[Ubuntu-SG] Ubuntu Talk at NUS

[C David Rigby]

On Sun, 2009-02-22 at 17:36 +0800, Ho Fucai wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I would be able to mail the survey out to the students. The School Of
> Computing Students' Club has an IT dept that can help you take care of
> that. You only got to get me the questions that you want and I will
> get it done.
> 
> Fucai
> 
> 

OK, that's fine with me.

Regards,
C David Rigby
> 
> ______________________________________________________________________
> From: C David Rigby <c.david.rigby at gmail.com>
> To: Ho Fucai <ho_fucai at yahoo.com.sg>
> Cc: cheefull at nus.edu.sg; hongjingqing at hotmail.com; Team Ubuntu
> Singapore Mailing List <ubuntu-sg at lists.ubuntu.com>; Kheng Hui Yeo
> <icedwater at gmail.com>; linuxnuscore <coreteam at linuxnus.org>; LAI Chun
> Yap <chunyap.lai.2006 at sis.smu.edu.sg>
> Sent: Sunday, 22 February 2009 2:09:08
> Subject: Re: Ubuntu Talk at NUS
> 
> This one is pretty long - hang with me!
> 
> On Sat, 2009-02-21 at 22:24 +0800, Ho Fucai wrote:
> > Hi,
> > 
> > Just for your info. U got to let me know your plans really soon. Our
> > acad time table looks something like this :
> > 
> > 
> > Reading Week:
> > Sat 18 Apr - Fri 24 Apr 2009
> > 
> > Examination:
> > Sat 25 Apr - Sat 9 May 2009 (i) & (j)
> > 
> > So I think it would be better if we could finalise the plans ASAP
> and
> > slowly tweak any tiny details at a later stage. 
> > 
> > Ho Fucai
> > 
> 
> Hello Ho Fucai,
> 
> Henceforth, I am going to refer to the presentations as the "Ubuntu
> Workshop". We are in agreement that we would like to have an
> interactive, hands-on experience for our participants.
> 
> I am copying a number of other interested parties on this email. I
> welcome (indeed, encourage!) all feedback from all of you, as well as
> others to whom you forward this email. (Please do so!) It saves me the
> effort of retyping, and I think we can all benefit from widening the
> conversation at this point. For the immediate topic of the Ubuntu
> Workshop at NUS, the next paragraph addresses your concerns as quoted
> above. After that,  I outline our proposal in greater detail.
> 
> The gist of our proposal is that Team Ubuntu Singapore, in
> collaboration
> with linuxNUS, will give a workshop or series of workshops starting
> with
> the first session on Wed, 18 March 2009, starting at 16:00 or 17:00.
> The
> planned duration would be a two hour session with a short break in the
> middle. From my experience, it is likely that a number of participants
> will continue to chat after the official end of the session. However,
> we
> should be ready to turn over the seminar room or lab to other users
> after two hours. If there is interest on the part of the participants
> for a more in-depth series of workshops, we could continue at the same
> times on Wednesdays 25 Mar, 1 and 8 April.
> 
> _Development & Delivery of Workshop(s) - Detailed Outline, Tentative_
> 
> Team Ubuntu Singapore (TUSG) had a very productive meeting yesterday.
> The principle topic of discussion was the proposed workshops. Our
> partner group Open Source Software Society (OS3) at SMU is also
> interested working together to do something similar at SMU-SIS.
> Ultimately, we concluded that we could not make a detailed plan for
> one
> or more workshops without first determining the requirements and
> interests of our audiences. So, here is how I would like to proceed:
> 
> 1. First, I need to turn several pages of scribbled notes into
> readable
> minutes of the TUSG meeting. This will help my group orient.
> 
> 2. Within a couple of days, I will produce a "lesson plan" for the
> presentation(s) that will encompass an exhaustive introduction to the
> installation and use of Ubuntu. I will circulate this through the
> usual
> channels, adding topics as those receiving this email offer their
> feedback.
> 
> 3. From this lesson plan, we can build a survey for potential
> participants, as you proposed in a prior email. Vincent, we can
> consider
> a similar mechanism for SMU-SIS participants. Alternately, we can
> depend
> on the members of linuxNUS, NUS School Of Computing Comp Club, and OS3
> to indicate what would be best for their own schools. In our
> discussion
> yesterday, TUSG members noted that the different audiences (business
> students at SMU, comp sci students at NUS) would probably benefit most
> from workshops which are customized for a particular group. This is a
> point also emphasized by Vincent during our conversation at OSSPAC
> last
> Tuesday.
> 
> 4. If we decide on a survey of potential participants, then please
> advise how best to deliver it. Left to my own devices, I would use
> Google Docs to allow those interested to provide their feedback. If I
> am
> going to build a survey, it needs to be available to the potential
> participants no later than the Sun 1 March.
> 
> 5. Based on the number of qualified volunteers available from our
> groups, we will need to set a limit on the number of participants.
> Ideally, we should have one volunteer for every three or four
> participants, since we envision a lot of "hands-on" activities at the
> presentation.
> 
> We need to define what we mean by "qualified volunteer". Basically, it
> should be someone that understands Ubuntu well enough to run it from
> Live CD, Live USB, install it to hard disk and do basic configuration.
> These people would be available to assist participants over any "rough
> spots", even if they are not principle presenters at the workshop.
> 
> We should know the number of qualified volunteers available by Sun 1
> March.
> 
> 6. Finally, with the survey results and number of participants in
> hand,
> we can plan and practice the workshop(s). Practice is very important
> to
> get the pacing and length of the workshop right. Ideally, we would
> like
> to do this practice in the same location where the workshop will be
> held.
> 
