CDs for UNAPPROVED teams? Any discounts if we want to purchase?

Wed Nov 2 16:55:11 UTC 2011

I somewhat agree with Tomo in the sense that we have actually had 
recently a longtime FOSS contributor who contributes in Debian and 
Ubuntu and works for
Canonical ask why our LoCo is not approved and I explained that it is 
mostly redtape considering the LoCo has been around for years and is 
active. I understand the decision to not offer the shipit program to the 
entire world due to costs but to not send unapproved teams CD's of any 
quantity seems counterproductive to not only the community at large but 
also for Canonical as a marketing practice.

I'm somewhat embarassed when I hand people burned CD's and have to tell 
them our LoCo does not get official printed CD's and notably I have 
actually had people turn down burned CD's because people don't trust 
burns as much as official print CD's. I find the idea of not even 
providing a "starter" pack to unapproved LoCo's disheartening and 
although our LoCo will be applying in the near future there is no 
guarantee we will get approved and I think that alone has caused in the 
past the LoCo to lose steam and I would not doubt this has caused other 
unapproved LoCo's to lose confidence.

On 11/02/2011 07:52 AM, Tomo Popovic wrote:
> I am sorry if I stirred the issue of unapproved/supported more than
> needed, but I hope some good comes out of it.
>
> Just to give the picture I have been GNU/Linux and open source user
> for years and using Ubuntu for more than 5 years both at my office and
> home. I am a software developer and consultant here in Texas, USA. My
> origins are in Montenegro and I have very good relationships there.
>
> LoCo Montenegro team (lets call it unofficial at this time) has been
> around since 2007. Recently, I tried to provide my support and help
> mainly to streamline the activities and we had a very good year. We
> purchased the domain, moved site from some "free hosting" sites to our
> domain. Revamped the site, started new forum (old one was also on free
> hosting somewhere), wiki, IRC channel, and organized few gatherings
> and presentations. We even managed to get into major local newspapers.
> The group mainly communicated via Facebook, but we are trying to
> encourage them to explore and try other communication channels as
> well.
>
> The team was pretty "pumped up" for our approval application, which I
> admit we "sneaked" into the October meeting agenda. There was a slight
> disheartening when we did not got approved (mainly young members), but
> we "elderly" were pretty happy with the fact that everyone liked what
> we did so far and encouraged us to continue and possibly asked for
> approval again in few months. It was also a great opportunity to get
> some feedback, which did not seem bad at all.
>
> We are looking into 2-3 presentations before now and New Year's and we
> thought it would be cool to be able to share or give few CDs on those.
>
> You might want to consider a smaller "start-up" package that could be
> given to the new teams. Before we had free CDs we could order from
> Ubuntu site, now those are available only for purchase.
>
>  From the administrative point I fully understand that it is not easy
> to manage "unofficial" or "new" teams and keep track on who is
> approved or "pre-approved", etc... so it is all good.
>
> Best regards,
> Tomo
>
> On Wed, Nov 2, 2011 at 9:16 AM, Paul Tagliamonte<paultag at ubuntu.com>  wrote:
>> On Wed, Nov 2, 2011 at 10:13 AM, Tomo Popovic<tp0x45 at gmail.com>  wrote:
>>> I like the term "Supported" rather than unapproved. :)
>> See, I don't disagree - however:
>>
>> I'd hate new teams to get the wrong impression - the way that'd make
>> sense if "approved" (currently approved) teams become "supported"
>> (e.g. funded to a greater extent, access to resources), and
>> "unapproved" teams become "approved" (approved as an official LoCo
>> chapter)
>>
>> I don't see the naming scheme working out the other way?
>>
>> Someone please argue me back into sanity...
>>
>>> I think what you are saying would be very useful and important. I
>>> personally think that smaller and new communities need to be cared for
>>> as it is very easy to loose the momentum and motivation.
>>>
>>> Please keep us posted if anything happens. We will probably just order
>>> CDs in the store.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Tomo
>>>
>>> On Wed, Nov 2, 2011 at 8:44 AM, Martin Owens<doctormo at gmail.com>  wrote:
>>>> On Wed, 2011-11-02 at 08:27 -0500, Tomo Popovic wrote:
>>>>> I was wondering what is the approach for UNAPPROVED teams?
>>>>>
>>>>> Unfortunately, our LoCo Montenegro team was not approved last month,
>>>>> but we are trying to keep the good momentum the team has had this
>>>>> year. We were thinking of buying some CDs at Canonical store, but I
>>>>> was wondering if there is any discount for the unapproved teams?
>>>>>
>>>>> It would be very helpful to get few hats/shirts and maybe 40-50 CDs at
>>>>> a discounted rate.
>>>>>
>>>>> Please let me know if there is any options and discounts for "infant"
>>>>> teams. Thank you.
>>>> Not at the moment, but there are some good ideas kicking around UDS for
>>>> supported teams. Which I think is a good idea as calling teams
>>>> 'unapproved' is rather negative and we want new teams to be cared for.
>>>>
>>>> Martin,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
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>>>> loco-contacts at lists.ubuntu.com
>>>> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/loco-contacts
>>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> All programmers are playwrights, and all computers are lousy actors.
>>
>> #define sizeof(x) rand()
>> :wq
>>
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>
>

-- 
Sincerely,

Benjamin Kerensa
Team Lead
Ubuntu Oregon LoCo