Ambassadors/SteeringCommittee/Meetings/2006-07-17

FAmSCo Meeting Minutes: 2006-07-17

Meeting Time

• 2006-07-18 03:00 UTC

Attending

• AlexMaier +
• ThomasChung
• MaxSpevack +
• BobJensen +
• DavidBarzilay +
• GregDeKoenigsberg +
• PatrickBarnes
• RahulSundaram
• RobertWhetsel
• JackAboutboul +

Meeting Summary

• Agenda page at http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Ambassadors/SteeringCommittee/Meetings
• OSCON and LWSF Update:

(23:13:21) lxmaier: you take the lead
(23:13:50) mspevack_hm: well i asked jack to join tonight since the last few weeks everyone's been asking me "what's jack's status with event kits" or what's jack's status with event Foo?
(23:14:01) mspevack_hm: so i figured we can just let him update us all directly.
(23:14:05) mspevack_hm: but i'll say quickly on events:
(23:14:24) mspevack_hm: I want to ship the DVDs for OSCON to jack's hotel tomorrow -- I am going to send 300
(23:14:32) mspevack_hm: in addition to that, jack has 140 left from FUDCon
(23:14:43) mspevack_hm: that should be enough, and if there's leftover, he can hang onto them until LWSF
(23:14:54) mspevack_hm: but the event kits are the more fun thing to discuss -- so jack, wanna run with that?
(23:15:15) greendisease: yeah sure
(23:15:29) greendisease: well first let me just briefly talk events
(23:15:35) greendisease: oscon: we are all good to go
(23:15:39) greendisease: booth, bof are secured  (bof = Bird of Feather Session)
(23:15:49) greendisease: and everything is all set in the booth
(23:15:59) greendisease: only thing missing now is banner, we are looking for it
(23:16:10) greendisease: lwce sf
(23:16:14) greendisease: we are all set as well
(23:16:18) greendisease: booth/bof as usual
(23:16:28) greendisease: working with pogo for hardware for booth
(23:16:34) greendisease: and we will work out the dvd issue
(23:16:42) greendisease: so thats that
(23:16:44) mspevack_hm: greendisease: how many people we expecting in the booth for oscon/lwsf?
(23:16:54) greendisease: oscon should be no less than 3, up to 5
(23:17:13) greendisease: lwsf should be no less than 4

• Event Kits

(23:21:34) lxmaier: if nothing else, move on to event kits, i say
(23:21:50) greendisease: okay, so has everyone seen my email which was sent to ambassadors list?
(23:23:17) lxmaier: please proceed greendisease
(23:23:25) greendisease: okay, so i put out that email as a proposal
(23:23:31) greendisease: basically talking about what we want to do
(23:23:49) greendisease: the main goal was to a) reduce the amount of money required to create/move discs
(23:24:07) greendisease: b) get the ambassadors more involved locally i.e. forge relationships
(23:24:51) greendisease: c) try and subsidize free media
(23:25:27) gregdek_home: Do we get a sense that the ambassadors are willing to do the work entailed by the proposal?
(23:25:43) gregdek_home: That's my biggest question... especially given the lack of response to it.
(23:25:52) greendisease: well so far, the few people who have responded have had positive things to say
(23:26:15) greendisease: and i think whatever makes it easier for people to operate, whatever procedures they are, will prevail
(23:26:39) greendisease: as long as ambassadors feel like they we are behind them and they wont be hanging

• The Goal

(23:29:24) mspevack_hm: so my point from earlier:
(23:29:47) mspevack_hm: i think the goal of putting more ability to run an event into the hands of ambassadors directly is a good goal
(23:29:54) mspevack_hm: and i think that it's the only *scalable* goal
(23:29:58) mspevack_hm: my fear is this
(23:30:12) mspevack_hm: it requires people who are willing to take a bit of initiative
(23:30:32) mspevack_hm: and i don't see a whole lot of that outside of Brazil, and outside of stuff that FAMSCO organizes itself, or from Jack

