[Marketing] IRC transcript of today's Sugar Labs Marketing Meeting

[Sean DALY]

<SeanDaly> Sean here, anyone around?
<christian__> yes
<christian__> christian V
<caroline> good morning!
<christian__> back from long working holidays
<JT4sugar> Hi
<tomeu> hi all!
<tomeu> working?
<christian__> lo=)
<christian__> =)
* SeanDalywaves to Christian V
* SeanDalyand Tomeu, Caroline, JT4Sugar
<SeanDaly> Not sure if Walter can make it (I really should start
sending the invite more in advance although I try hard to respect the
timeslot)
<SeanDaly> OK shall we start? Any suggestions to add/modify the agenda?
<christian__> ok for me
<SeanDaly> First off I wanted to do a quick debrief of Fridays press release
<SeanDaly> As I expected, coverage was slight compared to the Strawberry launch
<SeanDaly> However I did expect more coverage from the free software press
<SeanDaly> LWN showed our PR as a fulltext article prominently on
their homepage, and
<SeanDaly> Walter's Groklaw essay was picked up by others too
<SeanDaly> We now have a "reference point" we can use to point developers to
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<SeanDaly> I've come to the point of view that developer recruitment
will work best at events like LinuxTag
<caroline> http://screencast.com/t/jtIKEduy
<tomeu> google trends is positive about the last PR impact
<caroline> our hits on www.sl this month
<SeanDaly> Hey thanks Caroline those numbers speak for themselves
<SeanDaly> David had also showed me graphs from
Activities.sugarlabs.org which showed steady growth since the
Strawberry launch spike
<caroline> whats on theregister.co.uk its our top referer
<caroline> http://screencast.com/t/H40lAEA6dp
<tomeu> the register carried the FSF PR
<caroline> that graph is just since Thursday
<caroline> ahh cool
<SeanDaly> That was one or both of the articles by Gavin in San Francisco
<SeanDaly> I had that link in my mail to the IAEP list with the Groklaw link
<SeanDaly> By the way we were contacted by a journalist at a widely
read tech publication, and Walter & I briefed him for an upcoming
article, hope to see it soon
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<SeanDaly> We'll get to merchandising after - swag will help us a lot
at developer meets like LinuxTag
<caroline> http://screencast.com/t/H40lAEA6dp - Since June.
<SeanDaly> First I'd like to discuss next press release
<SeanDaly> caroline, after thinking about it I want to really target
teachers with the next one
<SeanDaly> It will cover the Nexcopy donation and minisite but I want
to associate you & mention GPA
<caroline> Sean, I have been referred to the major US Tech Learning
publications and I can use my prof's name ith them.
* walterbenderapologizes for being late
<caroline> so we should decide when and how to contact them.
<SeanDaly> What I'm thinking about is concentrating on sticks, and
then you and D.Han springboarding off that for PC donations in Boston
area
<SeanDaly> caroline: that's cool
<caroline> The first students are scheduled to get thier sticks tomorrow.
* SeanDalywaves to Walter
<caroline> Sean, sounds great!
<SeanDaly> In other words, I'd like the Nexcopy release to feel
"global", while citing GPA as a key pilot; then you & David H go
further locally with local media & outreach for PCs
<caroline> nod
<SeanDaly> If nexcopy release resonates, this will simplify your local
canvassing
<walterbender> do we focus exclusively on SoaS or teachers in general
who are using Sugar?
<caroline> how do we fold in the piece the BU student wrote for us?
<walterbender> the GPA teachers are very new to all of this and would
have pretty superficial things to say, I would guess
<SeanDaly> walterbender: I'd like to focus on SoaS since that is how
the Nexcopy partnership fits in, but
<SeanDaly> ideally we could quote a teacher using Sugar in an OLPC deployment
<walterbender> well maybe we should let the program at GPA run for a
month or so before soliciting teacher feedback
<caroline> One teacher talked about how last year they did a web based
program and that the kids who had access at home zoomed ahead and tht
was a problem. We could focus on SoaS creating more access.
<SeanDaly> I think we could grow a positive meme about Sugar's universality
<SeanDaly> note, I am not in a rush for this one (I will apologize
again to Greg at Nexcopy),
<SeanDaly> we can plan it for say 2 or 3 weeks from now?
