[Ubuntu-be] ComputerFair Hasselt 07/01/2007 (report)

[Jan Fabry]

A small report on the fair today (Bart didn't have time to write it,  
I'm new here, so I hope I cover the important bits, without boring you).

Date: Sunday, January 7, 2007, 10-17h
Event: Dipro beurs
Place: Grenslandhallen, Hasselt
Attending: Bart Broeckx, David & Frans Geens, Bram Bonné, Kevin  
Elaerts, Jan Fabry


We had about 200 pressed CD's (a mixture of Dapper & Edgy; Ubuntu,  
Kubuntu and Edubuntu; 32 and 64 bit versions). They were very  
popular, but some people just scavenge the booths for free gadgets,  
so we moved the stack out of sight, and encouraged people to ask for  
them, so we could have a chat with them. This was very effective! I  
guess about 100 CD's were given without much explanation (only an  
extra ubuntu-be flyer in each booklet). After we changed the tactic,  
about 150 more CD's were given only after we give some basic  
information (sometimes a demo) af Ubuntu. When we ran out of pressed  
CD's, we started burning them on-site, using some spare CD-R's from  
Bart and me, and a stack that David got from a nice lady at another  
booth.

Conclusion: handing out CD's like candy is not so smart. Indicating  
that CD's are available at request is great to start a conversation  
(if you have enough people available). The burned CD's are just as  
popular as the pressed ones.


The beamer was a great way to attract people. We were the only booth  
with a projection screen, so people could see what was going on (and  
see that we were not selling anything like all the others). If you  
only have screens on your table, only the first two rows can see  
what's going on, the others just pass your booth.

Conclusion: try to have a beamer at every fair! But also: try to  
borrow one from a friend, since renting them can be expensive (unless  
we find a corporate sponsor?).


The flyers were also popular. Of course, one would need to look at  
the site logs to see whether there was a surge of visitors coming  
from Limburg :) We explained the concept of the support points, so  
hopefully we can also see an effect there. Maybe (this is just an  
idea of me), we need something at the site like "Hello, you saw us a  
the fair and tried your CD? Click here for extra documentation at  
what to do now!", but this might be covered in other places  
(otherwise I'll try to make myself more clear in another post to this  
list).


Ubuntu, or at least Linux, is a relatively well-known concept. Some  
people were completely amazed ("It's free? For only 30 days or  
something like that? No? Forever?!"), others had already experimented  
with Linux, with varying degrees of success. To them, the concept of  
the support points was a nice idea.


We had a plastic box for donations, and collected about 24 euros with  
it. Bart has the correct number, and the money itself, which he will  
forward to Ubuntu-be. He payed for the booth, and I guess he also  
sponsored our food (koffiekoeken and appelflappen (a "Danish",  
according to Marc on IRC), as we eat in Limburg), so many many thanks  
to you Bart! David & Frans payed for the beamer (and came quite a  
long way just to be here), which is also incredible. Kevin came from  
Leuven, also not too close. Bram and me discovered we study at the  
same university, and, being informatics students, had nothing better  
to do on a Sunday. Our girlfriends might disagree, but they can start  
a group of their own (ubuntu-be-lonely-partners?).


It was my first Ubuntu-be activity, and it had a great time. It was  
fun meeting other people working with Ubuntu, and encouraging new  
people to try it. I'll certainly do it again another time!

Bye,

Jan