I expect things to go: - 0005 Arrivals 0005 Call to Order / Introductions 0010 - 0015 Update on Volunteer Registry 0015 - 0030 Open Floor Topic: Discuss how to continue to improve accessibility to Marketing team 0030 - 0045 Open Floor Topic: Integrating workflow/knowledgeflow from wiki to SpreadUbuntu and other warehouses 0045 - 0055 Open Floor Topic: Making projects more transparent and open to volunteers 0055 - 0100 Closing: Topics for next meeting, review any action items 0100 Conclusion It probably looks more rigid than it really will be, but I expect if there is any activity, it will happen mostly as a collaboration during Open Floor. If you have any questions or want to make sure something is covered (even if you aren't going to be here!) please feel free to add it to the mailing list! Thanks and I look forward to seeing you later tonight (tonight for me, anyway)! - John -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
[ubuntu-marketing] Marketing Other *buntu Flavors
During this evening's meeting, ScottK asked about if the marketing team supported other distributions of *buntu such as a flavor he's working on, Kubuntu Netbook. I told him I would pass the message along to the group. Is this where other *buntu flavors should come for assistance if they want to get the word out? Are any of you helping on any of these other flavor projects? Thanks, John -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Marketing Other *buntu Flavors
I agree, but I see it more as a difference between Home User, IT Tech, and Business Decision Maker. I have something drafted up on this, but I want to hold off and get some other things implemented first. John Vilsack email: jo...@the-house.com voice: 651-314-9858 (recently updated) Active Sports, Inc. 200 S Owasso Blvd E St Paul, MN 55117 651-482-9995 http://www.the-house.com On Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 10:00 PM, Darkwing Duck ubu...@darkwingduck.org wrote: Another thought talking about branches of marketing is this. There needs to be more then one style of message. There is the message to current *nix users, message to MS users and a message to Mac users. You cannot market to all three the same way. Is a different message and even a different philosophy for all of them. Very hard to pitch to them with the same message. DW -Original Message- From: Benoit des Ligneris benoit.des.ligne...@gmail.com Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:20:02 To: John Vilsackvils...@gmail.com Cc: ubuntu-marketingubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Subject: Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Marketing Other *buntu Flavors -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Simplifying Why We Join
Ruben you are thinking exactly the same thing as I am. It would be great to provide simple distribution kits for people to get started. I also thought it would be great to have a meeting points for Meetups to have monthly, so people have something to talk about. Sort of a flyer that each host gets that says: Information and a printable flyer about one or two features that month in Ubuntu the meetings focus on. Focus on an article from the Ubuntu Magazine and discuss it Talk about the next version and emphasize the focus of that release so people can talk about it. We did this sort of thing in the Howard Dean campaign (2004 for US President) by organizing meetings throughout the country at coffee shops, restaurants, and other public places to just get out there and start talking. You would have been shocked how many people just come closer to hear what others were talking about. I really like the idea of building easy to get to packets that people could simply click and have access to. Kind of like First Aid kits for your computer :) John Vilsack http://www.the-house.com 2009/11/4 Rubén Romero y Cordero hua...@ubuntu.com: Hei to you all! On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 4:44 PM, John Vilsack vils...@gmail.com wrote: [...] Are there any other areas anyone can think of that should have that top-level sort of focus that newcomers should see when they first come to join our team? Simplicity is what we need. Empowering excited users of ubuntu as fast as we possibly can is the goal. A quick win is what engages people and keeps them contributing! I have written some ideas on how some of the things you are propossing can be achieved here: * https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam/Projects/SpreadUbuntu/IdeaPool#Making%20SpreadUbuntu%20more%20accesible%20in%20the%20FrontPage Me and others have written *a lot more* (see the links below). But first you need to understand this: Spread Ubuntu is about two things: * The LoCo/user site that can give you a Marketing kit in your face right NOW! and that's supposed to be the ultimate resource for LoCo teams, ubuntu marketeers and newcomers alike (Yet to be implemented as such, but the underlying technology is there, part of it is up laready and lots of materials are available as of today) * The Do-It-Yourself part of the site that makes it easy for people to share/get/translate material for local use (which is nearly done and what has been our focus this far) And yes, we need more thinking put into this. But, as mentioned above, we have already put a lot of thought into this. Those interested can read the following links: Project status since the summer of 2008 until now and meeting logs: * https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam/Projects/SpreadUbuntu/Meetings Definition of the Site part: * https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam/Projects/SpreadUbuntu/Site Definition of the DIY part: * https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam/Projects/SpreadUbuntu/diy Lots more in our Idea pool (sort of where we start our blueprints): * https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam/Projects/SpreadUbuntu/IdeaPool I am copying this to the Spread Ubuntu list and Evan Boldt (echowarp), who is actually the man behind this awesomeness, the technical lead of the project (I am really just the guy marketing SU and acting as Project Manager/Driver/Beta tester/bug triager once in a while). This is getting really exciting :-) R. https://launchpad.net/~huayra -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Simplifying Why We Join
I received three personal emails about chooseubuntu.com. Its not a real website, but I just thought maybe something like that would be a good tool for IT folks to show businesses about the benefits of Ubuntu. Just to be clear :) -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Reviving the Marketing Team (yet again!) with a focus on simple activism