> Also, other volunteers from our groups that do not want to describe
> themselves as "qualified" would be extremely useful to us as
> participants in the practice sessions. After which, they would be
> qualified!
> 
> 
> Ho Fucai, below I respond to some of your other remarks and
> information.
> > 
> >
> ______________________________________________________________________
> > From: C David Rigby <c.david.rigby at gmail.com>
> > To: ho_fucai at yahoo.com.sg
> > Cc: cheefull at nus.edu.sg; hongjingqing at hotmail.com; Ubuntu Singapore
> > Mailing List <ubuntu-sg at lists.ubuntu.com>
> > Sent: Wednesday, 11 February 2009 6:16:50
> > Subject: Re: Ubuntu Talk at NUS
> > 
> > Hello Ho Fucai and friends,
> > 
> > Thanks for the info. Sounds like you have an excellent venue for
> > presentations. I will work with my Team on designing our
> presentation
> > or
> > series of presentations. We will be back in touch after our meeting
> of
> > 21 February with a concrete proposal.
> > 
> > Regards
> > C David Rigby
> > 
> > On Wed, 2009-02-11 at 00:19 +0800, Ho Fucai wrote:
> > > Hi hi,
> > > 
> > > To answer your questions.
> > > 
> > > - Where at NUS will the presentation be held?
> > > - What facilities are available (e.g., network connections,
> > projector,
> > > lab room, lecture room)?
> > > It depends on ur requirements actually. I could book seminar rooms
> > for
> > > u guys. Even programming labs(but those run on windows). The venue
> > > will be on School Of Computing grounds. And yah..rooms are
> subjected
> > > to availability (shouldn't be a prob!). I could also request for
> > > students to bring their own laptops for them to try ubuntu out.
> > > 
> 
> The best of these options would be a seminar room with projector, and
> participants bring their own laptops. If we do not perform
> installations
> of Ubuntu to hard disks, then use of a Windows-equipped lab would be
> adequate. For this environment, we would use only Live CDs, and any
> installations would be to externally attached USB media.
> 
> > > - How much time is allotted for TUSG's presentation?
> > > The 'unofficial' time for talks in School Of Computing should be
> > > wednesday from 4pm onwards. 
> > > 
> 
> Two hours from 16:00 is a reasonable length for an afternoon workshop.
> That leaves plenty of time for people to have dinner and still get a
> good night's sleep!
> 
> > > - What publicity are you doing for the event? Is there something
> we
> > > can
> > > do to help with publicity?
> > > We would be helping to raise awareness through mass mailing all
> SOC
> > > students. They will be registering with us. So we would be able to
> > > tell u the expected size of the audience.
> 
> If you think there will be a really big turn out, then we should do a
> more traditional, "Power Point slides" style presentation. Perhaps
> that
> is how we should run the very first one anyway? Then the most
> interested, usually a smaller group, could return for later workshops
> with a more hands-on, interactive approach.
> 
> I am completely open to considering something like that if you and
> your
> group think it is a better approach. Really, I need feedback here as
> to
> what is most appropriate.
> 
> Ultimately, though, a smaller group that gets a more intensive
> experience gains the most from a workshop. It's a trade off between
> the
> number of participants and the intensity of the program.
> 
> We can certainly do it again at a later date if we cannot work all
> interested parties into the first workshop(s).
> 
> >  It would be nice if you
> > > could design some electronic posters and etc. so that we could
> mail
> > > them out.
> > > 
> 
> I will certainly be able to produce some publicity material for you.
> PDFs and/or HTML OK?
> 
> > > - What sort of presentation are you looking for? We can do a
> lecture
> > &
> > > demonstration, but even better would be a hands-on activity. For
> > > example, if sufficient time is available we could do an
> installfest
> > > event where we actually install Ubuntu on the participants'
> > computers.
> > > Being able to do something like that is dependent on time allotted
> > and
> > > facilities available.
> > > 
> > > We don't mind having a series of talks. We would definitely look
> > > forward to having a workshop\hands-on session. As I'd mentioned, I
> > > could inform the students to bring their laptops for the event.
> > Maybe
> > > you could suggest having a few topics. I could sendout a
> mail/survey
> > > asking students if they are interested in any of the topics.
> > Muhammad
> > > Heidir had actually asked if its possible to set up a booth of
> sorts
> > > to help people install ubuntu on their systems. I had actually
> > spoken
> > > to relevant authorities in school and it is possible for you to
> use
> > > the public areas in School Of Computing. Of course, I can only
> > confirm
> > > this once I know your plans.
> > > 
> 
> All of this seems to be covered by the discussion in the outline
> above.
> At this point, it is pretty fluid. I agree with your point from the
> beginning of this now very long email - let's get the facility
> reservations now, then we hammer out the details.
> 
> > > - Will TUSG's presentation be part of a larger event that includes
> > > other
> > > groups?
> > > Nope! It will not. Unless you are interested in bringing in other
> > > open-source partners. We may be having talks by other parties.
> > > However, those events would be isolated from yours.
> > > 
> 
> Just so. I have recently been in touch with Kheng Hui Yeo of linuxNUS.
> They have already conducted an Ubuntu 8.10 installfest activity.
> Working
> with them will help us all leverage our experience for a better
> workshop.
> 
> > > Hope my informal reply answer most of your questions.
> > > 
> > > Ho Fucai
> > 
> 
> Yes - this is a good start. I look forward to working with everyone on
> this project.
> 
> Regards
> C David Rigby
> 
> 
> 
> 
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