Potential press release for Red Hat to distribute

[Kara Schiltz]

Max Spevack wrote:
> On Mon, 9 Nov 2009, Kara Schiltz wrote:
>
>> I think this is a good news item that we could make some noise with 
>> in the press. It is something that I'd be willing to put out through 
>> the Red Hat channels. However, it's important to note that this press 
>> release and any other future Fedora press releases distributed by Red 
>> Hat would be subject to review and approval. That said, there could 
>> be changes (some minor and others perhaps a little more heavy) to a 
>> press release drafted by the community and distributed via Red Hat 
>> channels.
>>
>> Red Hat always aims to stay true to the spirit of Fedora in the 
>> Fedora-related communications we distribute. But, as a 
>> publicly-traded company there are rules and regulations Red Hat must 
>> follow. All press releases must be reviewed by Red Hat's Legal team 
>> to ensure that we're adhering to SEC and company guidelines. We also 
>> try to follow AP style guidelines which could result in some 
>> formatting changes.
>
> Of course -- and I never thought otherwise. Let's compare past Fedora 
> press releases with a (proposed) new method:
>
> In the past, Paul Frields or I would draft something, show it to one 
> or two people, and then hand it off to you for revisions, legal 
> approval, etc. Then it gets published. The total number of press 
> pieces was pretty low, and we only really did this at release time.
>
> Now, we're trying to figure out a more community-friendly way of 
> writing up things that look and feel like press releases.
>
> We want to be able to give Red Hat first look at this stuff -- for you 
> to be able to say "I like this one, let me work on turning it into 
> something Red Hat can release" and then doing that, and for the other 
> stuff to be distributed via blogs, Fedora Insight, etc -- less formal 
> ways.
>
> That's all.
I'm completely on-board with this approach. Just keep me engaged early 
in the process and I'm happy to gauge whether the news is something that 
might benefit from a harder push through the Red Hat press channels and 
distribution on the wire.
>
>> Let me know if you'd like to move forward in pushing out the Creative 
>> Commons press release via Red Hat press channels. I'm happy to help 
>> get things started!
>
> So for this particular Creative Commons one, the questions we have for 
> you are:
>
> (1) Given the other press releases Red Hat is putting out in the near 
> term, is this something you think is worthwhile for *that particular 
> channel*?
Yep.
>
> (2) If so, then we fully expect that there will be some tweaks -- we 
> are just trying to put together a draft, and the community goal over 
> time is to get better and better such that the tweaks necessary are 
> less, making your job easier.
I'll get started with the review process of the CC press release. Let me 
know if there are any further updates or if I can move forward with the 
current version of the draft.

Thanks!
Kara
>
> (3) If not, we'll figure out other channels of publicizing this news.
>
> Hope that's all a bit more clear.
>
> Thanks as always,
> Max