[Ubuntu-be] My first demo

[Amedee Van Gasse]

A few days ago I gave my first Ubuntu demo. I want to share some
experiences and loose ideas with you all. (long post)

FIRST CONTACT:
* If you get a request for a demo: don't send an email but pick up the
phone. And do that as soon as possible: within a few days if you can. I
did that, and the interested person was pleasantly surprised that he got
reaction so fast.
For anything else than a demo, eiter email or phone will be fine, use your
own judgement.
* This will probably be the requesters' first contact with Ubuntu or with
Linux in general, so it's very important to leave a postive impression as
soon as possible. And you get only one chance for a first impression! *
Some general phone tips: say your name clearly, say waht you are calling
about (that you got his/her request for an ubuntu demo) and smile when you
are calling. This may seem like too obvious suggestions but in my daily
work (helldesk) this is very important.
* You have the opportunity to ask what he/she is most interested in. In my
case, I learned during the phone call that he takes evening classes in pc
repair, that the teacher told him about Linux and Ubuntu and that he
already had downloaded and burned the CD. He also said that he wanted to
try Ubuntu on a DIY-pc in a multiboot configuration, and that he was a bit
confused about partitioning and mount points. I said that the demo would
mainly focus on the different applications and the way Ubuntu works in
general, but that we could go into questions about installation if he
wanted to.
* Another nice thing about telephone: syncing your agenda is much easier :)

BEFORE THE DEMO:
* Prepare the demo for yourself. Write down all the steps you are going to
do.
* Make a new guest account
* Log in with the guest account and make sure it looks as much as a new
Ubuntu installation as possible. Uninstall any unimportant software that
isn't present in a default installation. Avoid clutter on the desktop and
in the menus.
* Try out every application that you are going to demonstrate. Install all
necessary media plugins. I know the wiki says something else, to give you
an opportunity to talk about patented media types, but there is always
time to talk about that during the demo.
* Prepare a document with contact and support information (see end of
demo, see attachment)
* If you have a digital camera: take some photos of your children, your
pets, your garden,... the kind of photos people put on their desktop. *
Sounds stupid but: make sure your house is clean. So dig out your vacuum
cleaner and remove that pile of books, cds, paper, $HACKER_FOOD, etc from
your work space ;-)
Again: you have only one chance to make a first impression.


THE DEMO:
* Give your visitor a comfortable chair.
* Offer him/her something to drink.
* While you do that, tell your visitor who you are, what you do, and why
you give ubuntu demos.
* Ask him/her how (s)he found you (if you hadn't asked on the phone) and
what they find interesting about Linux/Ubuntu.
* My visitor was a bit confused about all the different Linux
distributions. I explained this with an analogy. Usually your visitor will
already know Microsoft Windows. Microsoft Windows has only one
distributor: Microsoft, while Linux has many distributors: Ubuntu, Debian,
Suse, Redhat, Mandriva,... The distributions differ in the way they
install software, the "branding" of the desktop; some offer manuals and
commercial support, some sell boxed sets while others can be
downloaded,... Remember, this is a first introduction. At this point it's
not important to get all the details 100% right. That will come by itself
later, when people get more familiar with Linux.
* There was a question about Linux versions. I told him that over 90% of
all software in the current versions of most distributions is the same
version, and that the upgrade from Ubuntu 5.10 to Ubuntu 6.06 is like a
Windows service pack. Again, not 100% accurate, but that is not important
for a first introduction.
* Only now I turn on the computer. :)
* While giving your demo, try to find out what your visitor uses his pc
for now. Also notice anything your visitoe tells you about his personal
situation that you can use in your demo. For example my visitor told me
his wife and daughter like to chat using msn: I demonstrated Gaim and
fortunately one of my very few MSN contacts was online. (tnx to Robby; for
my fellow PUB members on this mailing list: see my suggestion on our
internal mailing list)
* Show the obvious applications. After navigating the menu a few times,
give your mouse to your visitor and let him experience.
* I compared Evolution with Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird with Outlook
Express and Mozilla Firefox with Internet Explorer.
* Please avoid Windows- or MS-bashing. Keep your story friendly!!!
* Plug in your digital camera and put some small photos on the desktop.
The small previews are simple but impressive.
* Plug in some other usb devices.
* I demonstrated how easy it is to send a file to my smartphone using
bluetooth.
* Don't forget to play a cd, play music from a website, play a movie clip,
play a small game. I also showed a short fragment of Planet Penguin to
demonstrate a more "graphical" game.
* My visitor asked me about "bigger" games that you can buy in the shops.
I told him that most of the time this is indeed a problem, but on the
other hand that there are more and more games that do work. I gave the
example that I recently read on the ubuntu-nl list that Doom 3 works
perfectly.
* At the end of the demo, I printed the file in attachment. I told my
visitor that I am frequently on these websites or mailing lists. I think
it was important to say it like this. It gives him a way to contact "me"
he feels comfortable with, while still distributing his questions to a
broader audience.


Please share your own demo experiences (doesn't have to be as long) or
comment on my notes.

-- 
Amedee


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