[Leaplist] Increasing installfest turnout & fun (was: other topics)

[Gavin Baker]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

John Simpson wrote:
| On 2008-03-04, at 1336, Gavin Baker wrote:
|> John Simpson wrote:
|> | On 2008-03-02, at 1002, Robin (Bartow FL) wrote:
|> |>
|> |> I rarely attend installfest because of the 3 hour round trip travel
|> |> time. When I have attended, it seemed as though everyone there had
|> |> more technological savvy than I.
|> |
|> | all the more reason to show up. i can't speak for everybody, but when
|> | i'm not busy rebooting the firewall, i'm usually there for the express
|> | purpose of helping people with strange issues- although it seems like
|> | the two most common issues have to do with wireless cards and video
|> | drivers, neither of which i'm an expert on... i build servers running
|> | linux, my desktop and laptop machines are running mac osx.
|>
|> Personally, I find a compelling reason to attend installfests is when
|> there's food (and beer!) there. Then it becomes a combination BBQ and
|> helpfest -- in other words, something for everyone. (Or as I like to
|> call it, "New-B-Q".)
|
| i doubt the group would be willing to provide beer... and i also kinda
| think that, because the installfest happens at a church, they might not
| want beer around as well. the "BBQ and beer" idea fits in more closely
| with a ham radio "field day" than it does with a linux installfest.
| (field day is in june, i'm sure a bunch of us will be organizing some
| kind of get-together, you're more than welcome to come down and
| watch/help even if you're not a ham.)
|
| usually at the installfest there's a group of people who chip in for
| pizza around lunch time... i'm sure if somebody announced on the list
| ahead of time that they would be bringing BBQ on the way in, taking
| orders via email ahead of time, and collecting cash at the meeting, i'm
| sure you'd have a few takers. especially if you're going to someplace
| like sonny's or bubbalou's, where most of us are already familiar with
| what's on the menu.
|
| as a matter of fact, if you're volunteering to do this on 4/5, put me
| down for a pulled pork sammich with fries and beans (either sonny's or
| bubbalou's, they're both pretty good) and let me know how much i'll owe
| you.

The "BBQ and beer" was just an example. The idea is, having food (and
announcing it) encourages people to come.

Best way to do it is probably to buy food in advance and just have it
available (rather than taking orders from everyone). You have to guess
at demand, but it shouldn't be too hard (especially if you ask people to
RSVP). Worst case scenario: Either you have extra and everybody takes
some food home, or you have too little and somebody makes a run (or some
people don't eat). To keep it welcoming while staying in the black, you
take a "suggested donation" of, say, $5, while letting people know they
can give more or less. (Unless you can get it donated or sponsored.)

If people know there'll be food, they're more likely to come. For
newcomers to know this, you have to announce it in advance.

The reason I suggested BBQ specifically is because you can make it
on-site and it's fairly cheap. Of course, if you're not making it, you
can get takeout / catering from anywhere.

The reason I suggested beer specifically is because it has a special
power to encourage people to hang around on Saturday afternoons. If the
church has some problem with beer, well: either don't have beer, or do
the event somewhere else.

P.S. FYI, April 5 is BarCamp Orlando -- might want to consider
re-scheduling the installfest. Or maybe you can arrange something with
BarCamp to do an installfest on-site, and move it there for the month.
http://www.barcamporlando.org/

- --
Gavin Baker
http://www.gavinbaker.com/
gavin at gavinbaker.com

beyond
stars beyond
star
~    L.A. Davidson
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org

iD8DBQFHzaz+tLXQdLhFpekRAqL2AKCDNABYLt4op59F4DT0WZmNBzpr4ACeMOr7
EFh+UdGePbviC7Wq+paZUFo=
=69T1
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----