[clue-talk] Sales presentations at meetings (was Re: Fwd: Cyber Monday 3 Day Sale - Get Up to 50% Off)
David L. Willson
DLWillson at TheGeek.NU
Mon Nov 29 21:59:19 MST 2010
I mean RMS, Richard M. Stallman, not RSM.
David L. Willson
Trainer, Engineer, Enthusiast
RHCE MCT MCSE Network+ A+ Linux+ LPIC-1 NovellCLA UbuntuCP
tel://720.333.LANS
Freedom is better when you earn it. Learn Linux. Get Free.
----- "David L. Willson" <DLWillson at TheGeek.NU> wrote:
> Y'all,
>
> OK, this post is all -talk, and it's about our politics, or our
> religion, or our ideology. Call it what you like. But y'all have got
> me curious.
>
> Mike says he knows one portion of the product-line really well, and
> the rest not much at all. This is where a technical sales-person,
> responsible for being able to represent the whole product line, would
> be useful in a well-rounded presentation, I think. This is because I
> think that purely technical people are usually like Mike, very
> well-versed in a few things, but perhaps not so much about the rest of
> the line.
>
> The Linux community's well-earned reputation for rabid
> anti-commercialism, seems well-earned. It's ironic that we reject
> commercialism, AND we reject RSM-style balls-to-the-wall libre'ism,
> too. Is it that we just want stuff gratis (no charge)? We do care
> about the ideals behind free software like Linux, right?
>
> I don't think I can contribute to "gratis only"... That sort of
> pragmatism would have us thinking that IE is better than Firefox,
> because it's tested on all websites, even those that are developed by
> morons, or that the only reason it's not better is because we hate
> Microsoft. I'll bet we have better reasons, something along the line
> of "doing things the right way, because it's the right way, and it
> allows people to keep their freedom to choose".
>
> I'm really down with the Linus-style, live and let live approach. I'm
> even OK with the RSM-style, I don't care if it's gratis, as long as
> it's libre, approach. I don't get at all the approach that it's OK as
> long as nobody's making any money, approach.
>
> So, since we're on the -talk list, can I ask for a few reasoned,
> non-rabid, defenses of the position that a good infomercial isn't a
> good CLUE talk? I'll go way, way back into the past, and recall the
> Ecrix VXA-1 talk. Definitely an infomercial, but I thought it was a
> good talk. If you thought it was too commercial, why? Is there a line,
> a principle here, or are we just against selling, even if the selling
> is based in a relatively technical presentation of features we find
> interesting?
>
> My most heart-felt principle is that technical people should be know
> Linux, so that users will enjoy increased freedom-of-choice, and
> increased benefits from competition. The user's "freedom of choice"
> should be protected and expanded. So, you can see how VMware products
> fit right into that.
>
> Sincerely looking for the principle,
>
> David L. Willson
> Trainer, Engineer, Enthusiast
> RHCE MCT MCSE Network+ A+ Linux+ LPIC-1 NovellCLA UbuntuCP
> tel://720.333.LANS
> Freedom is better when you earn it. Learn Linux. Get Free.
>
> ----- "Mike Bean" <beandaemon at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Worst case scenario, I like to think I have at least a reasonable
> > chance
> > of answering technical questions on ESX/ESXi. (shrug) If I don't
> > know
> > the answer, I generally have a good idea where to start getting an
> > answer = ) (Now with regards to tons of other VMware subjects,
> > fusion,
> > workstation, converter, VCB, VDR, view...etc, I don't pretend to my
> > butt
> > from a hole in the ground.)
> >
> >
> > On Mon, 2010-11-29 at 20:41 -0700, Dennis J Perkins wrote:
> > > I agree. Let the technical people do the talk and afterwards,
> > people
> > > can talk to the sales people if they want.
> > >
> > > On Mon, 2010-11-29 at 14:43 -0700, Mike Bean wrote:
> > > > Sure. We can ask them and specifically emphasize that any
> > > > presentations should be mostly technical. I know the feeling,
> > I'm
> > > > not much on sales presentations either. I would emphasize that
> > > > let's not count our chickens before they hatch, nobody's really
> > > > agreed to anything yet, it's just something in the formative
> > stages.
> > > >
> > > > On Mon, Nov 29, 2010 at 2:36 PM, Crawford Rainwater
> > > > <crawford.rainwater at linux-etc.com> wrote:
> > > > I guess as one of the CLUE Admins I will chime in here
> > some.
> > > >
> > > > Typically in the past, sales folks making pitches and
> > > > presentations have resulted in disgruntle CLUEbies
> > wanting
> > > > more of a "technical presentation" versus "sales pitch".
>
> > I
> > > > know when I was scheduling CLUE-North meetings I did my
> > best
> > > > to advise companies doing presentations like that to
> have
> > > > the sales reps off to the side for folks to approach
> > which
> > > > turned out better, and let the technical folks show off
> > the
> > > > goods. Another good example would be the recent RedHat
> > Road
> > > > Tour where there were presentations on RHEL v6 features
> > and
> > > > such, with multiple sales engineers available afterward
> > over
> > > > lunch to answer specifics and taking information for
> the
> > > > sales crew to follow up.
> > > >
> > > > I am not sure who is handling CLUE "swag" these days
> for
> > > > door prizes so Dennis might be the best person to talk
> to
> > > > about that.
> > > >
> > > > Food for thought for folks. Comments and such as
> > welcomed.
> > > > Also to note as usual, I receive the CLUE lists in
> > Digest
> > > > format, so pardon any delays in advance.
> > > >
> > > > --- Crawford
> > > >
> > > > The Linux ETC Company
> > > > 10121 Yates Court
> > > > Westminster, CO 80031 USA
> > > > voice: +1.303.604.2550
> > > > web: http://www.linux-etc.com
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