While I appreciate all this newfound enthusiasm about planning, planning to plan, voting to meet, meeting to vote, and planning to plan a plan about voting to vote to meet if we need to vote on a meeting, I'm going to proceed with the meeting on November 11/12. The idea about organizing the Ubuntu Community Marketing Team is not new, and people have had more than enough opportunity to take this proverbial bull by the horns and help get things started here. To see that it only begins to happen when someone else tries to first, saddens me. I'm not attempting to usurp anyone's position or claim one for myself. I'm offering the benefits of similar experience to help create a foundation others here can use. If and when that is accomplished, I'll move on to other areas of helping Ubuntu because I strongly believe no one person should be looked to as the leader of this group. I commend those that have worked on projects for Ubuntu's marketing with little to no help from this group, Canonical, or others to achieve their goals. But the mechanism for getting new people involved here is broken, and I will do what I can to fix it. On that note, I'll be continuing my efforts. If they fall upon the deaf ears of a silent majority that does not wish to see what I'm trying to offer, then the sandbox will once again be yours. In the meantime, I politely bow out of this thread of the discussion, and will focus on the future and not your past. Thanks, John -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Reviving the Marketing Team (yet again!) with a focus on simple activism
Matthew, My ideas on the matter are very similar. There is no need to appoint people into roles of leadership. If people want to sign up to be leaders, then they should be welcomed with open arms. Many people just want to give back in some way, and not have the added responsibility. They just want to know the how's and the where's of what is needed to contribute. The leaders I am hoping for are the Ubuntu fanatics that want to take it a step further: They want to organize, coordinate, and manage the projects that all the other grassroots volunteers need to contribute to. In my years of grassroots political, social, and open source organization and activism, I've learned that you cannot ask volunteers to do much. You have to have good people willing to break down massive projects into minuscule tasks that require only a minor amount of someone's bandwidth. The talent lies within those that are able and willing to juggle these tasks. When I say we need leaders, this is what I am referring to. Its tougher in Marketing for a project like this because: A) You are dealing with intangibles. B) Everyone has an opinion because everyone feels a certain way. People don't need a title. They don't need to vote. They need to be given a chance to show what they can do and it feels like the group as a whole needs some structure to help accommodate this. Once we have some systems in place that allow for this, we will either see an influx of activity or the list will die off again until the next time this issue comes up. Marketing is something that takes a minute to grasp and a lifetime to master. We're all creative-types with egos and personalities that are part of Ubuntu because we thrive on the freedom of choice and our own individuality. The last thing I think any of us want is a hierarchy in place that squashes any of our greatest strengths. I feel very strongly that we can do this right and help make this team better as a whole! -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Reviving the Marketing Team (yet again!) with a focus on simple activism
I showed up to offer my support, as did a few others. But unless we were missing something, the meeting never made it to the calendar, and nobody called it to order. I'm really sad about this. Thanks to those that showed up, I guess this means that U-M continues on its rudderless course. Maybe some day... On Sat, Oct 24, 2009 at 11:17 AM, Jake Bradbury jacob...@gmail.com wrote: My two cents: I think a meeting to discuss the direction of the Ubuntu Marketing team would be a great first step. I would be excited to participate. I can make time on Monday the 2nd as suggested by Martin. We do need a leader(s) to provide a coherent goal/strategy and to prioritize activities supporting that strategy. My opinion is that marketing should focus on getting the Ubuntu message out. Ubuntu is Linux for human beings but a lot of less tech savvy users either don't know about Ubuntu or are intimidated by anything Linux (they think oh I don't know enough about computers to use Linux - that's for programmers.) I would suggest: The main goal of the Ubuntu Marketing team should be to increase the OS marketshare for Ubuntu. The strategy would be to raise awareness and understanding of the benefits of Ubuntu vs. other OSs The activities would be activities (blogging, setting up labs at universities, hosting Windows 7-style launch parties [kidding on that last one] etc.) that the community and Locos would carry out. We could decide on specifics of those at the meeting. These are my suggestions for a starting point and I hope that you all can improve on them. And while I don't think that we need financial support from Canonical, it would be nice to have an official representative from Canonical at the meeting. A little direction from Canonical could go a long way in helping the community decide where to focus and then supporting the community in its activities. Mozilla has done a great job of this. Check out (http://www.spreadfirefox.com/.) By contrast, the efforts of the Ubuntu marketing group have been (or at least seemed to me) very ad hoc and targeted at the existing Ubuntu community. E.g. I love the magazine and the volunteers do a great job on it. However, the magazine isn't an initiative to evangelize people outside of the existing Ubuntu community - it is something that engages the existing user base. Perhaps some Locos are doing things to get the word out about Ubuntu, but it would be great to do some coordination and share what works. Jake On Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 10:59 AM, Martin Owens docto...@gmail.com wrote: Hey John, First, please don't post giant text. Or if you do, make all of your text giant. :-) On Thu, 2009-10-22 at 10:36 -0500, John Vilsack wrote: Thanks for the offer. I'm not looking to throw anyone under the bus about what occurred. It was just all standard fare if you are used to those sort of politics. The people who held up the greatest amount of resistance know who they were an no amount of reconciliation seemed to matter. If you keep prodding enough, they will make their presence known :) If you feel there is such a problem and it can't be reconciled, then we'll call a meeting. How does Monday 2nd November 2009, 23:00 UTC (6pm EST) sound, we'll have it in #ubuntu-meeting and make sure that the community knows it's going on. First and only agenda item, to elect a leader, or if enough people can not agree, to elect a board. 5 is usually a good number, but it depends on how many people are interested in marketing. Those who were burned last time only need to come to this one meeting, if it turns sour then you need not invest any more time than that. But it's worth not giving up just yet. Assuming we can get a gracious leader with a bit of vision, then the politics will largely fall away. Regards, Martin -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Reviving the Marketing Team (yet again!) with a focus on simple activism
