[Marketing] seeking a mandate 2

[Eli Adam]

On Fri, Dec 9, 2016 at 12:59 PM, Jody Garnett <jody.garnett at gmail.com> wrote:
> Okay let me try that -- and then let's continue this discussion on the board
> list (I already feel like I am days late if we want this sorted for our Dec
> 14th meeting). Are you comfortable taking further discussion to the board
> list? As you can see in the text below I have not taken on board all of your
> feedback ...
>
> Let me try again in the form of a letter we can send to the board - it will
> also help if you update the next in addition to making suggestions :)
>
> The marketing committee is in the process of reforming and would like to ask
> for a mandate (similar to what has been provided in the motion to form the
> conference committee, incubation committee, ...).
>
> The revamped committee seeks responsibility for:
> * growing our community with new users
> * establish a marketing strategy
> * providing support for events
>
> Specifically for 2017 we are willing to take responsibility for:
> * Reboot the OSGeo website in time for the FOSS4G Boston event

I don't see any reason to set an arbitrary deadline of FOSS4G Boston.
How long it takes to reboot the website should be determined based on
the dependencies (likely getting back information from the Board or
other Committees, contractor schedules, etc).  There is not really any
harm is setting this date as a goal for completion but it does seem
arbitrary rather than based on an evaluation of the tasks.

I'm glad to see the Marketing Committee with excitement and energy.
Keep up the good work.

Best regards, Eli

>
> Discussion:
>
> The priority is set at growing our user base. Projects and code sprints are
> already handling outreach to developers with or without a geospatial
> background. Educational outreach is being handled by GeoForAll.
>
>
> The market strategy is used to prioritize and guide our outreach activities.
> It is expected we will need to identify user communities and address any
> issues they have in adopting or migrating to an open source solution. A hey
> aspect will be identifying metrics to measure performance of the marketing
> strategy.
>
> The website is a key component in outreach and a roadblock on many of our
> ideas for a marketing strategy. With this in mind the marketing committee
> (given a mandate by the board) is willing to take "point" on rebooting the
> OSGeo website.  Given the scope of the undertaking we would use our
> volunteers to negotiate this work with an external agency, rather than rely
> on volunteer labour. We expect to work in close collaboration with the
> system administration committee in refining a "request for proposal" and
> selecting the resulting organization.
>
>
> The marketing committee focused on user outreach and will be using osgeo.org
> as a communication channel for this end. We recognize that each OSGeo group
> or committee is responsible for their own communication needs: the OSGeo
> board provides press releases, projects offer release announcements, events
> handle their publicity etc...
>
>
> --
> Jody Garnett
>
> On 8 December 2016 at 13:06, Gert-Jan van der Weijden - Stichting OSGeo.nl
> <gert-jan at osgeo.nl> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Jody,
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Glad to see this refinement! (a step we too often minimize).
>>
>>
>>
>> Allow me to add a few ideas, as a devil's advocate, with world-wide
>> well-known Dutch rudeness ;-)
>>
>>
>>
>> In order of appearance:
>>
>> 1) I'd change "new users" to "new participants, both users and developers,
>> with or without a geospatial or open source background
>>
>>
>>
>> 2) "Establish a marketing strategy" isn't a purpose on its own, but it
>> aims at certain goals , I assume.  Most likely these goals are the goals as
>> laid out in the strategy as defined by the Board in the last year.
>>
>>
>>
>> 3) "Providing support for events" can be fine-tuned as well. What do
>> events expect from MarkCom anyway?
>>
>>
>>
>> 4) The phrase "for 2017 we are willing to take responsibility for managing
>> a RFQ process to reboot . . " (read out loud!) doesn't seem to be inspired
>> by an overload of enthusiasm, nor does it hold the promise to a concrete
>> result (what will happen after the RFQ?).
>>
>> How about "the MarkCom takes responsibility for rebooting the OSGeo
>> website, which includes ensuring it's long-term maintenance". To be
>> established before the start of FOSS4G-2017.
>>
>>
>>
>> 5) The last sentence, about not being responsible for all communications
>> could be turned in a more positive objective by rewriting it like "an
>> important objective of the MarkCom is to provide OSGeo.org (including it's
>> committees, projects and local chapters) with an infrastructure of
>> communication channels through which their announcements, press releases
>> etc. can be broadcasted. This infrastructure aims to place these individual
>> announcements etc. in the broader framework of the entire OSGeo community.
>>
>> (ha, being a policy maker for over 8 years seems to bear fruit in this
>> sentence...)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Regarding 3) and 5): I think a revamp of OSGeo's corporate design makes
>> sense. If that's too much for this year, at least a cleanup (hit the delete
>> button!) of our documentation regarding the official logo, colors etc would
>> be very useful.
>>
>> As co-webmaster of a local chapter and as member of the FOS4G LOC I
>> noticed that our "OSGeo.org style guide" is scattered across several
>> documents in SVN.
>>
>> This could be a concrete target mandate as well; be the house-keeper of
>> the OSGeo corporate design. Which is somewhere between "MarkCom" and
>> "MarkComCom", I guess.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Kind regards,
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> GJ
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Van: Marketing [mailto:marketing-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] Namens Jody
>> Garnett
>> Verzonden: donderdag 8 december 2016 21:12
>> Aan: OSGeo Marketing
>> Onderwerp: [Marketing] seeking a mandate 2
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks for feedback Astrid, Gert-Ja (and Jeff!).
>>
>>
>>
>> Gert-Ja I am having trouble turning your feedback into a useful mandate to
>> ask the board for. In a sense I want to answer your question of if we are a
>> MarkCom or MarkComCom ...   not sure if I am being slow on the uptake, or if
>> are answering a different question?
>>
>>
>>
>> Let me try again in the form of a letter we can send to the board.
>>
>>
>>
>> OSGeo Board:
>>
>>
>>
>> The marketing committee is in the process of reforming and would like to
>> ask for a mandate (similar to what has been provided in the motion to form
>> the conference committee, incubation committee, ...).
>>
>>
>>
>> The revamped committee seeks responsibility for:
>>
>> * growing our community with new users
>>
>> * establish a marketing strategy
>>
>> * providing support for events
>>
>>
>>
>> Specifically for 2017 we are willing to take responsibility for:
>>
>> * Managing a RFQ process to reboot the OSGeo website
>>
>>
>>
>> We should be clear that this is a marketing committee focused on user
>> outreach. We are not taking responsibility for all OSGeo communication. The
>> OSGeo board is expected to continue to issue press releases. OSGeo projects
>> are expected to continue to offer release announcements for developers.
>> Events are expected to handle their own publicity.
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Jody Garnett
>
>
>
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