Hey Danny, Thanks for getting this set up, I'm really excited about getting a really good event set up and proving marketing in the Ubuntu LoCo world can work.
For those who were unable to attend the UDS, the marketing session that we had pointed to both spread Ubuntu and LoCo groups as the primary driver for marketing in Ubuntu. So for this event, as well as the manga and some CDs, we'll also have some information sheets which we need to make, these sheets are probably going to be introductions with simple comparison list of Ubuntu tools to old windows tools and some info on how to install programs and most importantly I think, installing ubuntu-restricted-extras and vlc. I'd appropriate other people's input from the loco contacts and the marketing teams. You guys know what kind of information we should be delivering to the attendees of the Anime Boston event. Best Regards, Martin Owens On Mon, 2009-11-23 at 20:12 -0500, Danny Piccirillo wrote: > We, the Ubuntu MA LoCo are organizing a booth at the upcoming 2010 > Anime Boston convention and need support-- Please spread the word! > > > http://blog.thesilentnumber.me/2009/11/can-ubuntu-reach-over-16000-anime.html > Reddit: > http://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/a7h71/can_ubuntu_reach_over_16000_anime_lovers_in_april/ > Digg: http://digg.com/linux_unix/Can_Ubuntu_reach_over_16_000_anime_lovers > > > Project page: http://linuxfund.org/projects/ubuntu/ > Press release: http://www.ubuntu-massachusetts.com/news/1/ > > > > The announcement (please forgive me if the formatting is a bit messed > up!)-- > > > Can Ubuntu reach over 16,000 anime lovers in April? Of course > it can, with the support of the rapidly expanding super > mega-awesome community (that's you all)! > > > > Anime Boston returns for 2010 on April 2-4 and the Ubuntu > Massachusetts Local Community Team has some ambitious plans. > Last year, I went in on behalf of the team and dropped off 50 > copies of the Ubunchu Manga with Jaunty CDs attached, and they > were all gone within the first couple of hours of the first > day of the convention. It seemed to be the only thing on the > flyer table that people actually wanted! The event was > amazing. There were people there from all over the country, > even across the world. Over 15,000 people attended and that > number has risen from little over 4,000 since the first > convention in 2003. For 2010, we're going to be reaching out > to this huge potential user base. While we're at it, we'll > also be creating a new model for Linux groups to raise funds > for projects without the having to go through registering as a > 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization or being legally recognized > in any way. > > > Ubuntu really is a perfect candidate for the new operating > system of choice for all anime lovers, and that is exactly > what we aim to make it. Is there a more passionate and > tight-knit, yet diverse and open minded cultural phenomenon > that we could target than the widespread anime fandom? > Convention goers are a great target audience. They tend to be > slightly on the geeky side but still cool of course and very > receptive to Ubuntu. An OS that is beautiful yet still highly > customizable, Free and Open Source with a supportive > enthusiastic community that very much mirrors their own > couldn't be a better match! With the right planning along with > support from the community and maybe a couple of the big dogs, > our goals are very attainable. > > > So, what exactly will we be doing? We can approach this on > several levels, starting with setting up a booth in the > Dealers' Room of the convention. From here, we can distribute > free copies of the Ubunchu Manga, Ubuntu LiveCDs, and > materials on FOSS, Ubuntu, and our team. Most importantly, > we'll be out there talking and connecting with people and > generally just making a big impression on them. We will also > offer live installs and do some cool demonstrations, the basic > stuff that should be expected. If we gain enough resources, > another great opportunity is distributing our materials in the > Anime Boston registration bags. This would put our materials > in the hands of almost every single convention attendee. > That's expected to be over 16,000 people! > > > > > It's important that we are smart about how we spread > Ubuntu since buying a computer with Ubuntu pre-installed is > the most effective way to get people to switch. We are hoping > companies who are committed to FOSS and GNU/Linux will be > willing to partner with us for the event. We have already > contacted some manufacturers such as System76 and ZaReason and > would happy to hear from any others. With additional funding > we may be able to sell Ubuntu merchandise like bootable USB > drives and display some machines from our partner(s) with > anime themes (some good wallpapers from here and here). If > possible, we'd like to auction or raffle off a customized > laptop with anime themes and an Anime Boston design > laser-etched into it. How cool would that be! > > > I might also be signing up for a tech staff or volunteer > position at the event so I can be an inside man solving > problems and being a computer hero all the while spreading > Ubuntu to everyone running the convention. If you thinks you > might be interested in doing this, you're encouraged to apply > at the Anime Boston website. During one of the main events at > the 2009 convention, I remember hearing Windows error sounds! > > > On top of all of this, we have a digital camcorder which will > capture everything every step of the way. The video camera > records in full HD and everything (Sony HDR-XR520V if you're > curious). So not only would we have an immediate impact on > everyone at the convention, but we can extend our reach to > YouTube and continue to have a lasting impact long after the > convention closes its doors for the year. > > > As mentioned before, we will be setting a precedent with this > project. To the best of our knowledge this has never been done > before or at the very least not on this scale. Thanks to Linux > Fund, we will be able to accept tax-deductible donations to > cover the costs of this event. Linux Fund is currently in the > process of setting up a system that will allow them to provide > this service to other FOSS community groups at a competitive > rate. Such a valuable resource has not been readily available > to unincorporated FOSS groups in the past. This is a real > game-changer: the possibilities are endless. This relationship > reflects the growing trend of FOSS groups building > relationships with the nonprofit community. Once > this infrastructure has been implemented, we can expect to see > many more projects of this magnitude and greater spring up. > > > This is where all of you, the community, come in. We cannot > depend so much on big sponsors to jump on board just yet, so > we are going to start with a community fundraiser to raise > money for the essential elements of our campaign and show our > potential sponsors that this is a worthwhile endeavor. The > most important element of this campaign is our physical > presence at the Anime Boston conventions so our first > fundraising goal will be $700; that's just 70 people willing > to give ten dollars! Help us blow this goal out of the water > so that we can move on to the good stuff. Please repost this > everywhere you can: (micro)blogs, YouTube, etc. Also pitch us > your ideas in the comments of this post and please subscribe > to keep up with our fundraising. Thank you all! > > > -- > ☮♥Ⓐ - http://www.google.com/profiles/danny.piccirillo > -- loco-contacts mailing list loco-contacts@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/loco-contacts
