[Fedora-ambassadors-list] Fedora Event Kit

Jack Aboutboul jaboutboul at speakeasy.net
Wed Jun 21 16:48:25 UTC 2006


Hey Everyone,
        
        As some of you already know, I have been working with Max for the past 
        few weeks on the foundations of some initiatives which we hope will help 
        us refine some of the processes and functions which Ambassadors 
        currently carry out.  I want to to use this email to introduce one of 
        these initiatives in hopes of eliciting some good feedback to further 
        refine these ideas.  Let me start out by saying that currently, the main 
        goal of these propositions is to facilitate more efficient, grass roots, 
        and most importantly, independent participation by ambassadors.  That 
        is, we hope to use these changes as the building blocks of many more 
        improvements, and we have decided to start here.
        
        The initiative I would first like to introduce is the Fedora Ambassadors 
        Event Kit.  As we all have learned by now, the cornerstone of the
        Ambassadors project has to do with events, and events are the single 
        most effective vehicles for  publicity and community gathering.  The 
        main problem with running events, however, is that thus far, most of the 
        events we have carried out have been top down, rather than bottom up.  
        By that I mean that the efforts, in large part, have come together with 
        much oversight and involvement with Red Hat and that has caused some 
        problems.  Foremost, many ambassadors have complained about not being 
        able to run an event independently and have waited for funds and other 
        merchandise for days on end.  Therefore, we have decided to streamline 
        the event and merchandise acquisition process, and that's good news in 
        more than one way.  It means more control for ambassadors.
        
        The Fedora Ambassadors Event Kit consists of five sections, each of 
        which is aimed at tackling one angle of event planning.  The following 
        is a description of each of the sections with a brief breakdown:
        
        Part 1. Welcome -  This section is used to welcome both new and current 
        ambassadors alike and thank them for choosing to run an event.  This 
        section briefly outlines some common foundation work which must be done 
        before any event can take place, and how to go about building quality 
        relationships, both within and without the community, which will serve 
        many purposes in both present and future endeavors.
        
        Part 2. Optical Media Guide - The purpose of this section is one of the 
        most significant changes in protocol for Ambassadors.  This section 
        outlines a new method for obtaining media, by which we empower and 
        encourage Ambassadors to establish a relationship with local vendors.  
        Local vendors are a better outlet for obtaining media since the overall 
        cost is lower and the relationships established with these vendors will 
        help us gain sponsorship for important initiatives, such as Free Media.  
        Ambassadors will then be able to collect monetary donations in exchange 
        for media at the event which will help recover costs and sponsor more 
        free media.
        
        Part 3. Merchandise Guide - This section builds on the previous section 
        and lays out guidelines similar to those in the optical media guide.  
        Once again Ambassadors will be able to produce hats, shirts, mugs, etc. 
        locally without much oversight.  Many may complain about this new 
        process, but there are reasons for this.  Mainly, we would like to see 
        ambassadors come up with localized designs for merchandise.  Fedora is a 
        global project and as such, it should be represented in precisely that 
        way.  Ambassadors again will be allowed to ask a donation in exchange 
        for a merchandise so as to recover their costs.
        
        Part 4. Custom Design Approval - So you do want to come up with a 
        localized design for a creative t-shirt, that's great!!  All we ask is 
        that you kindly submit your design for review, before we give you the go 
        ahead.  We have much trust in the Ambassadors, and doubt that anyone 
        would come up with something in poor taste, however, from a legal 
        perspective we must approve designs.  (You obviously know someone is 
        going to come up with a Fedora Kills OpenSuSe shirt, and that could be 
        an issue.)
        
        Part 5. Accounting - Yes, it sucks, but we want to make this part of the 
        process as easy as possible.  The Ambassadors project wants to make sure 
        that we do not leave anyone hanging with regarding to costs related to 
        running an event.  Therefore, we will include a simple grid sheet which 
        will allow Ambassadors to fill in what costs were involved in running 
        the event, how much money was recovered and what balance remains, if 
        any.  This will also allow us to isolate what elements of running the 
        event are the costliest and how we can further help bring the costs down 
        in those areas.
        
        Part 6. Extra Stuff - So what happens to the extra 20 shirts you have 
        left?  Rest assured that we are working non stop to finally put together 
        a Fedora Stuff store which we will all be able to use.  Until then, we 
        will have some guidelines in this sections which can be followed, until 
        a more formal decision is made.
        
        That's basically it right there. The Event Kit will be available both as 
        a pdf downloadable from the wiki and as wiki pages themselves which will 
        allow for editing.  We would much appreciate as much feedback as 
        possible.  Does something here sound unbearable?  Did you happen to fall 
        in love with one of these ideas?  Would you like to see something 
        changed or improved?  Time is wasting and we would like to have the 
        event kit up within a few days at the latest, so now is your time to 
        suggest or complain. 
        
        You are an ambassador, let your voice be heard!!  




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