• An Example

(23:32:19) mspevack_hm: take these guys at San Jose State Univ for example
(23:32:32) mspevack_hm: they found me, tracked me down, wrote a nice email asking for stuff, and sure, we'll send them a few discs
(23:32:33) gregdek_home: I think we can do all of the planning work in the world, but we've still got to identify and really support those individuals who are proving their willingness to do the work.
(23:33:01) mspevack_hm: I'd rather that they were able to ping some SF area ambassadors who's already made up a pile, and just go pick them up directly from him, and get some people to help keep them in the Fedora world, not just a one time hit us up for discs

• How many of us, Amassadors can put an event

(23:33:44) gregdek_home: Of the 90+ ambassadors we have now... how many do we believe could put on an event, or would be willing to?
(23:33:57) EvilBob: 10
(23:33:59) lxmaier: a handful
(23:34:04) greendisease: mspevack_hm: well we can try to do that with the "ambassadors store" i spoke to you about
(23:34:13) lxmaier: but this handful will scale as they motivate others
(23:34:15) mspevack_hm: how many do you think could do it with some coaching from us?
(23:34:34) lxmaier: up to 25
(23:34:48) greendisease: maybe even more
(23:34:49) lxmaier: if you hold them by the hand long enough

• Event Manual in Event Kit

(23:36:55) greendisease: the goal is to put together guidelines, procedures and tips for events in such a way that its basically an inflatable bed
(23:37:05) gregdek_home: +1
(23:37:10) greendisease: and ambassador gets in and its as easy as plug in and go, or at least as close as possible
(23:37:11) lxmaier: +1
(23:37:42) greendisease: so there a few key milestones to an event which need to be met in order for it to go well
(23:37:47) lxmaier: the event manual can become a part of the event kit
(23:37:54) greendisease: exactly
(23:38:10) mspevack_hm: yeah, I'm gonna let jack run down in a minute what's in the kit, and his ETA for when we can roll it out
(23:38:17) greendisease: barz: yes, by the end of the week, what i have will be up on the wiki and in pdf form
(23:38:19) mspevack_hm: let's wrap up this slightly more theoretical part first

• How to tranin Ambassadors to run Events (Ambassador Fest)

(23:45:42) greendisease: mspevack_hm: the truth is, eventually, we might just need to bring ambassadors together in one place and do a massive training session
(23:45:50) greendisease: ambassadorfest
(23:45:58) gregdek_home: Yep.
(23:46:00) mspevack_hm: that's fine
(23:46:04) mspevack_hm: great idea actually
(23:46:25) greendisease: or at least the ones which show the must promise
(23:46:34) EvilBob: What about bringing ambassadors to a well staffed events a few at a time to learn how to run events ?
(23:46:43) gregdek_home: +2
(23:46:47) lxmaier: EvilBob: +1
(23:46:50) mspevack_hm: another superb idea
(23:46:53) lxmaier: this is more scalable
(23:46:57) gregdek_home: A good session for the next FUDCon.
(23:47:02) greendisease: EvilBob: or how about holding the ambassadorfest at a well staffed event
(23:47:02) mspevack_hm: yes
(23:47:09) lxmaier: and we can limit travel to regional/national
(23:47:13) greendisease: kill two birds with one stone
(23:47:24) EvilBob: I have time but no events in my region and limited persoal funds to get to events
(23:47:46) mspevack_hm: for the right people, we can help them with funding.  that's what our budget is for

• San Jose State Unversity

(23:57:04) lxmaier: max, you had a few points you wanted to discuss besides the event kit
(23:57:20) mspevack_hm: yeah, i can go quickly
(23:57:32) mspevack_hm: i sent the dvd's to San Jose State Univ for their LUG and the new school year kick off
(23:57:37) mspevack_hm: they were *really* appreciative
(23:57:41) mspevack_hm: and my ulterior motive is this:
(23:57:52) mspevack_hm: Stanford is gonna get back to me in the next couple of days about FUDCon there
(23:58:11) mspevack_hm: if they have to say no, I'm gonna lean on the guys at SJSU
(23:58:20) mspevack_hm: since it's like 10 mins down the freeway
(23:58:34) lxmaier: nice
(23:59:00) gregdek_home: MIT turned us down so we went to BU.  Will history repeat?  :)