Politely, I'm going to run with the idea of a new meeting and hope that we can work together: 1. Let's schedule the meeting right now for 12-November-09 at hours (This is November 11th, 7:00PM for Eastern Time Zone). Alan or Danny, could you please add this to the calendar? The agenda will consist of the below points, to see how we are moving along. Primarily, the goal is to see if people are volunteering to lead or help and in what capacity. We'll make the determination if this is going to work. I will moderate the meeting. Please set it to be in #ubuntu-meeting. 2. Mailing Lists are nice, but the first order of business is to create two signup lists: We need a grassroots registry of people that can be contacted and activated in times of need. The first list is people who aren't lurking; people that want to step up and do something for the Marketing Team if the Marketing Team could get their crap together. The second list will be of people wanting to LEAD this group. The die hard nutjobs that want to put in the blood, sweat, tears, and heartbreak that comes with leading a volunteer community. I NEED HELP CREATING THESE REGISTRATIONS. If nobody takes charge of this in the next 24 hours, I'll just do it in Google Spreadsheets. If you are willing, email me offline and we'll get this created (and transparent). 3. In the interim between now and the meeting, I want you to think about the ways a concerted marketing effort can help reinforce the efforts of the LoCo and the corporate marketing team of Canonical. This includes the possibilities of creating monthly materials for LoCo meetings, introductory packets for new users, comparison matrices against other solutions, etc. Just start brainstorming and have something you can share. 4. EVERYONE CAN BE A LEADER. Because this is a community, no person should ever be turned away. But there needs to be some leadership here, or people lurk and nothing gets done. I want us to find those leaders and the first step to that is asking people to step up! If you are willing to help lead this charge, you can and should sign up for the leadership team! Once we have some organization, maybe things will change for the better! 5. Finally, its time for a change. There are a few people who do their own projects, or small groups that move at a snails pace. Its clear the community at-large wants a change, and Ubuntu needs it now more than ever. I want this to be completely transparent and a step in the right direction for the community as a whole, not as a way for some people to put themselves above one another. We can do this! We are all here for the same thing and together we can help make Ubuntu better! -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Reviving the Marketing Team (yet again!) with a focus on simple activism
Thanks Ruben, I'm going to ask that we do something other than the Wiki. We can certainly transcribe it to the wiki, but I would prefer to have it even easier than a wiki to edit. I want this to be completely accessible to as many people as possible. Wikis are easy but I know people can become worried about messing up pages in a wiki. As for the time of night. seems nice and neutral. Any meeting time is going to inconvenience someone, somewhere :) John Vilsack 2009/11/2 Rubén Romero y Cordero hua...@ubuntu.com: On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 1:57 AM, John Vilsack vils...@gmail.com wrote: Politely, I'm going to run with the idea of a new meeting and hope that we can work together: 1. Let's schedule the meeting right now for 12-November-09 at hours (This is November 11th, 7:00PM for Eastern Time Zone). Alan or Danny, could you please add this to the calendar? 22:00 UTC would be a better time for European/African participants. The agenda will consist of the below points, to see how we are moving along. Primarily, the goal is to see if people are volunteering to lead or help and in what capacity. We'll make the determination if this is going to work. I will moderate the meeting. Please set it to be in #ubuntu-meeting. 2. Mailing Lists are nice, but the first order of business is to create two signup lists: We need a grassroots registry of people that can be contacted and activated in times of need. The first list is people who aren't lurking; people that want to step up and do something for the Marketing Team if the Marketing Team could get their crap together. The second list will be of people wanting to LEAD this group. The die hard nutjobs that want to put in the blood, sweat, tears, and heartbreak that comes with leading a volunteer community. I NEED HELP CREATING THESE REGISTRATIONS. Done: Write up your name in our wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam/Reorganization The time and place for the meeting is there too. [...] Thanks John! :) R. -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
[ubuntu-marketing] Ubuntu Community Marketing Team Meeting - The Resurrection!
Ubuntu Community Marketing Team - The Resurrection Meeting When: November 12 GMT (See below to find your time) November 11 1900 EST (7:00PM) Who: Anyone who is willing to dedicate themselves to furthering the awareness of Ubuntu Linux. *** What is the Community Marketing Team? *** The Community Marketing Team is a part of the community that focuses on developing materials and projects that are used throughout the Ubuntu Community. *** How is this different than the LoCos? *** The LoCos largely focus on their individual geographical locations and the community of Ubuntu Linux users at-large. The Ubuntu Community Marketing Team's primary focus is making people aware of Ubuntu Linux and getting them to understand how and why we are different, and why those differences are worth checking out. *** Why a resurrection? *** The Ubuntu Community Marketing Team has been quiet for the past few years. Some people have championed their own projects, but new people join every day and are unsure what they need to do to help contribute. The resurrection is meant to help restructure and refocus our community and hopefully add even more to Ubuntu as a whole! *** What's the agenda? *** In the time between this message being sent and the meeting, we're going to create two enrollment forms that will allow people to volunteer to do something for the Ubuntu Community Marketing Team. The second list is going to be open to anyone who is willing to step up and help lead the charge. This means you will develop ideas, recruit teams, and report back to the group as a whole about progress while keeping your project on track. We want everyone who wants to help! You choose your level of involvement! *** AWESOME! I want to help! *** 1. Check out this page for up-to-the-minute information about the meeting. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam/Reorganization This page will be the first place to show the new signup form. 2. On November 11/12 (see below for the time), come to the meeting by clicking here: http://webchat.freenode.net/?nick=openweek.channels=ubuntu-meeting 3. Roll up your sleeves and get ready to give back to the community! *** ACK! I can't make the meeting! *** It's ok! We'll still have plenty to do, and you can still join the activists or the Core team by signing up! We'll be sure to keep everything open and transparent so everyone can stay informed! We hope to see you all there, and we hope you'll join us in making Ubuntu even better! John Vilsack Meeting Organizer See your meeting time here: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?month=11day=12year=2009hour=0min=0sec=0p1=0 -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Reviving the Marketing Team (yet again!) with a focus on simple activism
