2013/12/9 Izabel Valverde
Hello all,
I believe most of us are following the -project mailing list so I believe we should move on in Marketing too. Project decision is our concern too!
I've been deeply involved with openSUSE in the last 3 years and FOSS in general at least 15. That is the reason I believe I can present my thoughts.
From my perspective... Any contribution is seasonal and some can at least stay longer than 1-2 years. Using me, Izabel, as example, I started in the Marketing Team and I contributed until the 12.3 Release. I did not contributed to 13.1 cause my help wasn't necessary besides, quoting "Please ping the Artwork Team". On those 3 years I saw some initiatives about Ambassadors Team, Welcome Team, blablabla Team and in all of them most of the same people were discussing what should be the "rules" to start or who would take care of it... The standards were so high that neither the most valuable contributor would achive the points to be considerer a mentor or a Ambassador or... I hope you can understand my points.
Dong Dong, I can hear the bells... :D I have excuses that are not actually excuses but there is no need to cry over spiled milk, the fact is that many people got valiable experience through that.
Now there is a new "program", hopefuly successful one but has something writen in the wiki that I don't agree: "Are there rules? Hey, we at openSUSE don't do rules ;-) "
It looks so careless! We don't do rules but anytime possible we "start" a program or a group to talk about how to do it. Any new contributor is totally lost on how to start. #Imlosingsomething
We are marketing, we need to care with the message send.
As Marketing Team we are losing A LOT since we don't have materials to send around. Just the free will of our Advocates/Ambassadors/members isn't enough. Yes the DVD's shipment costs were really high but turned into ZERO didn't help. We became first with the $100 support idea, nobody used, poor advertise, so we erase the subsidy, later the Marketing Box, months planning and didn't happen yet. What is next?
A really good question...
We had a great time backing 2-3 years ago, we succeed, lots of new people joining and lots of people leaving. We need to have credibility. It is vital.
Lately I personaly, due to TSP, lost the credibility from some great openSUSEans cause we weren't able to follow our own rules to reimburse the travel costs within 40 days as discussed with SUSE and promised, so, rules? Ok, as TSP we need rules to assure the Program is able to help people to join oSC/Summit or present openSUSE worldwide, but again, with no marketing materials, with no marketing plans, with no marketing strategies, besides oSC and Summit, won't be more than a paid trip.
I've seen many people contributing and I'm thankful for have them around but there is something that I can't understand. We have people around that happened to make us proud more than once but why they are not able to at least be an openSUSE user! Did they love our community that is why they stay? Do they really believe in openSUSE? Just openSUSE opened the doors? Since we are a bunch of nice people is that why they join us? Are we failing having them around since not using openSUSE? #wearedoingsomethingwrong
My points are to show that we have many aspects to care and work on... I really hope that you can see something for us to contribute together.
So, please, stand up who is or wants to be part of openSUSE Marketing Team. If you do already just mention that you are around, if you are a simple follower please consider to join and tell us. If you just want to keep following tell us too cause your view will be necessary to keep us on track. Any contribution is seasonal. If you can be here now tell us.
I hope our Artwork Team/Partners are inside Marketing mailing list, if not please someone call them. Marketing and Artwork need to work together. We rock better together!
I'm writing now cause many things are being said from few perspectives and many decisions will be taken. If we don't stand up now we will be apart from marketing decisions and we will send for the rest of the project the idea that marketing is just necessary for Release times or advertise on twitter, facebook or G+! We must to be more than this, we are more than this.
Where we can re-start. http://en.opensuse.org/Portal:Marketing http://en.opensuse.org/openSUSE:Marketing_team
Please let's move and present a group initiative. We can do better.
Thank you
Izabel Valverde
Now I agree in everything you are saying. My opinion is that we need something that all of us, the people of Marketing team, can work with. I have a thought since we used to have openSUSE Weekly news where most of the marketing people had something to work on every week and beyond the marketing team, also local teams were around translating and so on. Looking back things started to go off the road shortly after The weekly news stopped. Of course the every week task was exhausting but if you like the idea we can talk about the exact period that can be released. This is my opinion and I might be wrong but I just wanted to shere that with the Marketing Team. The infrastructure is there, all it is needed is people to work with it. This will make most of us active again and will bring other people that want to contribute and most of all it will be something that will make the Project more visible(again). I know by experience that translating the Weekly neews made our local community more visisble and gathered people around the Project. People must know the stuff that is going on the openSUSE Project. I think something like that will actually give back life to the Marketing Team and this is what we need. Just my 2 drachmas :P Kostas
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