<caroline> I think that is fine.
<SeanDaly> ideally, latching onto an event or happening with either
Nexcopy, SL, the GPA, or something
<caroline> Should we try to do something with the BU students article
before or after?
<SeanDaly> caroline: ah yes sorry the BU article it's a good one I'm a
bit stumped how to place it
<SeanDaly> Perhaps a small local newspaper? Ideally with a website
that would put it up?
<caroline> My ideas are very much on the think small side, with the
local newspapers, is that a waste?
<walterbender> reads like a blog to me...
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<SeanDaly> Yes an ideal blog post, but which blog?
<caroline> Sean, so try to get someone to publish it and put it up on
the web then we can use it as background in the press release?
<SeanDaly> caroline: think small is OK
<SeanDaly> caroline: yes, if it is linkable on the Web we will be OK
<SeanDaly> Not to be cited in the press release, but ideally published
like the day before
<caroline> I think the Winchester Star would do it. Do you think the
Newton paper would Walter?
<walterbender> Maybe. I don't know anyone at the Tab
<walterbender> but worth a shot
<caroline> Sean, yeah not sited, but easily findable by anyone doing
the least bit of research.
<caroline> Newton is a bigger city then Winchester.
<caroline> Also my Son is a big running Star, Meeks is the paper every
week :) So they know my name if not me.
<caroline> <--- sorry, proud mommy :)
<JT4sugar> You may want to use it in an email and target computer
science and education professors at BU and see if you can get Sugar as
part of their Fall projects
* SeanDalythinks it's quite OK to be proud of kids
<caroline> Interesting idea, I'll pass it on to Anurag who is a BU CS
student. Thanks JT :)
<caroline> Sean, can you help me phrase the email to the newspaper?
<SeanDaly> In fact off today's agenda although we could talk about it,
for some time
<SeanDaly> I have wanted to recuit marketing team members through
business school marketing professors
<caroline> We have a team from Babson working with Walter.
<SeanDaly> I will do that as a direct-mail contact thing, I have half
a dozen names of professors
<SeanDaly> caroline: yes run a draft mail to the newspaper by me
<caroline> Sean, Harvard Business School runs a go read to kids and
help wiht homework program at GPA.
<SeanDaly> upside to obtaining participation of a marketing class: resources
<SeanDaly> downside: they might disappear save 1 or 2 when semester ends
<SeanDaly> caroline: thatt's very interesting!
<christianv_> sean : i can get you in touch with professors in my
school & other several business schools in france if you are
interested
<SeanDaly> Maybe a contact there could put me/us in touch with a
marketing professor?
<SeanDaly> christianv: yes I am interested!
<SeanDaly> I think it could be an interesting way for students to gain
marketing experience
<christianv_> sure. wich kind of marketing professor do you target ?
<SeanDaly> Not by managing a budget for a launch, but with ingenuity,
finding ways to spread the word
<SeanDaly> christianv : I haven't segmented for different types of
marketing professor :-)
<SeanDaly> But my idea is to ask classes to work on the Sugar Labs
business case from marketing standpoint
<christianv_> okay i'll send you some profile of french marketing
professors i know and get them in touch with you to try this
<SeanDaly> there is marketing theory, then there is the reality where
every situation is different even though you can apply concepts
<caroline> Its a good idea. I thinkmy extended network knows a lot of
business school profs. Maybe compose a message I can put on linked in
and facebook to help collect names?
<JT4sugar> Think of approaching Professors with team approach
Markeitng students working with Comp Sci and Education students-Multi
discipline approach has lots of traction
<SeanDaly> caroline: yes maybe I don't know how effective social media
would be for that; I don't want to broadcast, but convince one or
several professors
<christianv_> sure
<SeanDaly> JT4Sugar: interesting idea, hadn't thought of that
<caroline> Sean, yes I would use it to get address and names.
<christianv_> whicht output would you like sean ?
<christianv_> from the students
<caroline> not to reach them directly.