Ok, I wrote up a meeting invite to both Marketing and LoCo. Could someone please adjust the wiki page to reflect this new information? https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam/Reorganization I have a good feeling about this. If this plays out without a lot of friction, this could really take flight and be a good thing for the community in general. I'm going to take some aspirin now :) Thanks, John -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Reviving the Marketing Team (yet again!) with a focus on simple activism
The text posted giant? Ick. I copied something from your reply, but GMail must have kakked on me. Sorry, I'll switch it to plain text. I'll be in attendance to offer support. I think its a good idea to develop a core marketing team similar to what the Dev team has. I still have access to the Launchpad for it, if you all want to use that. Here's the original message from the last time I tried this :) On Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:59:06 -0500 John Vilsack [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In order to help make the Marketing of Ubuntu more effective, a new Launchpad team called the Ubuntu Core Marketing Team has been created. This team will focus primarily on planning and championing our projects and strategies that have an impact the entire global Ubuntu community. The Core Marketers will help design project plans complete with task lists that will allow any contributor to help a project easily and effectively. Some of the rough ideas that the Ubuntu Core Marketing Team may be able to help with are: * Creating a central repository where community members can access the most up to date marketing information without having to dig for it. * Using Launchpad Blueprints to help give new team members a concise map of the current direction of the team. * Possibly using the Launchpad Bug functionality to showcase which tasks are being worked on, and where contributors can lend a hand. * Moving the intense planning discussions off the main list of marketing contributors that do not care for the exhaustive rhetoric of the envisioning phase. * Developing a release schedule that coincides with the Ubuntu distro cycle so that materials are consistently up-to-date. In order for the Ubuntu Core Marketing Team to be a success, we need several volunteers to help us get started: * A volunteer that is intimately active with the Ubuntu LoCo teams willing to report the Ubuntu Core Marketing Team successes and bring back information about the LoCos to the group. * Someone who works with the Development teams that can help parse information about upcoming distributions that we can use to plan materials around. * Members familiar with the wiki are needed to help publicize core marketing initiatives. * Leaders from the existing projects (SpreadUbuntu, Studio, etc.) to join us and to contribute when it comes to their projects or relationships with other projects. * The best and brightest minds willing to step up and help create and pilot exciting marketing projects for the whole Ubuntu Community to use. * Volunteers with positive attitudes that understand how to convey excitement to others about new project ideas. If you are someone who feels the desire to contribute by helping to plan or lead projects, sign up to come join the Ubuntu Core Marketing Team today. The group is meant to be a transparent addition to the ubuntu-marketing team that helps the ideas we have together become a reality. We will use Launchpad, the wiki, and the mailing lists to communicate with each other and the rest of the community, so please feel free to contribute in any fashion you would like. Please join us in our effort to create the building blocks needed by the Ubuntu Community to spread Ubuntu throughout the world! Thank you very much, John Vilsack -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Reviving the Marketing Team (yet again!) with a focus on simple activism
This is largely a problem that exists not only with Ubuntu, but with the Open Source Movement in general. Last time this conversation came up, there was a large contingent of people we wished to see a core group of a marketing team come to fruition. Unfortunately, several of the more active members of the community tended to be the most vocal opponents, and threatened to abandon the project altogether if such a tyranny were created. I opted to back down because the moderators in IRC proclaimed that they could lead such a charge without any sort of core marketing group. The lack of results are more than enough evidence of their progress. The marketing community for Ubuntu is a reflection of what the Development cycle would look like if there wasn't a Core Development Team. Without direction, there can be no progress. Marketing from a community standpoint will continue to be dominated by the few who object to any sort of structure and the message will continue to be lost because the message itself has no clear delineation. It saddens me because Ubuntu is a dominant product that could be so much more if the grassroots movement would allow itself to have direction. But after years of infighting in politics and other open source products, I didn't have the constitution to go toe to toe with the embedded members of our community here who were putting up a fight. My feeling is that the only way this will ever change is with the direction of Canonical. Until that time, we will continue to get our collective rears handed to us by companies that have the discipline and cohesive message necessary to establish any sort of mainstream market awareness or saturation. Good Luck, John On Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 12:45 AM, Martin Owens docto...