[FOSS4G2017] Next steps

[Jeff McKenna]

To followup on marketing:

OSGeo now has a hosted Git instance, where you can share html-ish files 
for 2017.  There is already a 'foss4g' team there, and several 
repositories (I just added a '2017.foss4g.org' repository there). 
Please login at https://git.osgeo.org/gogs/foss4g/2017.foss4g.org and 
send me your OSGeo user id, and I will add you to the 'foss4g' team.

Speaking big picture: the idea is that all FOSS4G local committees would 
keep their repositories of html files there in that instance (so your 
designers would make pull requests to that instance etc, using their 
OSGeo IDs); and also those files would be pushed to a live hosted space 
on a web-visible OSGeo server (for that part you will have to file a 
ticket with SAC).  Be sure to use the "Systems Admin" component when 
filing your new ticket at https://trac.osgeo.org/osgeo/

I know, you probably have your html currently on some github hosted 
page[1], but, these steps will get you onto the OSGeo infrastructure, 
and also make it easier for SAC and future local committees to find your 
web files.

If you or your 2017 designers need an OSGeo ID, go here to create one, 
change password, find your existing ID: http://www.osgeo.org/osgeo_userid

Note that for regular conference files (documents, raw poster files, 
etc) you can use the SVN instance I mentioned in my original message.

