Ubuntu Canada/Toronto Campaign Reports

[Dave Sullivan]

Hey Folks,

I just wanted to aggregate a bunch of links into one email for people to take 
a look at, regarding the Ubuntu Toronto advocacy campaign this past weekend 
at the Microsoft Digital Ice House.

First off, we have Tony Yarusso's initial announcement on digg:

"Ubuntu Canada to be on-site at the Microsoft Vista "Ice House" in
Toronto 4:00 to 7:00 PM TODAY, educating people about Vista's licensing
terms and the merits of free open-source software alternatives to
proprietary systems, with information and free CDs on hand, as well
as a ten-foot Tux! Join us at Yonge & Dundas Square."

http://digg.com/linux_unix/Ubuntu_Canada_s_Toronto_chapter_brings_the_Penguin_to_the_ice_house

The comments make for a great and controversial read. Next, we have an article 
about the event published on CRN Canada, written by a guy who clearly didn't 
have his facts straight.

"Over in the corner were a couple of the Linuxites, talking about...something.
It wasn’t that hard to put together; Microsoft has built an ice house in 
downtown Toronto to publicize the launches of Vista and Office 2007, and 
there was obviously some kind of plan to go to the ice house with “Tux” (an 
inflatable penguin), disrupt the ice house proceedings, and, I suppose, be 
obnoxious. I didn’t hear the full plan, but the words “security guards” 
and “thrown out” came up, so whatever it was, it must have been nefarious."

http://www.crncanada.ca/content/software/opinion-this-publicity-li.shtml

A lot of people, for some reason, thought we were going to protest/riot/cause 
a disturbance, which was clearly not a case, as detailed in the following 
post-event report article on digg.

"Ubuntu Canada/Toronto reports that their counter-marketing campaign
in front of the Microsoft Ice House was an absolute success, despite
initial discouragement and words from Toronto Police."

http://digg.com/linux_unix/Ubuntu_Canada_vs_Microsoft_s_Ice_House

The comments on that digg article are also worth reading. This campaign also 
sparked discussion on many websites, one of the most interesting being the 
following MSDN forum thread.

http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=278691

All in all, though, it was a successful event, and we only plan to do it 
again.

-- 
Dave Sullivan
dave at dave-sullivan.com
647-235-0328