[CLUE-Admin] CLUE ADMIN Installfest June 15

[Lynn Danielson]

Dave Price wrote:
> On Tue, May 14, 2002 at 06:54:01PM +0000, tipsrules99 at attbi.com wrote:
> 
>>CLUE ADMIN:
>>
> <snip> 
> If we need to limit the installfest to CLUE
> 
>>then we can discuss it at tonight's meeting.
>>
> I really think that we should try to open installfest to 'all interested
> parties' in the name of linux advocacy.  This is a great opportunity
> for the curious to see linux in action, and the people who use it.

 From what Mike just posted, "The room can hold 30-35 with no problem" --
I agree.  That number of people is about what we've seen show up to our 
Batky-Howell installfests, but it's still not what I'd call a large event.
I think the question is less about limiting the installfest to CLUE and
more about how much we advertise the event and try to get new people to
show up.  By simply announcing it to our group and making an attempt to
get the word out to other local LUGs, we'll probably get our normal
installfest turnout.

> Also,  have we gotten any further on the issues we discussed a while
> back?
> 
> * Waiver or release for all systems, combined with a written statement
> of obectives for the install (distro, dual boot, X / Desktop, ethenet,
> modem, etc.).

Not to my knowlege.  The North Texas LUG used to have stuff along these
lines on their website.  I think Jeff said he'd seen this sort of thing
on-line as well, but I don't think he mentioned where.  I'd recommend
we look for something we can plagerize and easily modify for our use.
Feel free to look for some of this stuff and post it (or links to it)
back here for comments.

We might be able to get Matt Porter to look at a waiver before we
finalize our version.  I have a friend who's a lawyer, but contract
law's not his strong suit.  Maybe Jeff's wife, Emily, would be
willing to look at it?  The last time we looked into this sort of
thing, the problem was that the waivers we found were written to
the protect the group.  Since we've never registered CLUE with the
state as an organization, it's not a legal entity for use in a
contract.  So, the waiver would have to be written to protect us
as individuals from suit by the attendees.  We had a lawyer in our
group at that time (his name was Brock) who clue'd us in on this
problem.  Unless we can find a bonefide, lawyer approved, fill in
the blank form on the web.  We'll want to get some legal advice on
the matter.

> * A what is linux and why we love it presentation, and perhaps
> additional discussion before the install and perhaps at lunch time?

This would be a great idea for a larger event with more newbies.  I
believe most of the installfest attendee's are going to be people who
have been using Linux for a while and are either having trouble working
through a configuration issue or wanting to try something new.

Not to discourage you or anyone else from doing this sort of thing,
but I'd be suprised if your interested audience numbers more than two
or three.  I think demonstrating various applications, especially what
might be considered "killer apps", would garner more interest from the
whole group.

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what your suggesting, but it seems to me,
we always have trouble successfully wrapping everything in the time
allotted.  I think the people who show up are going to be more
interested in your expertise solving their problem than hearing you
talk about why you love Linux.  So, my inclination is to focus on the
problems that walk in the door and to plan on organizing a bigger
installfest in a larger venue later in the year.  We could possibly get
some sponsorship to pay for hotel conference room if we asked.  Whether
or not we can successfully pull off a larger event depends on how much
time Mike is willing to put into organizing it and how much the rest of
us are willing to support him in that endeavor.  Does anyone else want
to try to plan something like this in the fall (September maybe)?

Lynn