Hope that helps,

[1] https://trac.osgeo.org/osgeo/ticket/1628

-jeff




On 2016-09-02 9:05 PM, Jeff McKenna wrote:
> Hello 2017 local committee,
>
> (please add me to your private mailing list, for now I will send to public)
>
> As 2016 comes to its end, the spotlight is now moving to the Boston
> team.  This morning I reviewed the 2017 proposal, and I made a list of
> important next steps, as now the time is critical for the success of
> 2017.  Note that as 2017 timeline is now shorter than ever (a very early
> date of August 14th) things cannot afford to wait a month, so here are
> some notes to get things moving:
>
> Communication
> -------------
>
> - regular communication on the public 'foss4g2017' mailing list is great
> to build excitement (the Bonn team did an amazing job on this).  The
> Bonn team set a new standard of having all communication in the open on
> this public list (read: no private discussions).   Committees were
> formed, meetings were planned, all in the open, this really built
> excitement, and made it easy to offer help and ask questions.
>
> - regular meetings should begin now, likely at first once every 2 weeks
> and then change to once every week as the event approaches.  The
> recommended way is to use the existing IRC channel "foss4g" for the
> local committee meetings, so that others can easily join and no account
> or special software is needed (example steps: in your browser goto
> http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=foss4g and pick a nickname to use
> and then click 'connect').  Although video or audio (hangouts etc) is
> nice, using IRC allows those working or unable to speak to contribute to
> meetings.  Another benefit is that the channel is automatically logged,
> so members missing the meeting can follow the missed discussion (logs:
> http://irclogs.geoapt.com/foss4g/).  The Bonn team really leveraged the
> IRC channel well.
>
> - recommendation: the formation of a Boston OSGeo Local Chapter was
> mentioned in the proposal.  A great way to get this moving, is to start
> having a monthly face-to-face of the local committee, but with the
> wrapper "OSGeo Chapter meetup", in a pub after the work day ends.
> Instantly you have a chapter, and over the year more and more people in
> the local area will come to the meetups, and they can get involved in
> the 2017 planning (such as in the Volunteer team etc.).  You build a
> local chapter AS you put in the effort to plan the great 2017 event,
> without even realizing you're building a chapter, AND you're marketing
> the event at the same time.
>
> - use other existing mailing lists for FOSS4G:
>     - workshop mailing list
> (https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference-workshops).  This
> is made up 183 former workshop presenters at past FOSS4G events.  This
> mailing list should be used to communicate instructions for workshop
> presenters.
>
>     - foss4g-academic list
> (https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/admin/foss4g-academic).  This
> under-used list contains several former Academic Chairs of past FOSS4G
> events.  This is a good place to start discussing the Academic track.
>
> Leveraging OSGeo Wiki
> ---------------------
>
> - using the wiki is a great tool for recording committee details etc,
> and it is easily accessible for future local committees.  You can see
> your 2017 pages are increasing at:
> https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Category:FOSS4G2017 (always be sure to copy
> the bottom 'category' text in new pages, so that they magically will
> appear on that list)
>
> - start getting in the habit of updating the Lessons Learned page for
> 2017 now (https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_2017_Lessons_Learned).  You
> actually already have lots to record (what you learned regarding the
> venue contract/negotiations, RFP steps, even what you noticed at the
> Bonn event that could be useful to write down).  And every local
> committee member should be writing their lessons learned all through the
> build-up to the event.
>
> - the wiki requires an OSGeo user ID (create one, or reset password etc
> at http://www.osgeo.org/osgeo_userid)
>
> Archiving Files through SVN
> ---------------------------
>
> I've been trying to push the archiving of FOSS4G documents, since 2004,
> at https://svn.osgeo.org/osgeo/foss4g/  It has become a great resource
> for logos, past sponsor documents, program templates; but some years are
> empty (chairs did not agree with my insistence I guess ha).  Please,
> whether you are on the website committee, program committee, volunteer
> committee, code sprint committee, marketing any committee, please get in
> the habit of committing your raw files into
> https://svn.osgeo.org/osgeo/foss4g/2016/  (use the same OSGeo ID as
> mentioned above, and let me know if your user needs write access, I can
> approve that fast).
>
> If you get in the habit now of using that, then I won't have to bother
> you later to do that :)
>
> Marketing
> ---------
>
> - today I added the 2017 logo to the top of http://foss4g.org/ which
> will of course attract many visitors, that are wondering of the next event.
>
> - a very important part of marketing is having a "spread the word" page
> of logos and html so you can start attracting hits and views to the
> site.  The gold standard was the FOSS4G 2010's wiki page for this:
> https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_2010_Marketing  Notice that you don't
> need to wait until the official webpage is made, you can quickly make a
> wiki page of your logos.  The Bonn team also had a good page linked on
> their main site: http://2016.foss4g.org/about-foss4g.html#spread-the-word
>
> Highlighting OSGeo
> ------------------
>
> - a big part of the 2017 Boston proposal was that OSGeo would be
> prominently displayed on all sites, banners, and marketing materials.
> This of course needs to be implemented right away - notice that the
> existing page/site (http://2017.foss4g.org) has zero mention of "Hosted
> by OSGeo" (and I don't mean a tiny logo at the very bottom of the page).
>  A "Hosted by OSGeo" with the OSGeo logo should be prominently at the
> top of the main page.  (for OSGeo logos see
> https://svn.osgeo.org/osgeo/marketing/logo/)
>
> Transfer of @foss4g Twitter Account
> -----------------------------------
>
> Usually each year we wait until videos and other news items are
> announced by the recent FOSS4G local committee, but the 2016 team has
> been very fast to share.  I would say after next week, at the end of
> next week the Twitter account should be handed over to the 2017 team.
> (if this seems too soon we can discuss this) I had the master password,
> but likely Till should just let @guidos know privately the account info.
>
> Code Sprint Importance
> ----------------------
>
> The code sprint wasn't mentioned really in the proposal, but as we saw
> at FOSS4G Bonn, giving a space where project teams can meet is a
> critical part of a successful FOSS4G event.  I've seen past local
> committees leave this part until the very last, and not even mentioning
> this on their main site; this must not be the case for 2017.  A special
> code sprint committee should be formed now, and planning should start asap.
>
> Formation of Committees
> -----------------------
>
> - I did see some mention of a few committees in the proposal, but I
> suggest that you draft the names of the committees on a wiki page and
> share that with the public 'foss4g2017' list asap.  For example, one
> committee that is sometimes forgotten is the Volunteer Committee.  A
> champion is needed to manage all of the volunteers throughout the
> week-long event.
>
> Transportation
> --------------
>
> - at recent FOSS4G events a strong partnership with their local tourism
> branch was made, and some events even included transportation passes for
> the week (Seoul team included a subway/metro card with a few dollars
> credit on it, for example).  As this Boston event will have some
> transportation challenges (workshops at Tufts/Harvard) this could be
> important.
>
> Kids Map Gallery
> ----------------
>
> Discussing with Heather Hillers, whose 8 year old son surprised her with
> a special FOSS4G Bonn painting
> (https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/File:FelixHillers-FOSS4G2016-painting.jpg),
> we think it's time for a "Kids Map Gallery" at a FOSS4G event.  This is
> a tribute to Venka's daughter's initial drawing, done at FOSS4G 2004 in
> Thailand (http://gisws.media.osaka-cu.ac.jp/grass04/slogan.html).  It
> could be something similar to a poster session, and a great way for kids
> to become interested in "maps and sharing" :)  I told Heather that I may
> ask her to champion this ha.  I think it is a wonderful idea.
>
> Social Events
> -------------
>
> - I shouldn't need to say how important these are for a successful
> event.  It is important to arrange a place each night for attendees to
> meet at.  And I mean every night - this DEFINITELY includes the Monday
> and Tuesday nights of the workshop days.  This is often a mistake by
> local committees (they are scared of committing to planning a social
> event those nights); well, you don't need to reserve a pub, but you do
> need to have a recommended pub for those nights.  Bonn team did an
> amazing job of this, naming "official" pubs for the event, and hardcore
> FOSS4G attendees still rave about the 2007 pub "Sticky Wicket", which
> was just a place to go meet attendees each and every night.  You want
> your event to be raved about - think of each night.
>
> Academic Track
> --------------
>
> This is often poorly handled at FOSS4G events.  Researchers and students
> need a large and prominent poster session, to display their work, and
> give talks throughout the tracks, to assist in getting funding to the
> event, and for many other reasons (getting published in journals etc). A
> champion is needed to focus on this.  (Academia is one of the important
> life-lines for Open Source, they often drive innovation and provide
> funding, and train future leaders)
>
> Important Items Usually Forgotten in Final Program
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> - the OSGeo AGM is a one hour meeting that must be at the end of a day,
> in no conflict with other talks.
>
> - the closing plenary should allow time for the Sol Katz Award (and
> recently, students awards and a developer award).
>
>
> Those are my thoughts for now, to get everyone moving.  Let's make 2017
> the best FOSS4G event ever!
>
> #boatdrinks
>
> -jeff
>
>
>