Install Fest Question

[Matt Burkhardt]

Dan,

I too belong to the group, but the commute to Columbia takes too much
time for me - but I'm in Frederick and would love to do something a
little bit more local.

Matt

On Fri, 2010-03-05 at 05:57 -0500, Dan Buhrman wrote:

> Hello All,
> I do not believe many of you know me, however, I joined the Maryland Team on
> Launchpad a few months back.  I have had every intention of attending a
> meeting since then, however, the library is a 2 hour drive for me, and work
> and college tend to make it difficult to find time presently.
> 
> Anyway, I would really like to have an Install Fest in Western Maryland
> (Hagerstown area).  I'm not sure if there is anything that needs to happen
> with the team, or anyone to specifically contact, however, I was hoping for
> some guidance in this area.  What steps need to be taken, strategies that
> have worked in the past, etc.
> 
> Our area is saturated with people who do nothing more than email, web
> browsing, and maybe some word processing on their computers, making them an
> ideal target for Ubuntu.  Mix that with the lower average salaries and lower
> cost of living (everything is cheaper), and anything with a free price-tag
> is a tempting offer to my neighbors.  Also, the Hagerstown area has the
> advantage of attracting people from 3 states (the tri-state area).  Since
> our outlets and mall is the best for miles around, people from Martinsburg,
> WV, Chambersburg, PA, and everywhere in between travel to Hagerstown often
> to shop.
> 
> My main questions are:
> 
>    - Does everyone agree this is a worth-while venture, and ok for me to
>    move forward?  I do not want to step on anyone's toes and hope I am not
>    doing so.
>    - Is there any official approval process that I need to go through with
>    this team or Ubuntu in order to have an Install Fest?
>    - What strategies have worked in the past as far as attracting people to
>    the fest?
>    - I was hoping to host this for 10.04, does anyone have any opinions on
>    the timeframe for this?  For example, would it be better to have the Install
>    Fest close to the release date and kind of combine a release party with the
>    Install Fest, or wait a few months afterwards for stability reasons?  (Not
>    saying it won't be stable out of the box, but time heals a lot in any
>    software, including Ubuntu)
>    - Is there anyone else on the team that lives in this area that would
>    like to help?
>    - Anything anyone else can think of that may hinder the event.
> 
> I appreciate all of your consideration in this matter.  I feel the Maryland
> Team is one of the more active and innovative LoCo Teams, and hope to meet
> most of you soon, and become more active with the team.
> 
> Best Regards!
> 
> Dan Buhrman
> (240) 818-8521
> 14633 Water Company Rd.
> Cascade, MD 21719



Matt Burkhardt
Impari Systems, Inc.

Customer Relationship Management Systems
We help you find and keep your best customers
mlb at imparisystems.com
http://www.imparisystems.com 
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mlburkhardt 
502 Fairview Avenue
Frederick, MD  21701
work (301) 682-7901
cell   (301) 802-3235