[Marketing] Fwd: sugaronastick.com (was Re: [Sugar-devel] Beta Test of Sugar on a Stick Backup Service.)

[Caroline Meeks]

Hi,
I don't consider sugaronastick.com launched yet. We don't have the ability
to take money and there is very little text on the site.  The url
sugaronastick.com has pointed to a site for probably 6 months. We have
reskinned it and moved to WordPress.  The people who's artwork is on the
site did get advanced notice before I switched the url. (Sean, Mike Lee).
 In addition Sebastian and Walter both knew about it before it sugar-devel
did because I talk to them about future plans regularly. Also at least Anne
Gentle saw it, as we did a blog post that was syndicated on Planet and she
commented.

I have been focusing on getting the backup working because we really need
that for GPA and this is the same code and I have not been focusing on the
text for the site or "launching". I'm sorry. The text is bad, incomplete and
does not reflect my full intent. I didn't think about. I just thought about
wanting help testing the backup and the GPA spin and in my head had doing
the text for a few weeks from now. I would like the communities input on how
to link back to Sugar Labs and give Sugar Labs credit.

First some words about intent.

I of course dream of millions of parents buying backup service for their
children's
sugar Sticks, but I don't actually think its going to be a money
maker. Could be. Everyone
keep your fingers crossed! I'm doing it for a few reasons.

1. We need to do all the technical work anyway to support SoaS in schools.
2. I need to find a way to make a living and this is worth a try.
3. We need to make it easier and friendlier for parents to try Sugar.
We can't scale backup and collaboration for free.
 So I think offering this as a service is important to Sugar on a Stick's
growth.
4. My theory is that parents will first want to try it with their kids
then they will volunteer to bring it to their school. I want to make
it easier for more people to start down that path.
5. Might work as a profitable business.  Could happen. :)
6. It may attract the attention of funders who are looking to fund "Social
Entrepreneurship". These people need to see a business model as well as
social good.

So I do very much intentionally want this to tie people back to Sugar
Labs and the educational mission and to bringing Sugar into schools. I
think the current text on the site
does not reflect that. I'm sorry, its cause I haven't actually, in my mind,
written anything, what I have up in brain storming.  I certainly get how it
doesn't look that way and I'm sorry.

I do want the site to have a comfortable commercial feel. I want it to be
different from the official sugarlabs site in feel. I want parents to feel
they are getting something their kids can have fun with and learn.  This
site will be completely parent focused. I have also bought Sugar4Schools.com
to offer services to schools.

I do want to link back to Sugar Labs, which I haven't yet, and I'm sorry. I
just got focused on making backup work and hadn't thought about the text
yet.

I do want to give a portion of the profits to Sugar Labs should profits
actually exist.  I also want to reinvest profits in promoting Sugar in
general.

I do want all of my marketing to raise awareness of Sugar, to increase the
odds that someone volunteers for Sugar Labs and to increase the odds that
they will work to put Sugar into their school. This is the PRIMARY goal for
me.  SugaronaStick.com is a way to do that sustainably and to do it with a
different, less stuffy and academic voice, that I hope will reach a
different audience then the official SugarLabs site.  I want Sugar in
schools.

Note I am not charging for Sugar, I am going to charge for web based XS
services.  My hope is that you could download the official Sugar and change
the network setting and use our services.  But I don't want to make parents
do that, I want it to be easy. Also that won't happen until at least
Blueberry because the code to connect to the server is new.

So clearly the site needs to link back and give credit to Sugar Labs more
and better.  I'd like the community's advice on how to do that.

Thanks!
Caroline



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Tomeu Vizoso <tomeu at sugarlabs.org>
Date: Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 9:04 AM
Subject: sugaronastick.com (was Re: [Sugar-devel] Beta Test of Sugar on a
Stick Backup Service.)
To: Caroline Meeks <caroline at solutiongrove.com>
Cc: Sugar Devel <sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org>


On Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 20:04, Caroline Meeks
<caroline at solutiongrove.com> wrote:
> I'd like to announce to just the sugar development list at this point.
> We are ready for the first tests of backup and restore on a Sugar Stick.
 We
> will be using this code for both Sugaronastick.com and the GPA but each
will
> point to a different XS server so we can have GPA XS be school people
only.

So you are going to distribute a derivative of a SoaS release from a
site named sugaronastick.com ? As someone involved in SoaS I'm
concerned that this will get really messy quickly. I have asked other
people involved in SoaS and they also didn't knew about it before it
was live and announced.

To avoid misunderstandings, I think that what you are doing is great,
I hope your business goes awesomely and I will help as I can from
upstream.

I just don't understand why you are using the name of your upstream to
market your derivative before discussing it with the community.

Regards,

Tomeu

> To test click "Get Sugar" at www.sugaronastick.com
> We have named this Spin "Strawberry Tree" as its done by Solution Grove
> based on the Strawberry Release.  If your curious there is such a thing as
a
> Strawberry Tree - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry_Tree
> Beta Testers who are also on the Sugar Devel list will get free services
> from sugaronastick.com for the life of the service and 5 coupon codes for
a
> year of free service to give to your friends once we start charging and
have
> implemented coupon process.
> We are restricting the beta to Sugar Devel people for now because the
> instructions are probably still too rough and this is our first tests.
> Please email your feedback!
> Thank you!
>
>
> --
> Caroline Meeks
> Solution Grove
> Caroline at SolutionGrove.com
>
> 617-500-3488 - Office
> 505-213-3268 - Fax
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sugar-devel mailing list
> Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
>
>



--
«Sugar Labs is anyone who participates in improving and using Sugar.
What Sugar Labs does is determined by the participants.» - David
Farning



-- 
Caroline Meeks
Solution Grove
Caroline at SolutionGrove.com

617-500-3488 - Office
505-213-3268 - Fax
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