[Marketing] Meeting NEXT week

[Cameron Shorter]

+1 from me on being less restrictive on logo rules, after reading 
Arnulf's reasoning.

Arnulf Christl (OSGeo) wrote:
> On Mon, January 5, 2009 08:29, Tyler Mitchell (OSGeo) wrote:
>   
>> Hi all,
>> Just a reminder that we have a meeting scheduled for NEXT week:
>> http://timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?%
>> 20month=01&day=15&year=2009&hour=7&min=0&sec=0&p1=0
>>
>>
>> After this we start into a monthly recurring meeting on the first
>> Thursday of each month.[1]
>>
>>
>> An agenda is started here:
>> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Marketing_Meeting_2009.01.15
>>     
>
> Hi,
> I will not be able to make it but checked some of the pages wrt logo usage.
>
> Could you please exchange the logos referenced at
> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/TrademarkFAQ#Can_I_put_OSGeo_banners_on_my_website.3F_Can_I_link_to_you.3F
> with the new version? And maybe we should remove the hint to the linked
> version as we are not really using the stats that these could potentially
> produce (or am I just unaware of this happening).
>
> I would suggest to relax our guidelines a lot and let people be a lot more
> creative with the logo. If it is used in the official context of a
> conference, on official documents etc. then we should obviously stick to
> the trademark version, colors and all. But for all other uses I suggest to
> not be restrictive at all. I was and am opposed to the restrictive
> versions we have right now. Especially for the local chapters I suggest to
> promote mixing and combining parts of the logo or all of it and not just
> allow to change the tag line. It shows that we are open to new input and
> support our mission. It specifically says that we do not not want take
> over or rival other initiatives with similar goals but to support and
> integrate with them. One example using the compass with different colors
> and in different contexts is going on right now in the German local
> chapter.
> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSSGIS_e.V._Logo_Wettbewerb
>
> You can see the evolution of the old GRASS user group (GAV e.V.) logo to
> the Local Chapter and how elements mix. This will not be a problem for 
> OSGeo marketing. My take is that if people want to use the OSGeo logo
> unchanged then they should do so simply because it looks good and whatever
> is associated with it ("us") is cool. Not because we force people.
>
> I think it would be really hard to disallow this kind of mixing of logo
> elements (mind me, I am just a regular member of FOSSGIS and very happy
> that after much discussion they now also represent the German OSGeo Local
> Chapter).
>
> Having said all this I remember that there was a sentiment from "the
> community" that "we" should not spend so much time on logo updates (which
> personally pissed me off a bit because "we" really try to do a good job
> and "the community" is nothing but "we" - but so what :-).
>
>   
>> I put an item on there to discuss the idea of setting up a lead
>> person or small group for each of our major projects - i.e. projects
>> identified in the budget.[2]  The primary purpose being that they have
>> some direction from the group and can carry on with confidence in making
>> some headway.
>>     
>
> I think this is a very good idea and I support it. On top of this I would
> suggest that people (normal folks) should be allowed to do more things by
> themselves and in the way they think they should happen. Allow people to
> do things. Maybe this is the first opportunity to prevent "us" from
> becoming "us vs. them" and to prevent OSGeo from encrusting in documents
> and rules and regulations and stopping natural evolution. We started off
> on a meritocratic basis and "one" earns merits only by being allowed to do
> things. Ditch 75% of the Logo Usage and FAQ pages that focus on nitty
> gritty stuff that only lawyers are interested in. Even Nike allows people
> to make commercials in podcast format and misuse their logo in all kinds
> of ways. This is good marketing and it is so much easier especially with a
> bunch of square headed volunteers.
>
> Best regards,
>
>   
>> If you see some area you are particularly interested in, let's
>> discuss it on the list before the meeting if we can.  Of course, if there
>> is no interest or time available from the other members in the group at
>> least we'll have time to discuss it at the meeting. :)
>>
>> Happy new year to all of you!
>> Best wishes,
>> Tyler
>>
>>
>> [1] Calendar file: http://www.osgeo.org/calendars/Marketing.ics
>> [2] http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Marketing_Budget_2009
>> _______________________________________________
>> Marketing mailing list
>> Marketing at lists.osgeo.org
>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/marketing
>>     
>
>
>   


-- 
Cameron Shorter
Geospatial Systems Architect
Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254

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