@gmail.com wrote: Hey Danny, On Wed, 2009-10-21 at 01:30 -0400, Danny Piccirillo wrote: Cross-posting just to get the word out. I've added the Ubuntu LoCo Contacts lists, a group very pertinent to this topic. Many lengthy and interesting discussions have come up about what to do with the Marketing Team. Ultimately, it comes down to how motivated people are to create their own projects under the team. Just like any other LoCo, this depends on individual involvement, but i don't want to start yet another discussion on this. Well, what might be needed is someone to head up the team. Some artist or designer (not developer) who stands like a poised like a hero against the backdrop of the Ubuntu Community landscape and to whome we can all look up and say: I bet if I ask him, he'll know where I can get a poster for my event As the moment I produce content, I don't tend to produce it under the banner of the marketing team. The website for spread ubuntu isn't linked very well with the marketing team and the marketing team has no grand vision or responsibilities. I merely wanted to propose changing or adding to the scope of the team to include general activism. Dropping all focus on marketing probably isn't going to be any better, not to mention that just like marketing, activism is also something done by local community teams, BUT adding simple activism to the scope of this team, might give the team more purpose and drive up activity in other areas. Yes, marketing Ubuntu *is* activism, but i'm talking about officially recognizing general FOSS activism as one of the functions of the team. I'd advise against including activism. You don't need to widen the scope. You just need to find someone or some people willing and able to drop their own LoCo's work and come higher into the world community. A leader perhaps? The mailing list can be used to share ideas for activism and pass on things like this open letter to Obama in support of FOSS (reddit link: http://www.reddit.com/tb/9w23y/ original link: http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20091020050110241). If you're in support of this idea, just pass on any simple actions you come across to the list. There's also this nifty activism guide: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ActivismGuide Interesting, thanks for posting Dan. Best Regards, Martin Owens -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-market...@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing -- Ubuntu-devel-discuss mailing list Ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel-discuss
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Reviving the Marketing Team (yet again!) with a focus on simple activism
This is largely a problem that exists not only with Ubuntu, but with the Open Source Movement in general. Last time this conversation came up, there was a large contingent of people we wished to see a core group of a marketing team come to fruition. Unfortunately, several of the more active members of the community tended to be the most vocal opponents, and threatened to abandon the project altogether if such a tyranny were created. I opted to back down because the moderators in IRC proclaimed that they could lead such a charge without any sort of core marketing group. The lack of results are more than enough evidence of their progress. The marketing community for Ubuntu is a reflection of what the Development cycle would look like if there wasn't a Core Development Team. Without direction, there can be no progress. Marketing from a community standpoint will continue to be dominated by the few who object to any sort of structure and the message will continue to be lost because the message itself has no clear delineation. It saddens me because Ubuntu is a dominant product that could be so much more if the grassroots movement would allow itself to have direction. But after years of infighting in politics and other open source products, I didn't have the constitution to go toe to toe with the embedded members of our community here who were putting up a fight. My feeling is that the only way this will ever change is with the direction of Canonical. Until that time, we will continue to get our collective rears handed to us by companies that have the discipline and cohesive message necessary to establish any sort of mainstream market awareness or saturation. Good Luck, John On Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 12:45 AM, Martin Owens docto...@gmail.com wrote: Hey Danny, On Wed, 2009-10-21 at 01:30 -0400, Danny Piccirillo wrote: Cross-posting just to get the word out. I've added the Ubuntu LoCo Contacts lists, a group very pertinent to this topic. Many lengthy and interesting discussions have come up about what to do with the Marketing Team. Ultimately, it comes down to how motivated people are to create their own projects under the team. Just like any other LoCo, this depends on individual involvement, but i don't want to start yet another discussion on this. Well, what might be needed is someone to head up the team. Some artist or designer (not developer) who stands like a poised like a hero against the backdrop of the Ubuntu Community landscape and to whome we can all look up and say: I bet if I ask him, he'll know where I can get a poster for my event As the moment I produce content, I don't tend to produce it under the banner of the marketing team. The website for spread ubuntu isn't linked very well with the marketing team and the marketing team has no grand vision or responsibilities. I merely wanted to propose changing or adding to the scope of the team to include general activism. Dropping all focus on marketing probably isn't going to be any better, not to mention that just like marketing, activism is also something done by local community teams, BUT adding simple activism to the scope of this team, might give the team more purpose and drive up activity in other areas. Yes, marketing Ubuntu *is* activism, but i'm talking about officially recognizing general FOSS activism as one of the functions of the team. I'd advise against including activism. You don't need to widen the scope. You just need to find someone or some people willing and able to drop their own LoCo's work and come higher into the world community. A leader perhaps? The mailing list can be used to share ideas for activism and pass on things like this open letter to Obama in support of FOSS (reddit link: http://www.reddit.com/tb/9w23y/ original link: http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20091020050110241). If you're in support of this idea, just pass on any simple actions you come across to the list. There's also this nifty activism guide: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ActivismGuide Interesting, thanks for posting Dan. Best Regards, Martin Owens -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Marketing Strategy: What IS Marketing?
All, I think enough has been said about what we all think on the matter and we stand on the precipice of doing nothing, or doing something. I'm one for progress. I think the best course of action is to try out something new and to see how it plays out. I agree with Onno that whatever is done should be inclusive and not exclusive. At the same time, something must be done to seperate the endless planning from those that just wish to contribute. And those that contribute should have a place they can go to get informed right away and begin working immediately. So I am about to post my solution. I hope you all embrace it. This group, that group, this community...our entire world...they all work best when we all work together. Isn't that what this is supposed to be all about? Thanks, John Vilsack -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Ubuntu Core Marketing Team Created! Join Us!
The Launchpad is now up and running. Mailing list is in process. Please feel free to sign up and join! https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-core-marketing -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] the road ahead !!
