Our own e-day like efforts?

[Nevyn]

I've just been thinking about the whole recycling angle - sort of
e-day but with very targeted things. Things like cell phones (for
Starship Hospital) and one that's dear to me (because I'm never
entirely sure what to do) batteries. I've just sent the Auckland City
Council an email about battery recycling.

What does everyone think?

[Jaco van der Merwe]

Sound like a great idea, but I wonder if we may not already be a bit too
late on this already.

We've already had our "inorganic" day in our area, so tying into that in
future, either as a source, or of a means of responsible disposing of
unwanted stock, seems prudent.
Otherwise, would the Maker/Hacker/CreativeZone not have need for all
those "refect" hardware, either for components, or art supplies? (or as
an inaugural event)

- Jaco

[Nevyn]

On Thu, Jul 22, 2010 at 11:31 AM, Jaco van der Merwe
<frea...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Sound like a great idea, but I wonder if we may not already be a bit too
> late on this already.
>
> We've already had our "inorganic" day in our area, so tying into that in
> future, either as a source, or of a means of responsible disposing of
> unwanted stock, seems prudent.
> Otherwise, would the Maker/Hacker/CreativeZone not have need for all those
> "refect" hardware, either for components, or art supplies? (or as an
> inaugural event)
>
> - Jaco

Not sure you can get very many usable parts out of old batteries or
cellphones so I'd say their value to Creative Zone would be limited at
best.

In terms of time restrictions - we need to get a venue organised quick
smart so that we're able to advertise something.

I was talking to the UALUG guys today. We were talking about their
installfest and the possibility of doing that for SFD. They'd still
like to run something at the university. So in terms of Auckland, ASHS
has Friday, Parnell? for Saturday and perhaps UALUG with an
installfest on Sunday?

Regards,
Nevyn.

[Tabitha Roder]

We have approached the Windsor, 144 Parnell Road, as a venue for Software Freedom Day on the Saturday (I think we said 10 to 3). Booking is $250. Minimum spend is $1,500 (food and drinks). They have penciled us in.

Do you think we can get any sponsorship for this? Do you think enough people will come and spend a bit each to cover the minimum spend?

Thanks
Tabitha

[Nevyn]

We really need to find ways of showing SFD to have some value. Last
year it was $0 budget and the efforts showed it. So talk to..... Open
Systems Specialists (they provide a venue for AuckLUG meetings) -
ummm.... - not sure who else. Any solid FLOSS houses in Auckland?

It's hard to say what attendance is likely to be like. Today I was at
the UALUG stall for O-Week. They'd run out of Ubuntu cd's (I even got
a hug when I started pulling the few that I had out). They've gone
through around 150 of 'em and have 8 left for tomorrow.

Whereas last year, we had probably... around 30 people come through
for software freedom day. And then it's not a good indication given
the difference in audience. Anyway, the long and short of it is, we
can't really bank on people spending over the bar. I'm probably good
for $20-30 myself - food, coffee and a cider to pass the time.

Regards,
Nevyn.

[Jaco van der Merwe]

Thanks, Tabitha

> Do you think we can get any sponsorship for this? Do you think enough
> people will come and spend a bit each to cover the minimum spend?

That may be *very* problematic.
SFD, by implication, is gratis, so people are extremely loathe to pay
money for anything (we tried live-USB's once; I still have those lying
about).

Last year we managed to pull it together on a shoestring-budget (about
$0, give or take a few buck).
Sponsors & contributors are usually willing to provide their time &
access to their stock, but not much more than that, unless a
business-case can be made; i.e what are they getting out of it.

We can get SFD swag from the international organisers if we pipe up soon
enough (links provided earlier), and if we're extremely lucky, the big
players may come to the party: you'll have to speak to the Catalyst guys
for Canonical backing (I think Ian & Don are the local reps), and I've
flicked a message to Roland, the RHEL/Ingrham rep & Graham Lauder (?),
the SuSE/OOo rep to get in touch with you guys.

But if anyone else has anything better, that's cool too

- J

P.S. Ludwig, the chap that organised BarCamp, may have a few ideas of
his own, considering he now has the experience organising such events

[nathan parker]

Hi,
Its good reading about what Auckland is up to - the opposite end of the scale to us here in the deep south.
Warrington is going to hold another SFD but we are playing with the idea of actually taking some pre-loaded computers (donated) out to schools who are interested.
We presently have 7 local schools that have expressed interest in seeing the potential of OS - a bit more time consuming but will hopefully expose more pupils and teachers.

