[Ubuntu-SG] Ubuntu Talk at NUS

[C David Rigby]

This one is pretty long - hang with me!

On Sat, 2009-02-21 at 22:24 +0800, Ho Fucai wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> Just for your info. U got to let me know your plans really soon. Our
> acad time table looks something like this :
> 
> 
> Reading Week:
> Sat 18 Apr - Fri 24 Apr 2009
> 
> Examination:
> Sat 25 Apr - Sat 9 May 2009 (i) & (j)
> 
> So I think it would be better if we could finalise the plans ASAP and
> slowly tweak any tiny details at a later stage. 
> 
> Ho Fucai
> 

Hello Ho Fucai,

Henceforth, I am going to refer to the presentations as the "Ubuntu
Workshop". We are in agreement that we would like to have an
interactive, hands-on experience for our participants.

I am copying a number of other interested parties on this email. I
welcome (indeed, encourage!) all feedback from all of you, as well as
others to whom you forward this email. (Please do so!) It saves me the
effort of retyping, and I think we can all benefit from widening the
conversation at this point. For the immediate topic of the Ubuntu
Workshop at NUS, the next paragraph addresses your concerns as quoted
above. After that,  I outline our proposal in greater detail.

The gist of our proposal is that Team Ubuntu Singapore, in collaboration
with linuxNUS, will give a workshop or series of workshops starting with
the first session on Wed, 18 March 2009, starting at 16:00 or 17:00. The
planned duration would be a two hour session with a short break in the
middle. From my experience, it is likely that a number of participants
will continue to chat after the official end of the session. However, we
should be ready to turn over the seminar room or lab to other users
after two hours. If there is interest on the part of the participants
for a more in-depth series of workshops, we could continue at the same
times on Wednesdays 25 Mar, 1 and 8 April.

_Development & Delivery of Workshop(s) - Detailed Outline, Tentative_

Team Ubuntu Singapore (TUSG) had a very productive meeting yesterday.
The principle topic of discussion was the proposed workshops. Our
partner group Open Source Software Society (OS3) at SMU is also
interested working together to do something similar at SMU-SIS.
Ultimately, we concluded that we could not make a detailed plan for one
or more workshops without first determining the requirements and
interests of our audiences. So, here is how I would like to proceed:

1. First, I need to turn several pages of scribbled notes into readable
minutes of the TUSG meeting. This will help my group orient.

2. Within a couple of days, I will produce a "lesson plan" for the
presentation(s) that will encompass an exhaustive introduction to the
installation and use of Ubuntu. I will circulate this through the usual
channels, adding topics as those receiving this email offer their
feedback.

3. From this lesson plan, we can build a survey for potential
participants, as you proposed in a prior email. Vincent, we can consider
a similar mechanism for SMU-SIS participants. Alternately, we can depend
on the members of linuxNUS, NUS School Of Computing Comp Club, and OS3
to indicate what would be best for their own schools. In our discussion
yesterday, TUSG members noted that the different audiences (business
students at SMU, comp sci students at NUS) would probably benefit most
from workshops which are customized for a particular group. This is a
point also emphasized by Vincent during our conversation at OSSPAC last
Tuesday.

4. If we decide on a survey of potential participants, then please
advise how best to deliver it. Left to my own devices, I would use
Google Docs to allow those interested to provide their feedback. If I am
going to build a survey, it needs to be available to the potential
participants no later than the Sun 1 March.

5. Based on the number of qualified volunteers available from our
groups, we will need to set a limit on the number of participants.
Ideally, we should have one volunteer for every three or four
participants, since we envision a lot of "hands-on" activities at the
presentation.

We need to define what we mean by "qualified volunteer". Basically, it
should be someone that understands Ubuntu well enough to run it from
Live CD, Live USB, install it to hard disk and do basic configuration.
These people would be available to assist participants over any "rough
spots", even if they are not principle presenters at the workshop.

We should know the number of qualified volunteers available by Sun 1
March.

6. Finally, with the survey results and number of participants in hand,
we can plan and practice the workshop(s). Practice is very important to
get the pacing and length of the workshop right. Ideally, we would like
to do this practice in the same location where the workshop will be
held.

Also, other volunteers from our groups that do not want to describe
themselves as "qualified" would be extremely useful to us as
participants in the practice sessions. After which, they would be
qualified!


