[vox-outreach] WEF Day 3 results?

[Bill Kendrick]

On Mon, May 09, 2005 at 08:07:42AM -0700, Jimbo wrote:
> Well:
> As far as a lot of people traffic it would been more if the weather was 
> better.

Yeah, no doubt.  Saturday looks (from the photos) like the best weather. :)


> Tim and I had a blast.

Great! :^)


> Debating different thoughts on Linux and software 
> and even pronunciation on distros names (ubuntu?) as well as on the variety 
> of people that were seen.  Lots of dreadlocks.  Dogs too.  The canopies 
> were a god sent

Definitely.  Thanks again to Richard for lending them to us!  While we only
needed one, we were able to lend the 2nd one to our friends "OFFLINE",
who power our booth with their solar panel.  Their umbrella broke in the
middle of Saturday, so Emily and Jonathan met up to get the 2nd canopy.


> A lot of people were asking why they should  try Linux.  My pitch was is 
> that you wont get nearly any spyware or viruses which is common place in 
> windows.

There are many reasons to use Linux, of course. :^)  For many, it's definitely
the stability/security.  (No malware to speak of, few crashes to speak of.)
For others, it's "The Right Thing To Do"... that's definitely the Whole Earth
attitude. :^)  For others, it's the flexibility.

One fellow asked me why people write Open Source and give it away for free.
My response was: "Why do people join the Red Cross?"  He then compared
software contributions to his recent donation of money to tsunami victims.
He's obviously impacting people's _lives_ (as in, live-or-die!) more, but
yeah, he got the point. :^)

He then asked how someone like me can write something like Tux Paint, give it
away for free, and still put food on the table.  Easy: I have a day job. :^)


> I even told some people that this software wont make them hungry 
> nor thirsty.

Heh, yeah, Linux has a low TCO, so you don't have to choose OS over dinner. ;)


> Other questions included "will it give me a desktop 
> environment", "is my pc compatible", "will my isp support Linux", "can I 
> still watch DVDs and play music", "can I have Linux and windows on my 
> hard", "will Linux work on my Mac", "what do I do when I have a problem".  

Yes, probably, maybe not officially, of course, of course, yes (but why?),
and Google + LUGOD... in that order. ;^)


> Some questions were so technical that all I heard was "bla bla bla bla, 
> bla". That's when I said "My friend Tim (Riley) will help you with that 
> question". Thanx for being there Tim.

Yeah, since it's an event at UCD, it definitely draws the actual UCD folks,
not just the Whole Earth afficionados.  So we get a mix of tech and non-tech
visitors.  (Unfortunately, one woman came up to ask about the group, and
when Jonathan tried to start answering her, and gauge her technical level,
she took it VERY personally, and started getting rude. >:^(  Sheesh, we're
not mind readers!  Until she TOLD us that she was asking for a friend, how
in the world could we know!?  Blah!)


> We had approximately 9 ubuntu cd packs and aprox. 10-15 knoppix 3.2 discs. 

This is left-overs?


> I received info on the status of theopencd and didn't have a chance to make 
> some.

Heh, yeah, 2am the night before wasn't very much 'notice.'  No biggie, of
course, but thanks for offering anyway!!!


> This is one of my favorite cds and I believe that it is a good start 
> of the windows user since you can use it during windows operation.  I will 
> take the initiative to go to frys and get some quality discs (100?) and 
> make more unless otherwise notified. I will try to drop them off at the 
> next meeting or installfest.

We actually had mostly The Open Source Software CD, which I guess is
different, but I don't know in what ways it's different.

We also had a stack of old, ignored, should-be-recycled "GNU Win II" discs
from about a year ago. :^{


> My two cents:
> Get a nice sign on a stake that says" free software!"  There was a sign 
> hand drawn in ink on paper taped to the laminated lugod sign but the rain 
> destroyed it.

Yeah, I drew that.  Dunno if it helped or not, but definitely didn't hurt.
And I'm not surprised it melted in the rain. ;^)


> A computer is a must.

Honestly, we showed stuff to a few people, but mostly the computer got used
for Tux Paint (by little kids) and Frozen Bubble (by big kids and little
kids).

Frankly, I admit I find it kind of annoying when booth volunteers start
getting caught up in a video game and start ignoring (by not even noticing)
the people walking up to the booth to check us out.

(Similarly, I don't like people getting laptops out and using wireless
in a social setting, because it ends up becoming an ANTI-social setting.)


I guess I do agree that having a computer THERE attracts attention, but
outside of our Linux Demos at the Davis Food Co-Op, I don't see it getting
much hands-on use by the people who drop in.  *shrug*


> Due to rain it is nearly impossible 
> but it appears that even if we had no rain there still wouldn't be a 
> computer.

I'm guessing the computer didn't come out DUE to the rain. :^)


> I would have brought my own.  More flavors of Linux.

People brough laptops, as well.  But, see above... they mostly fiddled
with them, rather than demo anything with them. :^)


> Booth staff wearing t shirts or sweatshirts with lugod and logo on it.

We've got some LUGOD shirts in CafePress.com.  In the past we had a local
shirt shop print up some copies, but it's a major pain, and someone has to
cover ~$900 and hope that people who said they'd buy them actually DO. :^P


> Coffee cups, mouse pads and pens.

This seems less appropriate at WEF.  It might not be a bad idea for something
like GTC, if we go again in the future. (I hope we can!)


> I know that this cost money however that should not be a road block.

Well, part of it is how _worth it_ is a pen or coffee cup.  I got a pair
of free BayLISA glasses at two separate events in the past.  But, I have no
reason to ever attend a BayLISA meeting or get involved with that group,
so...  nice glasses, but no impact. ;^)


> If I can volunteer my time I can certainly kick down 
> some of my quarter pounder money.  We could be aggressive on helping 
> companies with router and computer issues that are so desperately needing 
> people that actually know what they are doing.

Well, that's a different topic than WEF.  Feel free to discuss, though!
I still want to get Davis Community Meals set up properly. :^/


> But alas, I am just talk.  
> My first event that I have volunteered for so I can't be critical nor pushy 
> on any thoughts and ideas.  I will however help out in the future and can 
> contribute to the lugod treasury.  Not much but something is better than 
> nothing.

Thanks, of course! :^)  And thanks for helping out!  I'm glad you guys had
fun!

-bill!