suggestions for marketing....

[David Barton]

Hi All,

I am president of the Stirling chapter of Toastmasters International and 
an enthusiastic Open Source / Ubuntu supporter.

I gave a talk at my club regarding open source software "The best things 
in life are free', talking about the power of O/S and the cost savings 
that can be derived by using it.  I used my own company as a sample, 
quoting over 100k in savings.  At the end of the speech there was a gap 
for people to ask questions, and I had a lot of people asking me about 
O/S software.  If I'd had an Ubuntu live CDs to give away, I'd probably 
have gotten rid of quite a few.

I would suggest that joining a local chapter provides an opportunity to 
evangelise a little, but also provides a great forum for personal & 
professional development.

My understanding is that the Drake live CD will allow the live CD to be 
tested and then installed (like the Mepis live CD).  If this was 
combined with a GParted CD to allow people to create a little Ubuntu 
partition, we might have more luck converting people over.

I find the biggest obstacle to people adopting Linux is office, so 
converting people to OO.o is a good start.

Best Regards,

David

Paul Schulz wrote:

> Hi Peter,
>
>
> On 4/28/06, Peter baker <jellyware at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> the sending out of the install cd's has slowed down a bit lately.  I 
>> had a
>> few people contact me from the post I put on the local wiki, and a 
>> few more
>> from the bulletin board at my work.  nothing in the last week.  Seems 
>> like
>> ubuntu will have a good presence at cebit in a couple of weeks.
>
>
> I have 300 which I will be giving away in Adelaide Monday,Tuesday next
> week at the Connecting Up 06 Conference... I'll let people know how it
> goes..
>
>> I have tried distributing ubuntu through the student assoc of my local
>> university and was really surprised at the result.  I was contacted 
>> by their
>> marketing manager when I attempted to post on the classified section of
>> their website.  its ok to sell a computer, fine to flog a desk. but 
>> giving
>> out open source software seems frowned apon.  I had my integrity 
>> grilled for
>> attempting to give out software for free!  so much for university 
>> student
>> associations promoting the interests of students!
>
>
> What was the outcome? Are you still able to place your ad? Would an
> informative  phonecall from someone at Linux Australia to the
> marketing manager help? (I'm happy to raise it with them.)
>
>> anyone got any good ideas for sharing the love?
>
>
> Maybe we can encourage everyone to place an ad. in their local paper
> (simultainiously, Australia wide).  I'd be interesed to see if it has
> a similar response.. how was your ad worded?
>
> Cheers,
> Paul Schulz
>

-- 
David Barton - Business Solutions Adviser
1iT Pty Ltd "The Power of One"

Eml: david at 1it.com.au
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