• FAMSco Performance

(00:00:35) lxmaier: Famsco performance
(00:01:03) lxmaier: i must say we've come a long way, with a transparent budget and resources request list
(00:01:24) lxmaier: the only thing we are still missing is a monthly report
(00:01:51) lxmaier: and i believe it was discussed in one of the earlier meetings and decided that a dedicated group of ambassadors will do this
(00:02:00) lxmaier: under a guidance from one famsco member
(00:02:12) lxmaier: i still would very much like to see this happen
(00:02:26) lxmaier: we would post our monthly report on fedoranews.org
(00:02:41) lxmaier: and so get a permanent presence in the news
(00:02:50) barz: what kinda report?
(00:03:16) lxmaier: barz: a report on what our group has achieved in any given month
(00:03:25) lxmaier: sort of like a deliverables report
(00:03:36) lxmaier: it will serve several purposes
(00:03:39) lxmaier: one, publicity
(00:03:48) lxmaier: two, attract more volunteers
(00:04:08) lxmaier: three, keep the morale up in the group by showing them how much we all achieve in a month
(00:05:09) mspevack_hm: yeah, even if it's just getting people to blog more about what Ambassadors is doing
(00:05:15) mspevack_hm: and it syncs into planet.fp.o mspevack_hm mspevack_out
(00:05:20) lxmaier: mspevack_hm: +1
(00:07:18) lxmaier: barz: the goal here is not to do it yourself, but to have a group of editors who all only need to contribute a paragraph or two
(00:07:27) lxmaier: like summarize an email from the list etc.
(00:07:47) lxmaier: and EvilBob and/or barz can provide guidance on this
(00:07:49) EvilBob: I agree that this is a good idea and I think we can reap the benifits from it
(00:07:55) lxmaier: to the group of editors  i mean
(00:08:33) lxmaier: anyone wants to help EvilBob with heading this task group?
(00:08:48) lxmaier: it will require very little maintenance once it's running
(00:08:52) barz: lxmaier: i can help'im
(00:09:00) EvilBob: Thanks David
(00:09:00) lxmaier: barz: perfect! thank you!

• Budget Review and DVD Inventory

(00:09:37) mspevack_hm: so if you look at our budget, you'll see that the pile of fc5 DVDs that Brandfuel already produced is listed on there -- the money for those is already accounted for and showing up as spent.
(00:09:42) mspevack_hm: meaning:
(00:09:51) mspevack_hm: in about 10 weeks, those will be pretty worthless, since FC6 will be out
(00:10:12) mspevack_hm: so the only additional costs that will appear in our budget regarding those DVDs are shipping costs
(00:10:17) mspevack_hm: since the money to produce them is already spent
(00:10:25) mspevack_hm: so let's find people who will use them, and get them out of the warehouse
(00:10:43) mspevack_hm: it's on the order of like 6000
(00:11:23) gregdek_home: Send 2000 more to OSCON.  :)
(00:11:33) lxmaier: +20
(00:11:37) EvilBob: yeah
(00:11:48) barz: maybe 500 to BR...
(00:12:07) barz: there's a small event in a month time
(00:12:12) mspevack_hm: ok, I'm gonna just ship stuff then. :-)
(00:12:13) gregdek_home: And then find every decent-sized event in NA, where the shipment is cheapest, and get rid of 'em.
(00:12:26) mspevack_hm: so folks, help me find stuff
(00:12:33) mspevack_hm: we'll send a much bigger pile to OSCON
(00:12:38) mspevack_hm: since those all bubble over into LWSF also
(00:13:00) EvilBob: mspevack_hm: +10

Next Meeting

• 2006-07-24 23:00 UTC
• channel: #fedora-famsco (this is an invitation-only private channel)