New Projects Page

A new Wiki page has been set up which I hope will be modified often by all of you! This new page is a [[COLOR="Blue"]Projects Page[/COLOR]]("http://wiki.ubuntu.com/ConnecticutTeam/Projects") for adding, volunteering, updating and managing projects that will effect the Team in one way or another.

Subscribe to the page, and you will get an email every time it is changed. This is an easy way to keep track of new projects, when somebody joins a project, and when projects get updated!

This page will help facilitate

So go, check out the page and get invovled! I default myself to being invovled in the projects but I will not be running all of them (I gotta work too!).

• people volunteering for a project
• seeing which projects are not going anywhere
• what needs to be done
• who is in charge of what
• adding projects that will benefit the Team

If you want to join a project, or add a project then by all means do so (no prior approval necessary). If you need help with modifying the Wiki please let me know and I'll help you.

Let's work together to make this a great Team! :guitar:

Cool. I just found out that I can "unstick" a post, which I think can come in handy with regards to Projects.:KS

When a project is created, the person should generate a post (can be made sticky) related to that project. This way communication can be collected in that one location and everybody interested or involved in the project can post or watch the post for updates.

When the project is completed, then we can unsticky the post and let it slowly drift off to the bottom of the forums. It is there for referencing and research but won't be cluttering up the Connecticut Forums page.

I must say, I have not found a forum so powerful and useful as Ubuntu's.

Drew, looks like you've been busy and thanks for all the good work. I would gladly volunteer for any of the projects you mentioned, except the logo -- my graphics skills are quite poor.

Is the text "Sign-Up" in the projects page supposed to be a link? Just curious.

scot524 said: Drew, looks like you've been busy and thanks for all the good work. I would gladly volunteer for any of the projects you mentioned, except the logo -- my graphics skills are quite poor.

Is the text "Sign-Up" in the projects page supposed to be a link? Just curious.It would be cool if it were a link that would take your account name and automatically put it in the box, but I don't know if that would work (maybe some PHP?).

Anyway, the Wiki's are very easy to change yourself and if you know anything about HTML you should be able to figure things out pretty fast how to make it look like you want it to (more or less).

So if there is a project you are interested in, click the [[COLOR="Blue"]_Edit_[/COLOR]]("https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ConnecticutTeam/Projects?action=edit") link. The page will change into the code-behind version of the page. While it is not HTML, the principals are the same. Look through the page until you find the project you want to add yourself to and modify it.

There is a preview button under the editing textbox which allows you to see what it will look like when it is saved which is handy in making sure your changes don't mess something else up.

For example, the code-behind for Meet and Greet is :

= Meet and Greet =
|| '''Date Entered''' || 2007-05-04 ||
|| '''Volunteers''' || [wiki:Drew2 Drew], Sign-Up! ||
|| '''Description''' ||Organize a meet-and-greet, somewhere centralizes for the majority of interested participants. According to the Frappr Map, Meriden is looking to be fairly central of people's homes.  This is a great project for a number of people to join in on to coordinate scheduling, location, getting the word out, taking RSVPs (if decide to go that way), etc. ||
|| '''Links''' ||[http://www.frappr.com/ubuntuconnecticut frapper map] ||
|| '''Updates:''' ||  ||

Where

• = HEADER =
• || table cell1 || table cell 2 || and note that you cannot put multiple lines in a cell, though it will wrap automatically if necessary.
• '''Bold''' that is three single-quotes in the beginning and ending
• [wiki:Drew2 Drew] puts a link to an Ubuntu Wiki and the second word ("Drew") is what is displayed
• [http://www.google.com Google] similarly, this will put a hyperlink for the word "Google"
• ''*Italic*'' note that these are two single quotes on either side

