Proposal: The New Fedora Marketing

Paul W. Frields stickster at gmail.com
Fri Feb 20 13:49:38 UTC 2009


On Thu, Feb 19, 2009 at 06:16:46PM +0100, Steven Moix wrote:
> On Wed, 2009-02-18 at 18:18 -0500, Jack Aboutboul wrote:
> > Hello All,
> > 
> > Over the past few weeks, some of us have been diligently working on a 
> > number of projects on the marketing front.  As many of you know, and as 
> > many of you have participated, I have over the last two weeks been 
> > talking to many of us, privately, trying to poll the crowd and see what 
> > those amongst us thought were the best areas for improvement and/or 
> > optimization of the marketing team.  Based on that feedback, I've 
> > developed this proposal which lays out those key areas, identifies what 
> > can be improved upon and how we can go about doing it.  The solution 
> > pretty much encompasses everything, so I'll just present the 3 key 
> > issues and then what I think is the best course forward.  Please note, I 
> > am looking to solicit feedback on this, this isnt like a dictatorial 
> > edict or anything, just one man's thoughts.
> > 
> > As it stands right now, Fedora Marketing is very strong.  I make that 
> > statement based on the character of all those involved and the quality 
> > of the discussions which we have.  There is a perceived weakness 
> > however, which many attribute to lack of communication.  The truth is, I 
> > think that any weakness which exists, whether its lack of organization 
> > or the relatively low amount of traffic on the mailing list I attribute 
> > to an inefficient workflow.  So I ask myself, and everyone else, maybe 
> > there is alot of room for improvement and a maybe its just a few small 
> > steps we can take that can have us running at max efficiency?
> > 
> > There are 3 main areas in which we can improve:
> > 
> > 1. Better organization and workflow - we know what we need to do, just 
> > that often times we don't know when.  Also, records and methods of 
> > tracking are sufficient, sub-optimally efficient.
> > 2. Better and clearer delegation of tasks - we know what we need to do, 
> > just that often times, we don't know who is responsible for it.  A large 
> > problem with this also is that some people refrain from picking up 
> > certain tasks because they assume it belongs to someone are afraid to 
> > step on toes.
> > 3. Better coordination with other sub projects and project groups - part 
> > of marketings goal relies on 3 other groups, ambassadors, art and docs.  
> > There are ample opportunities for improving communication, coordination 
> > and collaboration with these three teams, to ensure that we get done 
> > what we need to get done and that they get done what they need to get 
> > done which requires input from us.
> > 
> > The proposed solution:
> > 
> > A better, calendar based, workflow!  The reality is that our workflow is 
> > cyclical in nature, it is based on a release schedule and we have mostly 
> > the same, or a majority of similar tasks/milestones that need to be done 
> > for each release.  If we shift our current workflow and task tracking to 
> > a similar scheme, it may be easier for us to stay on top of things and 
> > operate more efficiently.  It also allows us to have clear "due dates" 
> > for each item, and have it clearly marked with an owner.  Right off the 
> > bat I see us knocking out two of our major issues.  Plus, clarity when 
> > it comes to responsibility and accountability will facilitate better 
> > communications amongst ourselves.  Also, I propose that part of this 
> > schedule system includes 2-3 meetings with members of the other relevant 
> > projects, and this way, anything that hinges on us for them, or them on 
> > us, will be clearly defined, we achieve mutual understanding, and can 
> > delegate those tasks to people in Marketing.
> > 
> > So for example, we start out at T-Minus 6 weeks from the alpha, have 
> > everything necessary from that until the alpha on a grid marked with a 
> > task, date, owner.  Same for Beta, same for GA.  A Good example can be 
> > found at John Poelstra's Schedule Pages found here 
> > http://poelstra.fedorapeople.org/schedules/f-11/ .
> > 
> > Also, this should all be kept under 
> > https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Marketing/Schedule with trailing 
> > /releasever and an anchor from that main page to whatever the current 
> > release is.
> > 
> > A little bit of refactoring might do us alot of good, but we all need 
> > each other's feedback and each other's help, as a team and as a community!
> > 
> > What do you guys think?
> > 
> 
> Right now, I could see something like this as a starting structure:
> 
> Milestones, based on
> https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/11/Schedule:
> 
> FUDCon:
> * Renew the news distribution network people list to always have
> motivated people
> * Cleanup the wiki from the obsolete marketing cycles
> * Cycle the wiki pages to the new release
> 
> Alpha Release:
> * Assign marketing people to Fedora features/developers for the rest of
> the cycle
> * Assign marketing people to SIGs for the rest of the cycle
> 
> Feature Freeze:
> * Update the features page
> * Update the talking points
> 
> Beta Release:
> * Developer interviews on the coming release?
> 
> Preview Release (artwork is generally done at this point):
> * Update the screenshots page
> * Update the Fedora tour page

* Hold joint meeting with FAMSCo or Ambassadors en masse to make sure
  they understand talkign points?

> Final Release:
> * Spam the world

I'd add:

* Monitor community news sites to provide corrections or additional
  info as needed

* Contact independent journos or podcasters for followup

> * Have a beer

-- 
Paul W. Frields                                http://paul.frields.org/
  gpg fingerprint: 3DA6 A0AC 6D58 FEC4 0233  5906 ACDB C937 BD11 3717
  http://redhat.com/   -  -  -  -   http://pfrields.fedorapeople.org/
  irc.freenode.net: stickster @ #fedora-docs, #fedora-devel, #fredlug
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