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Paul Sutton wrote:
Yep I think the end of Feb is probably too soon to get it advertised properly. Saying that I'm sure it would be possible to have a look around without having to book the venue.-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Rob Beard wrote:tom brough wrote:Neil Stone wrote:OK, so there are a fair few people interested.. Would anyone be willing to do some form of talk/demo etc ? I'm looking to have this as an all day event if I can..I think the idea is good. However if its going to be all day and a "pay-as-you-go" event, I think we would all want to get as much bang for our buck as we can in terms of promoting GNU/Linux/Free Software/Open Source. If we could promote this venue in some way and get a wider cross section of people in Devon & Cornwall interested in attending (Business, Community, Charity as well as individuals) then so much the better. We have attempted to do this in the past with Software Freedom day and because of lack of promotion and understanding (from the general public) and a lack of interesting "activities" / demonstrations / talks, it has seen the (no disrespect) same "old" faces attending. To make this work we really need to target the right people and promote in the right places. Unfortunately "apathy rules" and the very non-technical people we wish to engage are likely to stay away, or not understand that it could be to their benefit to attend etc.... The question we need to answer is how to effectively promote this event to get a good turn out that is sustained after the event. Some ideas for attractions :- Streamed Themes eg : Free Software and the Small / Medium Business User in Devon & Cornwall - talks demos, applications? Free Software and the Silver Surfer (targeted at the wiser generation) again demos, applications security etc.... Kids Stuff & Education - Targeted at teachers, parents, kids - Fun and Education Free Software. Digital Arts - I could set up an Inkscape demo perhaps - anyone a blender expert in the group ? Credit Crunch Software for the Credit Crunch Society - complete demo live install of debian / ubuntu or some other distribution Finances .... If we charged a door fee / donation (50p) then perhaps we could cover our costs, however we (DCLUG membership) would need to commit to underwriting the costs should no one turn up. Insurances.... I might be worth checking with the venue what insurance cover they have / would expect IF you are planning to expand this beyond the DCLUG membership. These are just some GPL'd ideas take, leave, adapt, discuss as you wish .... Tom.Some good points there Tom, I think if we were going to do something like that then it would probably be good to plan it at least a couple of months in advance rather than plan it for say a couple of weeks and have it turn out to be a disaster. Promotion wise, it might be possible to get the local media involved (Heart Plymouth, Radio Devon, Plymouth Herald, possibly Westcountry and BBC Spotlight). I have some contacts at Heart Plymouth, especially in the sales department who might be interested possibly in some business related event, that is assuming we can come up with some good ideas. I also wonder if long term it might be worth looking at the Business South West show in Exeter (I think it's held later on in the year) at Westpoint. Not sure what the stand costs are but again lots of businesses visit the show so it could be a good opportunity to make contacts even for say a follow up event/talk. RobI think we can get the venue cheap at the end of Feb, However if we were to delay so we can plan for a event later in the year it would still be really useful to have a meeting there so we can see what is available, in terms of where power sockets are, fire exits, wifi,
I'm just a bit worried about spending a tenner on getting in, plus food and drink costs for it to be pretty much the same as our usual meetings at the Shoreline, just a bit of banter.Its much easier to form a picture of the event in progress if we know where and how many power sockets we need, if we need to get power cable covers (rubber mat things that go over cables to prevent tripping over) therefore if we hold a meeting there, ok in this case we need to expand it slightly so we know what works, find lessons to learn from Then do something else later in the year, I am sure guests at the event would prefer regular events, as opposed to on off events.
I think we'd have more luck approaching companies rather than holding a meeting and expecting people (i.e. non-LUG members) to just turn up.We may even pick up a few contacts for sponsors, as a bigger event = bigger space = bigger cost.
Are you able to find out about the business south west thing.
I can look into it yes. Rob -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html