So, using the above example, add yourself to the Meet and Greet Project, you would

```

• Hit the [[COLOR="Blue"]_Edit_[/COLOR]]("https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ConnecticutTeam/Projects?action=edit") link
• Find the listing for the Meet and Greet Project
• add your name as is bold in the code below
• hit the "Preview" button below the edit box
• make sure everything looks good
• hit the "Save Changes" button below the edit box

= Meet and Greet = || '''Date Entered''' || 2007-05-04 || || '''Volunteers''' || [wiki:Drew2 Drew], [COLOR="Red"]scot524,[/COLOR] Sign-Up! || || '''Description''' ||Organize a meet-and-greet, somewhere centralizes for the majority of interested participants. According to the Frappr Map, Meriden is looking to be fairly central of people's homes. This is a great project for a number of people to join in on to coordinate scheduling, location, getting the word out, taking RSVPs (if decide to go that way), etc. || || '''Links''' ||[http://www.frappr.com/ubuntuconnecticut frapper map] || || '''Updates:''' || ||

Hope this helps.

You'll also notice a "Subscribe" link near the Edit link. Even if you don't change anything, by subscribing you will receive an email or something whenever the page is modified along with what it was that was modified.

I have an idea for a type of project that I didn't feel I could just post on that page without some preliminary information, so let me toss it out here.

It occurred to me that there are some venues for public outreach, such as computer shows and flea markets, that seem to be popular in Connecticut and involve basically paying a fee to set up a table and then hand out free disks and answer questions. The number of these type of things aren't burdensome--maybe 4 computer shows a year and flea markets (like the Mansfield Drive-in, or maybe the big Brimfield antiques market) one weekend day as many times as you like through the Summer.

The big issue is getting ample supplies of the free disks--while Canonical sounds like they're willing to ship a lot of free stuff to the right people, the right people would likely be their official New England/Northeast affiliated members and/or any of their members among this Connecticut group. (The Official Ubuntu Handbook goes through the hierarchy, but it's a little unclear to me how we fit in that picture).

So before an outreach project can go anywhere we need some cognoscenti to tell us how to obtain the supply of disks, and whether anybody has any problem with members paying the table fee out of pocket under the name of the organization (or whether there's actually money somewhere that that can come from). :-k

So, tell me what ya know-

It sounds like a great idea!

It sounds like 3 issues:

• _Finding trade shows, flea markets or other venues to participate in_

I would think we should focus on finding the best 4 for 2007 to do, while keeping an eye on ones to do in 2008+. This should keep this from becoming too overwhelming quickly.

• _a reliable supply of a large number of CDs (preferably multiple versions..32 vs 64 bit, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, etc.)_

Any idea of what kind of quantity these would requires (talking 50? 100's? 1,000's?). Canonical does offer shipping quantities over 100 at the cost of 1.5 EUR per CD :eek: I would put that as a worst-case scenario along with manually burning them.

ShipIt does have the link for [[COLOR="Blue"]special request[/COLOR]]("https://shipit.ubuntu.com/specialrequest") where you are allowed to type up why you need your request. Providing we give them enough time (4-6 weeks minimum, for larger orders I would expect longer) they may be willing to ship a large quantity either to individuals or a designated recipient who can divide the lot between people/venues. If they don't, then at least they will post something like >

so we would know if we had to start burning our own.

• 5 CDs requested on 2007-01-11. This request was not approved, so no CDs were shipped.

• _Paying for a spot (if required)_

We will have to figure out what people are willing to contribute, but this may also be easier to raise funds if we know how much the shows, CDs, etc. will run (are we talking $100s? $1,000s?), etc.

We can also entertain different ideas for managing funds within the Team.

I think this is a worthwhile project to look into. Since it looks like the first project it will probably take more work than normal because we'll be setting up a system that we can use in the future. So let's

• Put an entry onto the Projects page
• Create a forum post (labeled Project: Event Outreach or something like that.. start with "Project" something-or-other) which will be stickied
• Look into what venues will be best received (where, when, how much, estimated CDs needed, skill level of audience, etc.)
• Hammer out supply chain for CDs
• Figure out people's willingness to pay/donate
• Volunteers to man the booths
• Who brings the beer ;)

Sound good?

Dragonbite, thanks for being supportive about the outreach project suggestion. It looks like before I can post the project to the new projects page I've got to set up a launchpad account, which I haven't gotten around to yet, so I'll post a little further here.

I think a box of 100 Ubuntu and 50 Kubuntu and 50 Xubuntu (and just a smattering of edubuntu) would get us through a Summer and Fall if we only hand them out in person to people who step up to talk to us. We would also want to have a portable table and one "mule" computer, like a laptop already running Windows and Ubuntu as a dual-boot (once the partition is made you can actually download it over and over again before their very eyes to show how it's done). I'm prepared to pay out of pocket perhaps as much as $150 for various things like a box of discs and the cost of table rental at various events, so if we have another volunteer or two willing to pay out of pocket we should be able to accomplish what we're hoping to. Having the professionally pressed discs is kind of important for conveying the right impression in a public setting; we want to show that Ubuntu is something serious, just like Windows, so it needs to look professional.

