[Sussex] Fair's idea's

[nik]

okay I wrote this last night and then i let it sit whilst others posted, 
so its edited from the original.


Thanks for your comments... let me address some things ...

The show is proving useful in increasing membership of this list  ( 
although they are all lurking  and have not yet dropped us a line to say 
'hi' ) .

Its not the purpose of the show to generate volumes of cash , however 
there is a certain overhead to be recovered. Namely £35 per show for the 
table. The cost of producing flyers and leaflets and table cloths also 
needs to be met.

The sales of CDs for the last two shows have covered our costs but we 
are still making a loss until we recover the initial table and cd and 
leaflets costs.

The idea for the show began when Steve and I started to discuss how the 
group could increase membership and raise awareness of the benefit of 
open source and linux.

Id like to see some comments from those whom joined the list having seen 
us at the show though !


Andrew Guard wrote:

>How we can make it better, well here pennies worth.  Please dont take this 
>the wrong way.
>
>First it cool that you are showing the Debian logo etc, but Debian how many 
>people really know what it is and to be blunt Mr. Joe Public doesn't care.  
>It just another logo which people see everyday and take no notice of, but 
>say Linux and numbers who know about this increases dramatically.  Some 
>Ytimes the simplest ideas do more then clever one's.
>  
>

Your quite correct , it is just another logo, until you see it enough 
times and then its a logo you recognise. So one logo is better than lots 
and twice as good as none. We could say Linux, in fact,  I think it says 
that  in the Sussex Linux User Group. I think  we use the debian logo 
for those from the group whom use debian. But I do think we should have 
one consistent image, possibly some SLUG TShirts or some good Tux Polo 
shirts.

>OK I did say when I was there but just but just in case anyone forgot here 
>some simple ideas,  the CD's should have OpenOffice.Org logo on then also 
>Mozilia logo, these are better know then both Debian and Knoppix.
>  
>
Yes your right they should have more logos on .. if youd like to design 
some up that would be great since Steve and I are not graphic designers 
and we are limited in what we can use. I know that we want to use the 
core Knoppix logos, and we wish to show the Slug logo and include a date 
of the fair, to help us recognise what and when someone picked up any 
copies. We should ensure though that if we introduce more CDs then we 
should ensure a consistent level of "extra" information to ensure people 
recognise where they inherited the cd.

And on that note Karl raised the issue about making Source available, 
and he is quite right we need to make source available, not that any one 
at the fair has had the understanding to ask about it ill lookinto how 
the knoppix distro is available as source .


>Also could look idea of making front cover banner, which would hang on table
>
>and be about an table length, ie Sussex Linux User Group.
>xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>xSUSSEX LINUXx
>x            x
>  
>
Now this is something we keep trying to

    a. remember
    b. get produced

You note though that it says linux in it ,which addresses the issues above.


>Get some glue paste together the flyer's, I would use some an glue like
>Pritt Stick.  As it not messy, quick and would do the job.
>  
>
nah.... for the moment we will use them all up and then get them done 
better, since I think any attempt to stick them together would look even 
worse.. but you point is well understood. Although.. I think they look 
to similar that people might not realise it was the other side they were 
seeing.

>Well to get the kit do do job of WiFi'ing that way I would say have look at 
>both (I can not recommend these business as I have never done any business 
>with them but there names keep on getting good comments on them)
>  
>
i cant really talk about the Wifi and network access but I know it keeps 
being .. thought about.


>Also look at the idea of making an CD which is filled with Open Source for 
>  
>
On this one ... I had good reason to veto .. the too many cds option.

Since I wanted to ensure that we had 1 clear message and 1 clear 
presentation. Having more than one distribution on the table, or even 
more than one CD choice would possibly lead the buyer to a position of 
thinking about what they want and this indescision can lead to no 
descision and this leads to no money to pay for the table.

however, theres been a few postings in support of a windows Open Source 
CD, in Geoffs points are well read so id concede that we should have 
another CD.  I like th GNUWin distro  though ive played with both !

Just to reming people though that the stand space is £35  and in general 
we move at least 20cds on the day. Since this makes the sale of 18cds 
meets breaking point I feel that £3 per cd will ensure we constantly 
meet the price of the table and can therefore justify the attendance. 
The surplus cash raised from the proceeds can then pay for CDs labels 
and other merchandise if we see fit.


In this case we need to make sure we are giving a clear message about 
open source, and avoid using works like try, trial and demo. Since these 
carry conotations of shareware and restricted functions. I think we need 
to have a good clear message about the whole Open Source , Free 
Software, Linux  and  BSD Messages which people have not been educated 
about and if they did understand they might wonder more about the value 
of windows and "closed source" software. On the whole though id like to 
stand to continue to provide

    a. a Awareness raising platform to encourage new members
    b. a Forum for other Slug members to meet up and chat
    c. a  demonstration to the other vendors of the value and benefits 
of open source.


>Windows.  To show people that open source isn't a bad thing also put an copy
>
>of Sussex Linux web site, which would auto boot when CD installed. ;)
>  
>
oh gawd on our web site ... you quite right, we should have a SHOW 
button which provides electronically a version of the flyers, the cds 
and some more instructions.