Alan Pope wrote:
> <SNIP>
> Dave Walker, our team leader blogged about it and it seems to have
> gone very well. I don't know if he's on this list, I'll give him a
> poke to make sure he is.
>
> http://blog.daviey.com/blogroll/ubuntu-uk-community-bug-jam-09.html
>
>
>> What about the organisation? What about lessons learned at your event?
>>
>
> We started off planning the event some months ago, and as usual there
> was plenty of discussion about where the event should be located. Many
> people would find it difficult travelling long distances to the bug
> jam, so we clearly stated from the outset that if people wanted to
> organise multiple events, then they should go ahead and do it. As it
> turned out we had two, one in London and one in the midlands (about 3
> hours from London). This meant we could get even more people involved
> than if we just had one location.
>
> We also had very regular meetings via irc leading up to the event.
> Making sure it was fresh in everyones minds, and we could keep poking
> people to look for events and organise travel/facilities. We normally
> only meet once a month, so meeting weekly (or in some cases every
> other week) leading uap to the event really was a great way to make
> sure it didnt slip peoples minds.
>
>
Hi All,
I agree with what Alan has said above, and I hope people have had a
gander through my and various other blog posts to get a feel for what
happened at these rockin' events.
A few things I will look to improve next time
* Ensure you have some locals to meet and greet at the local transport
hub. Remember some people might have travelled a number of hours, and
will be really pleased to see a welcoming face - helping them get to the
venue. Remember, exchange mobile/cell phone numbers.
* Have a schedule, not too restrictive - but enough to keep the day
ticking along. Something like:
ie, 09:30 - 10:00 - Open doors, mooch around drink tea have a chat.
10:00 - 11:00 - Intro to launchpad, raising bugs and triaging.
11:00 - 12:00 - Group works on what we've just covered
12:00 - 13:00 - STOP! Get away from computers, and find a
local restaurant to grab a meal
13:05 - 14:00 - Hammer Time! Finding patches, using harvest,
applying patch and supplying debdiff
14:00 - $END - Open working session, don't expect everyone
to want to work on "Fixing", give support for them to triage or what
interests THEM!
The reason I'm going to suggest an "AFK" lunch, is that productivity and
in some respects, concentration started to lack - even in the best of
us. A proper break really did help get things back on track, also
constant supplies of cups of tea is essential! :). If the event starts
to 'go slow', this is an indicator that people don't really know what to
do next. I would suggest asking people what they want to see, and doing
a demo. Also, ensure the event organiser - or someone with approachable
skills just walks around often enough to check how people are doing.
You would be surprised how many people would rather sit there, scrolling
the mouse button up-and down Firefox all day; stuck, rather than ask for
help.
At the end of the day, ask for feedback - remember these are a bunch of
people that have offered to come in their free time to make Ubuntu
rock. Find out what they would like to see different (brace yourself
:), and give them a huge thanks - the Jam couldn't have happened if it
wasn't for those attendees. Let them know, quite how much their input
matters.
However, overall - If you haven't organised an event like this yet, just
*DO IT*. These events /can/ pretty much run themselves. "It will be
alright on the night", and there is no need to worry about the
organisation aspect - it will come together (That is a Daviey
guarantee). Even if you don't get a bunch of bugs closed, that doesn't
matter. For us, it was about passing on knowledge and allowing others
to take the skills home, and work from there. The other side effect of
having a jam, it brings the community closer - meeting awesome LoCo
members is what it's really about!
Something I was thinking about organising in the warmer months, was a
camping jam - Where it's not strictly limited to working on bugs, a bit
wider, but essentially a bunch of geeks - camping in a field, with a
local apt mirror and electricity, and 3g net access - for a weekend.
I'm thinking BBQ's :)
Talking of which.. Start thinking release parties chaps!
Kind Regards,
Dave Walker
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