[UbuntuWomen] Just an idea

[Christina Eater]

On Jan 12, 2008 10:49 PM, Ryan Prior <ryanprior at gmail.com> wrote:
> The difficult thing is finding the right message. You can easily sound
> sexist if you pull out the usual "we're marketing to women!" moves, pink
> frilly web pages, and other stereotypical feminine appeals.
>
> The ubuntu-women articles in Full Circle magazine and similar efforts can be
> good to appeal to women who are already part of the Ubuntu and OSS
> community, but it would be nice to find a strategy to appeal to women in the
> "traditional" IT workforce, outside the realm of OSS. I don't claim to know
> just what sort of marketing message would be successful in that regard, but
> I think you could play up the supposed meritocracy and global support base
> OSS development (and Ubuntu development in particular) gives. The best code
> wins, not the best office politics - and women who are sick of playing
> gender roles in office politics might respond favorably to that message.

One selling point I recall being mentioned in another thread on this
list is the customization angle. Someone had said (sorry, can't find
the quote) that girls especially seem to prize the ability to
customize their environment--including, perhaps, the way they use
software? Sounds like selling point for OSS!
I'm not a programmer by any means, so my own customization is limited
to keyboard shortcuts and artwork, but I can vouch for the appeal of
that. :)

-- 
Christina