SFD-announce

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sfd-announce@mailman3.com

July 2009

2 participants
2 messages

Taking SFD to the government - WAS: We have over 250 SFD teams!

by Pia Waugh

Hi all, <quote who="Robert Schumann"> > We've passed the 250 registered teams mark, and we're rapidly closing in on > our shipping deadlines to get supplies to teams. I hope your preparations > for SFD are going well! That is awesome news! Looks like it will be another fantastic year! I just wanted to throw in a few thoughts. We have a lot of amazing stuff happening around the world at the moment, particularly in relation to a push and in many cases a top-level willingness for more openness and transparency in government. We are seeing many countries starting to use social networking for online engagement with citizens and in many cases struggling to figure out the best ways forward. I put to you all that the FOSS community has many important lessons we can take to the government and general community. Lessons of online collaboration, creating constructive communities, open and transparent decision making, the importance of individual empowerment to just get things done and of course the many opportunities that FOSS can directly bring. Remember, politicians and public servants are people too. If you engage in a positive, constructive and informative way, you can seed an interest which may bear the fruit of action, but only if continually nourished and not trampled on. All advocates walk a fine line, and it is even more important when dealing with the government to be diplomatic in your advocacy. I am now living in Australia's capital city and will be chatting to my local FOSS user groups about how we can take Software Freedom Day even bigger and better this year, engaging with politicians and government agencies. If any of you are seeing similar interest in "open government" or "government 2.0" in your countries, I'd suggest the time is right to take Software Freedom to the government :) Cheers, Pia

July 5, 2009

We have over 250 SFD teams!

by Robert Schumann

Hello SFD'ers, We've passed the 250 registered teams mark, and we're rapidly closing in on our shipping deadlines to get supplies to teams. I hope your preparations for SFD are going well! This email is to let you know that, although we will definitely be shipping supplies to all teams that have registered before now, any teams that register from now on will receive supplies only if we have availability. Naturally we will be trying to ship materials to as many teams as we can, so there may still be time. Note that we will send out emails to all team leaders who have registered, letting them know when shipments have been sent and whether or not they'll be receiving anything. Good luck with your preparations - and don't forget you can get in touch with the SFI team with any questions/comments by emailing us at info(a)sf-day.org. Regards, Robert. President, Software Freedom International

July 5, 2009