All, Please keep in mind that we have all unified here to volunteer to help do what we can to help spread the word about Ubuntu Linux. A product whose very essence is built on learning about oneself through togetherness. Every voice here matters. Keeping an open mind to both sides of the debate will help you grow personally, and it will aid you professionally. There isn't anything wrong with hearing what others have to say on the matter provided that its relevent and timely. I would appreciate if in the future we all take a step back when addressing one another and congratulate in public but criticize in private. Keep the discussion on topic and do not let personal feelings influence your judgement. Thanks, John Vilsack -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Clear new leadership
. What I am asking for is for you all to realize that with a little bit of infrastructure, you can begin rapid development of your own projects and see clear results sooner than later. Thanks, John Vilsack -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Marketing Restructure Proposal - No Attachments
I sent two messages, one with and one without attachments. I wasn't sure which one was going to get through. The titles are only rough ideas. What is more important (to me) is that we have coverage in all the separate areas. This way, we can ensure each area gets the attention it deserves and no one person is overwhelmed with so many things that they burnout. Thanks, John Vilsack On Sat, Jun 7, 2008 at 12:41 AM, VidA [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Nice work John :) On Sat, Jun 7, 2008 at 2:58 AM, John Vilsack [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg523cct_41d8t388r5 hmm...your mail didnt have any attachment (atleast i didnt get any) and the document does not allow me to save it so that i can read it later. Since the meeting time is inconvenient, i will not be able to make it on irc. So for folks all around the world who find fixed irc meeting times inconvenient, can we use LP for the voting process. Corey is the team owner and he can easily setup the poll on LP. The second suggestion : Assuming the initial roles like directors, etc.. are voluntary, i'd propose a fixed period for those (1 or 2 years max.) This will give new members an opportunity to make a difference. For starters the proposal is good but my concern is that while leadership is important, the folks behind the scenes are more important than the leaders. All of us are volunteers, hence someone who is not on the elected board should not feel that their effort is not valued because they dont have a title. So please can we have a less fancy (no offence :)) title for a voluntary position. /end my zero paise. -- Vid || http://www.svaksha.com || -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Marketing Restructure Proposal - No Attachments
Thank you for the vote of confidence! My recommendation is to base a quorum on attendance levels. I would use tommorrow's attendance level as a baseline and then establish that 66% or greater of that number are needed for votes at the next meeting. In the event of appointing a Core Marketing Group, I would say the same level (2/3 or more) should be met to allow for the group to vote on any motion. Hope that makes sense. If anyone has any better ideas please feel free! - John -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Organizational meeting proposed (Mike Feravolo)
I respectfully disagree. THe point of the marketing is not to be the Ambassadors, our job is to manufacture and provide strategies to those that will evangelize the product. We may all be those same Ambassadors when not performing our undertaken responsibilities, but the two are seperate nonetheless. In a perfect scenario, I can see the newest Big Fan of Ubuntu coming across a page filled with our hard work in an easy to understand fashion. The prospective evangelist can download a paper to give to their boss to show why Linux is a smart choice for the business workplace, they can print out a rider brochure that users can give out with the Live CD, or they can download this month's newest meeting kit, with full instructions about how to start up a LoCo and how to reach other to other fans of Ubuntu. Ambassadors of Ubuntu are absolutely essential to the livelihood of the product. They should be considered our customers and our number one priority. If Canonical is able to collaborate with us to make sure we aren't repeating ourselves, then great. But we do not need them to accomplish these goals nor to satisfy any sort of budgetary needs we may have at this time. Thanks, John Vilsack On Mon, Jun 2, 2008 at 8:21 AM, Mike Feravolo [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello: I would be happy to contribute any way that I can to the the marketing team. The increase of traffic on the list is a good thing, people shouldn't be concerned if people talk about the same thing. They should just be glad that people are talking period. The success of this team depends on whether Canonical is going to back us or not. Right now they produce ton's of CD's and believe that all you have to do to sell Ubuntu is give them a CD and they will try it and what to make the switch. This method is fine if the only people you are marketing to are people with the technical know how to install an operating system. However for the other 99% of the people out there that use computers, they are afraid of the Live CD and don't try it at all. A more effective way to reach them is in print with information that makes them to use Ubuntu and seek out support. People in the support business will then support them. The marketing team should be ambassadors for Ubuntu and need the support of Canonical to make it work. Thank You Mike Feravolo -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing -- John Vilsack Network Administrator The-House.com 300 S Owasso Blvd E St. Paul, MN 55117 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.the-house.com p. 651.482.9995 f. 651.482.1353 -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Organizational meeting proposed (Mike Feravolo)
It looks like 8pm CMT this Saturday is a moment that suits well for quite a lot of people: To find out when this is in your time zone: http://doodle.ch/participation.html May I ask two questions: - Is there any (even inofficial) structure within the marketing community. I'd say that before electing anyone it would be a good idea to have a clear idea of a structure. I don't believe so. That is one of the things I am proposing to change though. - Is there an official liaison person who links to Canonical? (Or a Canonical person who links to this marketing community. I don't believe so. I have contacted their primary marketing contact, but have yet to hear back from them. - Does anyone have any document about the Canonical Marketing strategy. I mean something that says a bit more than just they're sending out CD. I don't believe so. I've scoured the sites and haven't found much of anything. Regardless, their plan seems to be more high level than grassroots. They provide a presence at trade shows, in the media, etc. whereas my hope is that we provide the metaphorical armaments for the average user to become an empowered evangelist. Sorry if these questions have been debated here previously. I'm still very now to this list. No worries, brother. I think many of us are new here and its good to see the enthusiasm being stirred up by the discussion! Thanks, John Vilsack Simon --- Simon Schneebeli 078 619 31 18 --- John Vilsack wrote: I respectfully disagree. THe point of the marketing is not to be the Ambassadors, our job is to manufacture and provide strategies to those that will evangelize the product. We may all be those same Ambassadors when not performing our undertaken responsibilities, but the two are seperate nonetheless. In a perfect scenario, I can see the newest Big Fan of Ubuntu coming across a page filled with our hard work in an easy to understand fashion. The prospective evangelist can download a paper to give to their boss to show why Linux is a smart choice for the business workplace, they can print out a rider brochure that users can give out with the Live CD, or they can download this month's newest meeting kit, with full instructions about how to start up a LoCo and how to reach other to other fans of Ubuntu. Ambassadors of Ubuntu are absolutely essential to the livelihood of the