We are keen to get some thoughts on this idea.
Cheers
Nathan

--
CMB 14085
Warrington
Otago
NZ
034822605
0272148294

[Nevyn]

Loving it - this is what POINTS was supposed to be doing (and then it
seemed better to do an umbrella orgranisation which had no clear goal
and floundered...). Was hoping to do a 30 day trial or something of
the like.

Regards,
Nevyn.

[Jaco van der Merwe]

>> Warrington is going to hold another SFD but we are playing with the idea of
>> actually taking some pre-loaded computers (donated) out to schools who are
>> interested.
>>

This idea has merit, but requires a bit of effort ahead of time.

Are there there any logistical requirements, such as
power/safety/compliance checks?
What about "after-sales" support? Are the facilities in place to help
out with hardware & software when (not "if") things go wrong?

These are some of the questions that were raised in other, similar
forums, and if they're addressed, chances are good that there will be
acceptance.

It may be more important to provide a good experience, so that users are
not turned off of FLOSS & will be willing to take it further.
So providing windows systems with FLOSS applications (TheOpenDisk.com,
OSAlt.com), rather than a Linux OS (such as EduBuntu) may be more
appropriate.

In terms of preparation, BarCamp "UnConference" Auckland last weekend
was an interesting platform & may be a good model for getting things done.
Providing the space & a basic schedule & let people gravitate to the
subjects that interest them & contribute. One does not need to be an
"expert" to add value.

- J

[Mark Osborne]

Sugar is really hot in the education world at the moment so I'm thinking about how I can get some working demos of sugar on a stick on SFD. Any ideas?
Mark

--
Hei konā mai,

Mark Osborne
Deputy Principal,
Albany Senior High School.
Google Map: http://bit.ly/7cchi3
http://wikieducator.org/Albany_Senior_High_School
http://wikieducator.org/Albany_Senior_High_School/e-learning

[Jaco van der Merwe]

Hi Mark,

> Sugar is really hot in the education world at the moment so I'm
> thinking about how I can get some working demos of sugar on a stick on
> SFD. Any ideas?

FLOSS in Edu's been a hot topic for a while now (3 years running, I think).
Is ASHS still doing their thing?

What ASHS's done there has been one of the local FLOSS arena's greatest
achievements (IMHO), and deserves more attention than it's gotten.

- J

P.S. Has anyone actually gotten in touch with the SFD organisers for
swag? What about other "sponsors" (Catalyst/Canonical)?

[Fabiana Kubke]

Mark, do you have sticks? Or can you get a bunch?  I can give you the 'master' stick to make them which was given to me at lca2010.
-F

--
M Fabiana Kubke

Department of Anatomy | University of Auckland | New Zealand
(+64) 9 373-7599 Ext 86002 | (+64)9 923 6002 (direct) | Mobile: (+64) 210 437 121

Skype: superfabs | http://twitter.com/Kubke | http://identi.ca/kubke | http://buildingblogsofscience.wordpress.com | http://sciblogs.co.nz/building-blogs-of-science | http://popscinz.wordpress.com

[Tabitha Roder]

We can have a Sugar Stick making marathon before the event if anyone can get hold of sticks. We can do 100 sticks in about 2 hours from previous experience.  I have been unsuccessful so far in securing a donated supply.

Tabitha

[Fabiana Kubke]

I will ask again at the Uni. They had promised me a lot of 25 on this year's order.
Cheers
-F

On Fri, Jul 23, 2010 at 2:06 PM, Tabitha Roder <tab...@tabitha.net.nz> wrote:

We can have a Sugar Stick making marathon before the event if anyone can get hold of sticks. We can do 100 sticks in about 2 hours from previous experience.  I have been unsuccessful so far in securing a donated supply.

Tabitha

[Nevyn]

On Fri, Jul 23, 2010 at 4:45 PM, Fabiana Kubke <mf.k...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I will ask again at the Uni. They had promised me a lot of 25 on this year's
> order.
> Cheers
> -F

Oh that reminds me - how many Ubuntu cd's do we need? The last of my
lot went on UALUG's efforts.