I wasn't able to get information yet on the computer fairs that go on at various locations every quarter, but those would be a logical venue. I also have easy access to the flea market at the Mansfield Drive-in, and if there's a teacher among us working with edubuntu they might have an in with a school computer club. The fairs in the Fall, like Woodstock or Hebron, might be a good (but more expensive) try.

I think getting discs is the starting point for everything, and may just go ahead and try to obtain some on my own dime, but hooking up with other people wanting to go to the public would help. I've set my profile to be accessible by email, so anybody who wants to do this please contact me.

We might also consider whether there's a Borders or Barnes&Noble cafe somewhere where some of us might go to meet each other at an appointed time. It would be good to know which of us are good at what (my specialty is end-user stuff like downloading, configuring new installations, and using some of the software). The Borders at Manchester, Waterford, West Hartford, and the B&N at Manchester and West Hartford are all within my usual travels. The Yale Coop cafe would be a place I could get to as well.

I like idea of outreach.... don't get me wrong and feel free to ignore, but IMHO we need think more about implemeting it right.

Razzl said: I have an idea for a type of project that I didn't feel I could just post on that page without some preliminary information, so let me toss it out here.

It occurred to me that there are some venues for public outreach, such as computer shows and flea markets, that seem to be popular in Connecticut and involve basically paying a fee to set up a table and then hand out free disks and answer questions.

• computer shows - I never been on any. Are they for general public, small PC dealers? That would be OK.
• flea market? Waste of time and good CDs. You can give away free CDs in front of Walmart, and you save fee for table :-(

In my experience with non-profit, people mistakenly associate price and value - if material has no price, has no value. Guy will take your free CD and toss it into next trash bin, wasting your money without even thinking about it.

The big issue is getting ample supplies of the free disks--while Canonical sounds like they're willing to ship a lot of free stuff to the right people,

Each of us can order 10-20 CDs, for start? :-) Sometimes Costco has CD-ROM sale, you can buy like 200 CDs for about $50. I understand that Mark is not willing to send 500 CDs for free - it would be just wasting his money.

Dragonbite said:

Finding trade shows, flea markets or other venues to participate in

I would think we should focus on finding the best 4 for 2007 to do, while keeping an eye on ones to do in 2008+. This should keep this from becoming too overwhelming quickly.

agreed. 4 shows in 2007 should be enough.

a reliable supply of a large number of CDs (preferably multiple versions..32 vs 64 bit, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, etc.)

If you are giving away CDs you paid for with your money, you will not give multiple versions - only the one peole will actually use, and not toss to trash, right?

Paying for a spot

If we ask nicely, as non-profit we might get a table for free. Or find a local PC company which already has a table there and is willing to give us a corner. :-) I am big proponent of asking - if you do not ask having it for free, you never will.

I think this is a worthwhile project to look into. Since it looks like the first project it will probably take more work than normal because we'll be setting up a system that we can use in the future.

Yes - and it even might make sense to split this discussion as a separate post (as it should be started in first place) :-)

And then create new post for every computer show we plan to go, with relevant info.

Here is info to start up your thinking: 1) http://www.scosug.org/ - Southern Connecticut Open Source User Group, located in North Haven. There is some company behind this - we might help them when they do something.

2) Anyone can write small arricle to local newspapers, and get table in local library/church, and invite people to come over, when they do some activities.

I am just reluctant to give away CDs for people who will toss it to trash, and pay fee for a booth if I can get table for free. :-)

Cogan Computer Fairs at http://www.coganfairs.com would welcome anyone willing to spread the word about Linux at their trade shows for FREE. Several months ago, after I had posted a message to their forum, I was contacted by a member of their staff about setting up a Linux booth at their shows. It seems that someone had done so in the past, but they lived in Rhode Island, and decided that Connecticut was too far to travel. I have tried to put together a little information and distribute some Ubuntu CDs that I have personally burned at a few of their shows, but a lot more could be done with this if more people were involved. I feel very inadequate doing this alone, in addition to the fact that my work schedule does not allow me to attend the Saturday shows at all, but I did not want to let the opportunity pass by. I am already promised a free booth at any and all shows I can attend, and would really like to see this project grow. Please let me know if any of your members are interested in spending a few hours on a Saturday or Sunday, manning a booth, or if you have any ideas about how to make an attractive and informative presentation.

Sat June 9th, 10AM - 3PM, Career High, New Haven, free booth Looks good!

And we have tips how to do show in sticky "Project: Outreach"

I posted a reply to the Project Outreach page, because it looks like a better place to continue this discussion.