product. They should be considered our customers and our number one priority. If Canonical is able to collaborate with us to make sure we aren't repeating ourselves, then great. But we do not need them to accomplish these goals nor to satisfy any sort of budgetary needs we may have at this time. Thanks, John Vilsack On Mon, Jun 2, 2008 at 8:21 AM, Mike Feravolo [EMAIL PROTECTED]mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello: I would be happy to contribute any way that I can to the the marketing team. The increase of traffic on the list is a good thing, people shouldn't be concerned if people talk about the same thing. They should just be glad that people are talking period. The success of this team depends on whether Canonical is going to back us or not. Right now they produce ton's of CD's and believe that all you have to do to sell Ubuntu is give them a CD and they will try it and what to make the switch. This method is fine if the only people you are marketing to are people with the technical know how to install an operating system. However for the other 99% of the people out there that use computers, they are afraid of the Live CD and don't try it at all. A more effective way to reach them is in print with information that makes them to use Ubuntu and seek out support. People in the support business will then support them. The marketing team should be ambassadors for Ubuntu and need the support of Canonical to make it work. Thank You Mike Feravolo -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com mailto:ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing -- John Vilsack Network Administrator The-House.com 300 S Owasso Blvd E St. Paul, MN 55117 [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.the-house.com p. 651.482.9995 f. 651.482.1353 -- John Vilsack Network Administrator The-House.com 300 S Owasso Blvd E St. Paul, MN 55117 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.the-house.com p. 651.482.9995 f. 651.482.1353 -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Organizational meeting proposed
Due to the international nature of the group, I also think a meeting is somewhat unfeasible for 100% attendance. I am about 90% done with a rough draft of a proposal to the council which covers the three main topics (focus on materials and collaboration, core-marketers, Canonical liasion) which I will post once I have something readable but certainly before the meeting. Barring any vehement opposition to the proposal, I will submit it thereafter. I've also begun listing out the various roles that I envision would be a part of this type of restructure, and I hope that those actively contributing to the list now would be willing to step up and assume ownership of one of these. As Alan said, much of what needs to be said in a discussion has been said. Its time for actionable objectives and realizing our goals. My time is -6 GMT, Central Daylight, United States of America Thanks, John On Fri, May 30, 2008 at 7:32 AM, John Botscharow [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Fri, 2008-05-30 at 12:03 +0100, Chris Rowson wrote: Chris, I agree that setting up a meeting for the entire group is going to be difficult, but not impossible and I think that THIS meeting should involve everyone. We may very well end up with regional meetings later on, but right now we need to resolve the organizational issues at a single meeting of the entire group - or at least as many as can make it. As for what day of the week, I suggest either Sat. or Sun. since that should avoid any day job conflicts for most people. Amd, given, from the time zone responses, that we have a 13 hr range of time zones, it would seem that something in the early afteroon say 1 or 2 PM UTC would keep the time reasonable for all of us - not too early for those of us at UTC -5 and not too late for those at UTC +8. Also doing it on a Sat. would probably give everyone the most flexibility in the amount of time they can commit to the meeting. I really don't think this is going to be a short meeting :-) and we all should be prepared for that. The urgency of getting organized is another reason that I feel we need to do this at a full team meeting. Regional meetings first would lengthen the time frame of resolving the organizational issues, and I don't think we have that luxury. I think part of the problem with these meetings is that given the international basis of the marketing team, whenever you organise one, someone will be unable to attend. I propose that an agenda is fixed, with a set of issues to be addressed and that the agenda is discussed at a group of regional meetings. The responses to the discussed issues could then be noted and fed 'back up' to the international level and a decision arrived upon based on the common consensus of the regional findings. Either that, or split the marketing team into regional marketing teams with the main marketing team as an advice centre for people to discuss and feed ideas up to. I did this over at ubuntu-uk here https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-uk-marketinghttps://launchpad.net/%7Eubuntu-uk-marketing Although we've not done much as of yet, it is a good way to identify people with an interest in marketing in each locality and I'm sure formalising the process would help get things moving along more smoothly. Chris -- Peace! John You do have choice on what operating system you use: http://www.ubuntu.com/ I am an Ubuntu user! My profile: https://launchpad.net/~jbotscharowhttps://launchpad.net/%7Ejbotscharow My wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/JohnBotscharow -- Read my blog: http://hbotscharow.com John Botscharow: Reflections on Religion, Politics Life -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing -- John Vilsack Network Administrator The-House.com 300 S Owasso Blvd E St. Paul, MN 55117 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.the-house.com p. 651.482.9995 f. 651.482.1353 -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] The future of the Marketing Team
I think we are running in circles. Gleaning what I can from these messages, This is what I think we should consider: 1. The Local Communities are their own entity, and should be considered free to do what they want, with no perceived or implied oversight from any governing body. This group should be forked into a specific LoCo group. 2. A Marketing team should be formed to oversee the direction of marketing as a whole for the open source project. While Canonical is responsible for the trademarks, a marketing team should be able to build materials between releases for items such as white papers, meeting kits for LoCo's, talking points for dealing with the press, etc. I envision the team as being the equivalent of the core-developers for the intangibles of the Ubuntu project with a similar contribution model and transparency. 3. Establish a liaison within Canonical to help facilitate a coordinated effort with them that is also mutually exclusive. This would ensure we are using the trademarks properly, not doubling up on projects, and filtering upstream whatever projects or ideas might require their contributions. I think if we simplify here, we can see that there isn't much that is needed, except defining the discussions between Local Communities and the Marketing team as separate but equally important endeavors. The Marketing Team's purpose would be to support the Local Communities if they choose to, but giving them the freedom to do as they please. This grassroots model was proven effective in a Presidential campaign I worked in that had a global message team that distributed information to local grassroots meetups for dissemination. Each group was asked to only consider the information, and it was a fantastic success. Thanks, John Vilsack -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] The future of the Marketing Team
