On Sun, 2010-04-18 at 13:05 -0700, Robyn Bergeron wrote: > On Sat, Apr 17, 2010 at 11:12 AM, inode0 <inode0@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > On Sat, Apr 17, 2010 at 11:55 AM, Nelson Marques <07721@xxxxxxx> wrote: > >> On Fri, 2010-04-16 at 18:05 -0500, inode0 wrote: > >>> On Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Nelson Marques <07721@xxxxxxx> wrote: > >>> > > > <snipped a lot of things here....> > > > One of the things that somewhat distresses me about the work of > > ambassadors is that I have a feeling that a lot of resources might be > > going in directions that aren't the most fruitful. I'm sure we have > > contributors who come to the project in just about every way that one > > can imagine. But I see very few who enter from the places we seem to > > focus our energies most (handing out media at events and having random > > people download media). That is not to suggest that doing those things > > isn't of value, it is just to suggest that I'm not sure it is the best > > way to draw contributors into the project. I see a very large number > > of contributors join the project from working in related communities > > where Fedora contributors are also present. Fedora contributors "rub > > off" on others in common communities and with encouragement of the > > right people we increase the contributor base. > > > > One of the things we talked about as part of the Marketing Plan for > F14 and beyond was "Building on-ramps" - i.e. creating ways for > contributors to get involved, and one of those ways was "EasyFix" - > things that can be easily done by a newcomer, without having a huge > barrier to contribution. +1. Great news. > > Another thing I'd like to note is that - and I may be wrong here - but > I think a lot of people hear "contribute to open source" and they > think, "I can't code." We really need to emphasize the distinction to > prospective contributors that coding is NOT a requirement. +1. We can we most cases try to elaborate on this and work it out. I'll be willing to help in what I can in campaigns to gather people around us. > > Something I would love to see at events is to always have a FAD going > on simultaneously - a room where prospective contributors can see > Fedora people at work, having fun. A place where they can go and get > involved. To expound: > > * People coming up to the booth don't just get a CD - they get a slip > of paper (1/4 or 1/2 sheet) saying, "Hey, we're having a Fedora > Activity Day. Want to come contribute?" and pull some of the content > from http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Join onto that flyer. Something > advertising loudly that there are many roles to fulfill in our project > - NOT just coding. +1. In fact, something like a FAD or hack events would actually be a good place to invite local communities to join. We could break ice probably in a nice way. Maybe by at least showing the tools we use. Robyn, if you believe that it might be of interest, I planning to go on the lists for fudcon 2011. Anyway we could work out some marketing stuff? That way I can include it already in the plans. > > * A "New Contributor Wrangler" present at the FAD - someone (dedicated > to this purpose) who can sit with someone and guide them through the > following: > ** Talk to the potential contributor about their interests / capabilities > ** Signing up for an account in FAS > ** Signing them up for a mailing list account and getting them > into a FAS group - let them know when meetings are for that particular > group. If they're getting mail, they may show up to meetings, or > check things out. Maybe have a sheet highlighting what each > individual group does, with how to sign up, when meetings are, and > what they do. > > * Have a list of EasyFix items available for someone to work on. These > could include things like: > ** editing something off a list of wiki pages for content / grammar > ** making wiki redirects for things like "Fedora_13_Artwork" > point to "F13_Artwork" > ** for more advanced users / coder types - a list of fonts to package > ** for artist types - help us make a new banner for X > ** for those who aren't shy - Want to interview some other Fedora > contributors on video (or help film, etc) about why they are involved > in Fedora and what they do? > ** Bug zapping - specific items > ** Help us install Fedora on this batch of donated machines for > $localschool. > ** Help us test this list of things that need to get tested on $newwebpage. > ** etc. > > * Alternately, if FAD activities are appropriate for Potential > Contributor's capabilities - get them involved in the FAD! > > * We have cookies! or dinner! or whatever! > > I don't know if this would work - maybe we'd pick up a bunch of new, > ongoing contributors, or maybe 2 or 3, or possibly none. It would > definitely be an experiment. I think it's worth trying - it wouldn't > take much effort to pass out a piece of paper with the CD or random > swag and say, oh hey, if you're interested in contributing.... > > Thoughts? Very interesting stuff you bring up in the email. Personally, +1 in nearly everything, as long as I can stay from the oven. Baking cookies not my fight. I do believe that marketing could do a lot on this field, though this is a real epic thing to consider. You have my attention and I will gladly cooperate in any way you believe I can be more useful. Actually events like FAD's, hack sessions and such are good ways of having more people involved. I would also recon that it would from the interest of several institutions like Universities to support this kind of thing. I would believe that between Ambassadors, Marketing and everyone else we could probably see what we could actually do to help Fedora Teams to exchange experiences with a wide community, thus bringing them closer to us. Really *very good* and juicy stuff. -- marketing mailing list marketing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/marketing
