Dear SFD teams,
Software Freedom Day 2007 is almost upon us, and there's just enough time for us to get in a last "Thank you!" and "Good luck!". From all of us here at SFI central, we hope you have a great day and reach out with the message of software freedom to as many people as you can.
In order to achieve a measure of the global impact of Software Freedom Day, we'd very much appreciate if you could try to keep track of the following data for your event:
* (approximately) how many members of the public were reached
through your event
* how many team members were involved in running your event - both beforehand and on the day
* how many hours your event lasted
* how many Ubuntu and Open CDs you handed out
We'll publish details of how to submit this information within the next few days.
Thanks to the efforts and participation of all our teams, we've had an unprecedented response to Software Freedom Day this year:
* new sponsors Google, MindTouch, Zenoss and the Free Software Foundation have joined our long-standing supporters, Canonical/Ubuntu and the Danish Unix User Group
* we currently have 320 teams registered, up from just under 200 last year
* we've had a full-page advert in the Linux Magazine
* with help from ZacWare we were able to operate an online shop for CDs and SFD T-shirts this year
* the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project has come on board by offering "$100 laptops" as prizes for our competition
* IOSN, a UN-affiliated project, has supported our activities in Asia
* we've been listed on
digg.com [1] and slashdot.org
[2]
* ...and as a result of all this, we're now receiving over 3000 hits on our website every day
And one last reminder, to turn all of these positives into a great SFD: please take a look at the Code of Conduct [3], and make your team members aware of this code - this helps us to set the ground rules and present a positive image of Software Freedom to the public. Also keep in mind some of the Dos and Don'ts listed in our Start Guide:
# DO present the capabilities and practical benefits of FOSS.
# DO NOT pretend that FOSS is perfect for everyone or everything.
# DO have the ability to present FOSS ideology clearly and concisely to interested people.
# DO NOT beat uninterested people over the head with ideology; this will confuse and intimidate them. Instead...
# DO let the quality of the software speak for itself and its ideology.
# DO have demo machines present if possible.
# DO your best to connect people with a local FOSS community.
# DO provide contact information for your SFD team so people can subsequently contact you for more information.
# DO get contact information from interested and willing people, so you can proactively follow-up with them later.
# DO proactively follow-up with people who attend your SFD event.
# DO find and cooperate with other SFD teams in your area.
# DO start other SFD teams in your area - this is cooperation, not competition!
# DO NOT -- seriously -- DO NOT bash Microsoft or SCO or any other false Great Satan. Software Freedom Day is not about any individual companies or people; Software Freedom Day is a positive community celebration of Software Freedom.
Lastly, we'd just like to let those teams that registered in time to receive team supplies know about the status of their supplies. Many of you have already received (in separate shipments) your Ubuntu and Open CDs, SFD T-shirts, and a small pack of stickers and balloons. We have been made aware of some problems outside our control with shirt and CD shipments (notably customs duties: the nine CD shipments for which payment was requested from us totalled almost US$1000 in taxes!), as well as a few addresses that were incorrect and thus could not be delivered. The vast majority of shipments have however reached their destinations in time. If your team is one of those that has not received your supplies, we hope that you will still have a great Software Freedom Day!
Good luck, and thanks for making SFD2007 our biggest and best event yet.
Robert.
Board member, Software Freedom International
[1]
http://digg.com/linux_unix/15_September_is_Software_Freedom_Day
[2] http://slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=286933
[3]
http://softwarefreedomday.org/CodeOfConduct