As I mentioned earlier, I am willing to do whatever it takes to get this project in line. I am a firm believer that we can do this democratically, but someone has to be given the ball to put filter the discussion and finally provide some forward momentum. Mr. Botscharow and myself have written almost identical messages and share similar views. In fact, his mission statement almost uses the same exact language! Onno is also saying what I feel...its clear to me that there is a lot of initiative in this group that we could use to make these ideas all work! I was preparing a draft statement to the Community Council to ask for the development of a Core Marketers team or a Marketing Board to be treated in a similar fashion as the Core Developers. A core team would have the same responsibilities to the intangible aspects of the Ubuntu movement that the development team has to the distribution. If approved, I recommend we appoint at most three members of the current group to step into the role of leadership. From there, members of this core group could be inducted based on a similar methodology that the Core Developers use. Everything should remain transparent, but committal to the overall agenda as well as standardized marketing materials would be handled by this new group. I believe shaping the direction in this manner would allow for us to have both a leadership team and a direction that would be a suitable arrangement for an open source project of this magnitude. We want to keep it open to all and allow for everyone to participate, but at this time, the Marketing aspect of community is languishing so poorly, we need to have some folks step up and take control. How do you feel about putting about proposing this to the Community Council? Is leadership what this group needs above all else? Thanks, John Vilsack On Wed, May 28, 2008 at 12:57 PM, John Botscharow [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Jeez, Cory, that one caught me off guard. I am very flattered by your question and very honored. Let me hold off answering that for a day or two to give others a chance to express their opinions; but you are right. the team does need to set up strong leadership and that is something we should do soon. Until we have more of a consensus on leadership, I guess I'll lead the writing of the marketing plan. It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it LOL. On Wed, 2008-05-28 at 13:39 -0400, Cory K. wrote: John Botscharow wrote: The reason, IMHO, that it appears we are running in circles is because we are due to the fact that the marketing team has not, as far as I can tell, established any real sense of its own identity or its direction. I'd like to know are you up to leading this new Marketing Team? It needs to be asked because without strong leadership we can talk about this stuff forever. I'd like to have an clear, established lead then go from there. -Cory K. -- Peace! John You do have choice on what operating system you use: http://www.ubuntu.com/ I am an Ubuntu user! My profile: https://launchpad.net/~jbotscharowhttps://launchpad.net/%7Ejbotscharow My wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/JohnBotscharow -- Read my blog: http://hbotscharow.com John Botscharow: Reflections on Religion, Politics Life -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing -- John Vilsack Network Administrator The-House.com 300 S Owasso Blvd E St. Paul, MN 55117 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.the-house.com p. 651.482.9995 f. 651.482.1353 -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] The future of the Marketing Team
I would draw attention to the nature of much of the marketing creative and effort resource - it certainly has a central objective. Canonical and the wider set of volunteers have strongly overlapping objectives. However, the factors of geographical location, local culture and circumstances, and local flavour of motives, are all key factors which will fuel the effort at ground level, in the 'wild', the wider world. I believe the work will be done by self motivated volunteers. My experience of volunteers is that they will go a long way to do what they want to do, and not nearly as far to do what somebody else wants. This is the niche I believe a Marketing Team has to fill. Autonomy should exist at the local level, but if someone new wants to start or gain access to a local chapter, then the Marketing Team should be there to fill the niche with information and kits about how to get started. I really think the use of bumper stickers would be very effective in UK from about now. I am fascinated to find that the only bumper stickers which seem to be available are way too big for most UK (European?) vehicle bumpers. I have had to cut somedown fo rmy own use, but a cut sticker can look poor quality unless great care is used. Alan brings up an interesting point, and this is a firm example of why I feel somewhat listless in the direction of Marketing the project. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=738134 : This is a simple vinyl sticker I made that obviously mimics the white logo of another hardware and software manufacturer. Virtually everyone who chose to look at it felt that it could be worthwhile to produce for evangelists of Ubuntu. Unfortunately, I have tried several times to contact someone at Canonical to seek approval of this type of usage to no avail. We could be out there scanning the bumpers of cars during rush hour, looking for that secret handshake that shows we are all a part of something we love...instead I get dead air from our commercial sponsor who needs to have input on the matter. Marketing needs leadership. We need people responsible for working with Canonical to establish coordinated marketing efforts and to ensure the grassroots movement is armed with easily accessible material to make launching a LoCo a snap. In essence, we need to stop treating the Marketing group as a hobby full of buzz words and promises and start treating it as seriously as product releases. Thanks, John -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Marketing Team Announcement
I agree that this is an issue, but a solution is available. The only way we are going to see penetration into the consumer market in which sales representatives are able to help customers make informed decisions is through user education. There are many aspects of the movement Ubuntu is involved in that we all take for granted. Even your average Mom Pop stores would only be able to sell these based on their own experiences with the community and the software itself. I believe that generating some sort of documentation that training teams could glean information from would allow us to either develop a relationship with organizations that train their employees or perhaps directly with the employees themselves. We could design it in a philosophy similar to Ubuntu: clean, easy to understand, and accessible to everyone. The more easy-to-use, bulleted documentation we can provide, the faster we can get people on board to evangelize the product. I would even go so far as to recommend obtaining a new URL like sellingubuntu.com so that companies can find it even easier. We could even offer contact information to interface directly with those who are trying to understand how to sell the idea of Ubuntu to others (in a more finite environment than say the forums or a mailing list). Does anyone feel this is a good/bad idea? Thank you for listening, John Vilsack PS: This is my first contribution to the marketing team. I hope to contribute in any way that I can! On Mon, Apr 14, 2008 at 10:46 PM, Nick Ali [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Mon, Apr 14, 2008 at 9:15 PM, Danny Piccirillo [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: We are organizing a letter writing and calling campaign to get Ubuntu in Stores. Please read The Final Push: Linux in Stores and Digg it! I find it interesting that you have Walmart listed in the UbuntuInStores wiki page. They already made an attempt with the Everex gOS machines. And have pulled them from their stores already. Maybe they are still being sold online. IMO, this is why it won't work anytime in the near future, at least in the US: Staff will have to know about free software and Linux, so customers will no longer be kept in the dark. Companies like Walmart will never spend money educating/training their employees. I remember reading some article where the reporter interviewed a Walmart employee about the gOS machines. The employee said he didn't know much about the computers, but warned customers they don't run Windows applications. Mom and Pop stores may be a better target. nick -- http://boredandblogging.com -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing -- John Vilsack Director of IT The-House.com 300 S Owasso Blvd E St. Paul, MN 55117 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.the-house.com p. 651.482.9995 f. 651.482.1353 -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