<SeanDaly> By the way one of the tough things about learning marketing
is adapting knowledge to specifics
<SeanDaly> christianv: well there are lots of tasks that need to be
done, merchandising at the top of the list
<SeanDaly> also market research
<SeanDaly> but I would invite professors to work with students on strategy too
<SeanDaly> I've devised a strategy with you, and in conversations with
Walter, and David and others, but
<SeanDaly> I'm curious how a marketing class would do a business case of us
<walterbender> SeanDaly: I meet with them Thursday evening... I'll let
you know :)
<SeanDaly> For example, we're not reaching teachers through the media
I don't think
<caroline> David Han is doing a bit of this in his PR class also.
<SeanDaly> We are improving Sugar Labs' and even OLPC's image in the
tech press and on individual blogs like the sloppy UNDispatch blog
post, but
<caroline> But I think its a great idea and we shoudl do more of it.
<SeanDaly> I'd like to see articles in education magazines and even
mom magazines
<SeanDaly> If I had advertising funds I would place directly in
magazines read by teachers, would be extremely effective i am sure
(teachers talk to each other)
<SeanDaly> Online we can target geeky teachers
<SeanDaly> From a PR standpoint I could use some help from young
marketers in updating the mailing list
<christianv_> just to be sure : you first target teachers in
developped countries right ?
<SeanDaly> Foe example, as a cardinal rule I add the authors of
articles which are not negative (positive or neutral)
<caroline> Sean, I think we can get an article in the Ed magazines if
we work on it.
<SeanDaly> christianv: yes my idea is developed countries, since that
is where I believe Sugar on a Stick (SoaS) will make impact
<caroline> But I need help.
<SeanDaly> caroline: no doubt we can, but we need help
<caroline> what help do we need?
<caroline> I think Prof. Dede's name will get them to read our letters
and pay attention.
<SeanDaly> Believe me, I'll have no difficulty delegating tasks if a
whole class is available :-), but
<SeanDaly> part of what works in a FOSS project is encouraging people
to contribute in their own way too
<SeanDaly> ideally, a marketing student helping us from within the
class could become a longer-term contributor
<caroline> I think getting Marketing students to help and getting
articles in the top ed magazines are separte topics.
<SeanDaly> Recently Bastien & i presented OLPC and Sugar to the new
student's in an industrial design school in Paris, they were
fascinated by the project
<caroline> I think that Sean, you and I, should work on the top ed
magazines this fall whether or not we get help from students.
<SeanDaly> caroline: yes 2 topics, but ed articles one of my goals
<caroline> Sean, me too.
<JT4sugar> SeanDaly, You should also target publications that School
IT Admins read-If they can bring Soas/Sugar to their Teachers they can
look like Heroes-in the end their key players
<SeanDaly> yes of course I will work on it but the day after we get a
marketing prof to assist with her class, we'll have to have ideas :-)
<SeanDaly> JT4Sugar: my impression is that they read the tech press
<SeanDaly> Deciders will read Government news, they are on the list
<SeanDaly> By the way the FSF is talking with us about a mailing of
SoaS to educators
<SeanDaly> as in US state dept. of Ed heads and ministries
<SeanDaly> OK can we discuss merchandising a bit?
<walterbender> 500 education leaders around the world :)
<walterbender> SeanDaly: just a quick mention of Australia
<SeanDaly> walterbender: yes remind me
<walterbender> SeanDaly: we were contacted by a marketing company as a
result of the FSF PR who wants to use his network of supermarkets to
get Sugar out there
<SeanDaly> walterbender: ah yes the supermarkets! that's amazing
<walterbender> SeanDaly: no details yet, but a nice result from your
latest effort :)
<SeanDaly> penetration is incredible
<caroline> cool!
<walterbender> SeanDaly: so far, I have put him in touch with Tony and Bill
<SeanDaly> the key question is what would be in-store: a poster?
<walterbender> SeanDaly: and Pia and Barry
<walterbender> SeanDaly: this will be a fun one :)
<SeanDaly> walterbender: i think you cc'd me on that
<SeanDaly> photos will be fab
<walterbender> SeanDaly: yes. will continue to as the conversation evolves.
<walterbender> SeanDaly: also, did you see my note this morning re the UN?
<SeanDaly> walterbender: yes, certainly worth the shot
<walterbender> SeanDaly: no harm in asking...
