Alexander,
Volunteers were probably the biggest issue time wise (as in weeks).
I have (on a database) most everyone that helped at the last InstallFest and what they volunteered to do. It shouldn't be very difficult to kick an email out to each of them (volunteers) to see if they are able/willing to provide the same service this time. Your call.
Some other things that took time (as in days) were such things as Presentations, Flyers, ... and Vendors.
David Huerta did an incredible job on the Flyers (and more).
Alan Dayley took skillful care of Vendors etc.
Derek Neighbors is quite gifted at pulling together presentations.
I was told that 4 weeks is not enough time to pull an InstallFest together. But, if we go on the idea that we get done what we get done for this first cycle and get more done for next month, I'm all for it.
I can help with volunteers as much as you want me to.
All in all, a great idea.
George
> -----Original Message-----
> Date: Tue, 04 May 2004 02:17:52 -0700
> Subject: Installfest, last Saturday of the month, 10:00
> From: Alexander Henry <alexanderhenry@cox.net>
>
> The last time we had an installfest was in October. Myself,
> I'd never
> seen a PLUG installfest before that last one. Despite our marketing
> efforts being limited to these mailing lists and (I think) an AzTech
> listing, and despite such a sparse recurrence, we had an
> excellent showing
> of new faces. This tells me that the community is downright
> hungry for
> installfests. What concert ever emits such a faint peep and
> fills their
> house? Curiosity about Linux grows every day, and more business and
> government agencies are turning to Linux for solutions. Other major
> cities in America hold installfests at least monthly. We
> need to hold
> monthly installfests. I'd like to pick up the torch for
> organizing and
> marketing these monthly installfests.
>
> I picked the last Saturday of the month, as it's a convenient
> day for most
> to attend an all-day event, it distributes well among the
> county's other
> Linux, AzTech, and the cities' Chamber of Commerce meetings, and the
> Stammtisch will always be before the installfest, which would be a
> springboard for the organizers and volunteers. I've already called
> Charles Braffett about reserving the University of Advancing
> Technology
> area. He said we are very welcome to come!
>
> Volunteers: I think we all know what is needed for
> installfests on the
> technical side, and last time we had overwhelming support, so I'm not
> going to worry about this one bit. Just tell us what you're
> bringing,
> physically, mentally, and spiritually. I'll watch plug-discuss and
> collect a list, and relay the list back here. That way any
> vacuums will
> be seen and filled. We will need several people to sign up
> specifically
> to be at the installfest at 9am, an hour before the official
> start; I'll
> be one of those. Last time food magically showed up, and a
> lot more than
> what Hans's family baked: what happened? I think we should
> probably put a
> coffee can somewhere, and at 13:00 take whatever is in there
> and have a
> food run. Other than that, whatever happens happens!
>
> We also had great support for demos and tons of ideas about
> what to 'do'
> at the installfest. Bring them on. However, be careful what
> you ask for,
> you might get it! :-) I'm going to deliberately reply to
> this list to
> those ideas with a feature-itis mentality. I'm as guilty as the next
> hacker of wanting to conquer the world in one installfest,
> but here, this
> time, I'm not only going to bite my tounge, I'm going to be a
> fuddy-duddy. First, you need support, space, time, and
> interest before a
> Cool Thing[TM] is worth doing. But most importantly, the
> primary goal, I
> think, needs to be gaining momentum for monthly recurrence,
> and to roll
> out new desktops to people who have never seen Linux before. For the
> users the benefit is obvious, they always know they can show
> up the last
> Saturday of any month for any kind of help. For us,
> recurrence reduces
> the pressure and makes us more effective. Forget something?
> Do it next
> time. Didn't finish that Dec Alpha install after six hours? There's
> always next time. Once you set up that Cool Thing[TM], and
> see people
> like it and need it, it's already ready for next time. Of
> course, hackers
> wouldn't come if they didn't get a treat as well, so yes, extra-nerdy
> demos need to happen as well! Bring on those ideas. I'm not
> saying I
> won't accept them, just be forwarned I'm going to act like
> I'm hard to
> please :-)
>
> I want to stress, again, to listen to the needs of the n00bs,
> and find
> opportunities to provide. Those opportunities will not be in short
> supply, and it's a lot easier to satisfy those needs next
> month rather
> than anticipate them all beforehand. For now, we will just
> be available
> as volunteers to do one-on-one work. But while you're
> working, look for
> common threads, and the next installfest we'll refine it.
>
> Okay, let's have ourselves an installfest!
>
> --
>
> --Alexander
>
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