Ho Fucai, below I respond to some of your other remarks and information.
> 
> ______________________________________________________________________
> From: C David Rigby <c.david.rigby at gmail.com>
> To: ho_fucai at yahoo.com.sg
> Cc: cheefull at nus.edu.sg; hongjingqing at hotmail.com; Ubuntu Singapore
> Mailing List <ubuntu-sg at lists.ubuntu.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, 11 February 2009 6:16:50
> Subject: Re: Ubuntu Talk at NUS
> 
> Hello Ho Fucai and friends,
> 
> Thanks for the info. Sounds like you have an excellent venue for
> presentations. I will work with my Team on designing our presentation
> or
> series of presentations. We will be back in touch after our meeting of
> 21 February with a concrete proposal.
> 
> Regards
> C David Rigby
> 
> On Wed, 2009-02-11 at 00:19 +0800, Ho Fucai wrote:
> > Hi hi,
> > 
> > To answer your questions.
> > 
> > - Where at NUS will the presentation be held?
> > - What facilities are available (e.g., network connections,
> projector,
> > lab room, lecture room)?
> > It depends on ur requirements actually. I could book seminar rooms
> for
> > u guys. Even programming labs(but those run on windows). The venue
> > will be on School Of Computing grounds. And yah..rooms are subjected
> > to availability (shouldn't be a prob!). I could also request for
> > students to bring their own laptops for them to try ubuntu out.
> > 

The best of these options would be a seminar room with projector, and
participants bring their own laptops. If we do not perform installations
of Ubuntu to hard disks, then use of a Windows-equipped lab would be
adequate. For this environment, we would use only Live CDs, and any
installations would be to externally attached USB media.

> > - How much time is allotted for TUSG's presentation?
> > The 'unofficial' time for talks in School Of Computing should be
> > wednesday from 4pm onwards. 
> > 

Two hours from 16:00 is a reasonable length for an afternoon workshop.
That leaves plenty of time for people to have dinner and still get a
good night's sleep!

> > - What publicity are you doing for the event? Is there something we
> > can
> > do to help with publicity?
> > We would be helping to raise awareness through mass mailing all SOC
> > students. They will be registering with us. So we would be able to
> > tell u the expected size of the audience.

If you think there will be a really big turn out, then we should do a
more traditional, "Power Point slides" style presentation. Perhaps that
is how we should run the very first one anyway? Then the most
interested, usually a smaller group, could return for later workshops
with a more hands-on, interactive approach.

I am completely open to considering something like that if you and your
group think it is a better approach. Really, I need feedback here as to
what is most appropriate.

Ultimately, though, a smaller group that gets a more intensive
experience gains the most from a workshop. It's a trade off between the
number of participants and the intensity of the program.

We can certainly do it again at a later date if we cannot work all
interested parties into the first workshop(s).

>  It would be nice if you
> > could design some electronic posters and etc. so that we could mail
> > them out.
> > 

I will certainly be able to produce some publicity material for you.
PDFs and/or HTML OK?

> > - What sort of presentation are you looking for? We can do a lecture
> &
> > demonstration, but even better would be a hands-on activity. For
> > example, if sufficient time is available we could do an installfest
> > event where we actually install Ubuntu on the participants'
> computers.
> > Being able to do something like that is dependent on time allotted
> and
> > facilities available.
> > 
> > We don't mind having a series of talks. We would definitely look
> > forward to having a workshop\hands-on session. As I'd mentioned, I
> > could inform the students to bring their laptops for the event.
> Maybe
> > you could suggest having a few topics. I could sendout a mail/survey
> > asking students if they are interested in any of the topics.
> Muhammad
> > Heidir had actually asked if its possible to set up a booth of sorts
> > to help people install ubuntu on their systems. I had actually
> spoken
> > to relevant authorities in school and it is possible for you to use
> > the public areas in School Of Computing. Of course, I can only
> confirm
> > this once I know your plans.
> > 

All of this seems to be covered by the discussion in the outline above.
At this point, it is pretty fluid. I agree with your point from the
beginning of this now very long email - let's get the facility
reservations now, then we hammer out the details.

> > - Will TUSG's presentation be part of a larger event that includes
> > other
> > groups?
> > Nope! It will not. Unless you are interested in bringing in other
> > open-source partners. We may be having talks by other parties.
> > However, those events would be isolated from yours.
> > 

Just so. I have recently been in touch with Kheng Hui Yeo of linuxNUS.
They have already conducted an Ubuntu 8.10 installfest activity. Working
with them will help us all leverage our experience for a better
workshop.

> > Hope my informal reply answer most of your questions.
> > 
> > Ho Fucai
> 

Yes - this is a good start. I look forward to working with everyone on
this project.

Regards
C David Rigby