<SeanDaly> I've been thinking though we need to keep better track of
our outreach
<SeanDaly> We haven't followed up with the BBC Education site contact AFAIK
<walterbender> SeanDaly: good point.. :(
<JT4sugar> walterbender, Might suggest to them to partner with Local
telephone company and then they can show off Soas connected to
internet in Supermarketl
<SeanDaly> Not necessarily a "CRM" system, and I'd be concerned about
publication of first contacts, but a little list for ourselves with
reminders, maybe a Google Doc
<caroline> We thought about a gmail address we bcc relevenat emails to.
<SeanDaly> JT4Sugar: interestingly, it seems many 1-to-1 OLPC (and
even Classmate) projects run in schools where local businesses
contribute electricity or network infrastructure
<SeanDaly> caroline: you mean an account which stores conversations so
nothing falls in the cracks?
<caroline> or at least we can go find them later for reference.
<SeanDaly> JT4Sugar: the Schlumberger SEED project in Nigeria has me
thinking we might want to reach out to corporations with exisiting
foundations oriented to education
<SeanDaly> caroline: yes I see your point, an interesting idea
<SeanDaly> OK I really want to talk swag for 5 minutes :D
<caroline> I think there are so many opportunities no doubt many will
fall between cracks, but the good ones will sprout and we'll want to
be able to find our history.
<JT4sugar> SeanDaly, Yes- I call that the "Pilot Fish" approach can be
very effective
<SeanDaly> caroline: very good point, will protect Sugar Labs from
sudden departure of key people for any reason
<SeanDaly> JT4Sugar: great name
<SeanDaly> OK re swag: I'm very motivated to work on that, but
<SeanDaly> it's so much fun i was thinking it would be better to offer
that to a marketing class
<SeanDaly> basically i want to avoid designing special T-shirts; I
think the SL iconography is utterly fabulous and can be reused
<SeanDaly> aside from just the logo, my idea is:
<walterbender> kudos to Christian
<SeanDaly> take an icon of just about any Activity, blow it up big,
sugar labs logo underneath
<SeanDaly> simultaneously obscure for the initiates (Pippy icon) and
brand-building (Sugar Labs)
<SeanDaly> several of these on-demand fulfillment sites (cafepress,
spreadshirt) allow you to ref dozens of designs
<caroline> Love it!
<christianv_> love it to !
<SeanDaly> in different colors of shirt too :-)
<SeanDaly> and at next Sugar Camp, we will resemble a bunch of
colorful avatars in Neighborhood view :D :D
<SeanDaly> i think this idea could work, because no need to endlessly
discuss a single image meant to represent SL
<SeanDaly> But rather, use Sugar itself to represent SL
<christianv_> further more it will get people buy many t-shirts !! =)
<SeanDaly> Not screenshots, but graphic elements you might see on a
Sugar screen e.g. three learners around a Browse icon
<caroline> and activity teams can buy in bulk to promote thier activities
<SeanDaly> christianv: yes, Firefox had a very effective marketing
campaign and they used merchandising very effectively
<SeanDaly> With many icons, many shirt colors, many logo colors we can
communicate Sugar's diversity
=-=dwmw2_PDX is now known as dwmw2_gone
<SeanDaly> And, I would like people to *look* at Sugar... convince
them to try it
<christianv_> it will create like a new tribe with its own hieroyglyphes haha
<SeanDaly> caroline: Yes, I am convinced Activities folk would get
behind it (think eToys, Scratch)
<SeanDaly> christianv: yes, exactly ;-)
<caroline> not scratch
<caroline> but maybe FoodForce people :)
<SeanDaly> caroline: whatever I meant Pippy
<caroline> Sugar is an after thought for Scratch but lots of others
are very focused on us.
<SeanDaly> I'll buy one with the Firefox icon and hang around the
Mozilla booth at FOSDEM next Feb ;-)
<christianv_> i've got to go to my class...marketing lesson ! seems
like i've got something to talk with the professor after the class =)
<SeanDaly> it could be interesting to find out which icon t-shirts
will sell the most
<SeanDaly> yes I need to sign off too, can we wrap this up?
<SeanDaly> as last week I will post transcript to the Marketing list
<SeanDaly> going once...
<christianv_> ok
<caroline> Sean, draft letter to Winchester Star in your inbox.
<SeanDaly> going twice...
* SeanDalycaroline: yes responding now
<SeanDaly> going thrice Gone! thanks everyone
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