[Infopoint] Bracknell BCF event etc

[alan c]

Tony Whitmore wrote:
>  alan c wrote:
> > Tony Whitmore wrote:
> >
> >> On Mon, Nov 28, 2005 at 06:32:00AM +0000, alan c wrote:
> >>>> There are a lot of regulars at computer fairs and they won't
> >>>> all take away a CD everytime they visit.
> >>> How many CDs and of what, do you expect to move at a busy
> >>> event?
> >> I have precise figures and a neat graph I will make available for
> >> you this evening,
>
>  Here it is:
> 
http://www.streetend.force9.co.uk/misc/infoart/2005-11-28-192113_1400x1050_scrot.png

Brilliant Tony, thanks. Have BCF seen this?
What actually *has* been negotiated in the past with BCF? what were the 
details and what was the final outcome?

>  I should add that the initial set up costs would have been much more
>  but a lot of blank CDs and printing was donated by LUG members.

The quantity of CDs does not seem to be very large though, and blank CDs 
can in theory be got quite cheaply now. If Infopointbanners are 
available great, but I do not have any to hand, and as we agree, 
discussing and answering questions are valuable, I think more so than 
making (a large number of) CDs available.
The HAnts LUG is much more active in this respect - campaighnig, 
advocacy, than SCLUG, although there are a few there. two others turned 
up to suppot me when i attended a Creative COmmons event in Reading some 
months back. It was not a software event though ,and there was very 
little interest, mostly music. And poetry.

(there would be a smiley here, but you cannot believe some of the poetry!)

>  You
>  can see our initial setup costs took three InfoPoints to recover.

I expect to attend with rather basic things, including a laptop chained 
to my leg, and a an number  of small-ish posters, and copies of  a more 
or less standard information sheet wiht explanations and links for more 
information and download. and local and LUG contact details. If  
enquireres are still interested, there will be CDs on offer in limted 
quantity, depending on how BCF react. How the other traders will react 
is not easy to predict at this stage, but from what I have seen, it is 
largely hardware on sale, not software.

An advantage of not presenting myself as an efficient representative of 
a large and smoothly run national or global organisation is that no one 
is likely to feel threatened. Yes if I turned up mob handed with all 
sorts of professional looking display gear, there is an apparent 
conflict in asking people to believe I am really in it for 'love' not money!

Please do not mistake me, I do not intend to invite disrepute.

>  After that we purchased the parts for our vertical banners. You can
>  also see that somewhere between 5 and 15 CDs or CD sets is our normal
>  "shift". Now, I readily accept that this will be different at busier
>  fairs, but my comments about the regulars at computer fairs not
>  taking away CDs every time still stands. Kat has commented on this
>  list about it before - you get the same people coming back and this
>  isn't good for selling CDs. It's great for the advocacy side though -
>  you get to chat to them every time. :)

I look forward to that :-)  The CDs limit will also be useful.
Tony is there any evidence that people who saw the infopoint, and/or had 
a CD, followed it up into linux in a longer term way? There has been an 
article online about this somewhere.

> > I will be suggesting to the BCF that if costs can be covered, then
> > more CDs etc will be available, since even domestic 'production'
> > has minimal costs to be supported. More CDs will benefit the event,
> > attenders, and the sucess of the Fair generally. I am hopeful they
> > will consider this carefully.
>
>  Yes, me too. Although I must admit that assurances (even backed up
>  with proof if necessary) that the event is non-profit making,
>  different from their existing traders and about advocacy rather than
>  sales would hopefully be sufficient. I think the important thing to
>  remember when dealing with BCF is that the things you say will impact
>  their relationship with other InfoPoint stands.

Standing there giving CDs (to traders) and others, out of my own pocket 
will be perhaps one way of being seen clearly as 
(advocate/nutcase/geek/millionaire) Please choose.... :-) That is, not a 
Trader.

-- 
alan c