[HLUG] September meeting

[info at lifespacedesign.co.uk]

Hi gang,
 
Here are my notes from last night's meeting. I have posted this minus the
comments page onto the hlug.org.uk website and I have put the good/bad comments
up on ETHERPAD for additional comments.
 
ISFD evaluation from hlug meeting 22.9.2010

It was good to see some new faces at the meeting!
We began by circulating a feedabck/evaluation comments sheet to get everyones'
impressions of the day. These have been posted into EtherPad ( renamed
PiratePad!) for further comment and suggestions for future events.

Good things/ stuff that worked

Range of skills on offer
The information boards
Excellent venue
Lots of passing trade with cafe
Good acessibility
The Info Board
Professional presentation; i.e. flyers, boards, Open CDs, name tags etc.
Venue superb
Sarah doing meet and greet.
Professional impression and presentation
Venue was v.good. Info stand and display as a focal point.
Can't comment on the day or venue, but judging by feedback it worked well!!
Organisation using PiratePad worked very well.
OPEN DISC
70-90 visitors.

Bad things/ stuff that did not worked

Pete's demo box
Outdoor signage
Nothing I can think of!
Publicity could have had a clearer message.
Media coverage ( radio, TV, press)
Too much info on posters (excellent as flyers though.)
Didn't see too many business folks.
External signage.
Maybe one more demo PC
Not enough media coverage.
We did not use the presentation and docs to full effect.
Document format standards ( presentation as pdf :-()

Outwith these categories the following points were raised in the meeting as
worthy of further attention.

Relief crew
Business cards
Photos
Start finish times ( could have stretched a bit more)
Visitor feedback sheet



The meeting then went on to discuss how to carry forward the momentum and
utilise the resources we have brought together to continue the promotion of FOSS
in this area. Much of this centred around using the HLUG.org.uk website as a
gateway.
Paul has offered to host the iso for the Open Disc and to make a web page about
it, including links to the relevant apps.

Also we considered using the pieces written by Richard and Tony as a feature to
go on the site along with links to the other documents around education and/or
business users.

The exhibition, either as the display island or just the laminated panels (but
must include some install discs and Open Discs). We feel this will be wasted if
it does not get out there on public display. Pete will begin by approaching the
library service.

We discussed the possibility of offering to speak at meetings of the local SME
sector, Round Table, Rotary, FSB. This would remain a matter of personal choice,
and whilst some are up for the public speaking role, others are happy to come
along and do "quiet corners" conversations about FOSS. We agreed that HLUG
should continue contacts with the relevant orgs and to let them know this
facility is available by arrangement.

Follow up with visitors. We have a list of people that left contact details (
about 25). We agreed that we should contact them in due course to see how they
are getting on with their new goodies, and to get feedback from them about their
point of contact with the event. 

We discussed the merits or not of a variety of content management systems for
maintaining the hlug website in a form which permits user content handling.
Jools agreed to continue moderating content for now and an evening devoted to
CMS was suggested! We agreed to look into using shared email addresses based on
the hlug.org.uk domain name; as at present there is no single email contact for
the HLUG as distinct from individual members.

Pete H@