[K12OSN] Some "community friendly" presentation ideas

[Bill Bardon]

On Friday, Sep 09 Shawn Powers wrote:
> Thanks for any advice.  I'm not used to presenting to non-geeks, 
> normally I talk about Linux to a crowd of techies...

What people will come away with will be in two parts: a few simple facts
they can remember, and an emotional response to what they saw.  (Most
wouldn't like to admit to this second part, but it's human nature.)

Second part first: have at least one of the iMacs already booted up when
people come in, and running as many apps as it can handle gracefully.
Motion and color evoke the strongest response, so get some flashy things
on screen, including a looping video if possible.  All this glitz is not
to manipulate the audience, just to convince them that Linux is not the
command-line black screen they may have thought.

Now as to the first part, the few simple facts: freeDOM, security,
compatibility.

Emphasize the free-LIBRE aspect of open source over the dollars. 
Dollars can be dealt with, (Microsoft can give away free browsers and
take over a market) but freeDOM is more important.

Yes, Linux is free, but people will argue TCO six ways to Sunday.  The
inarguable advantage of open source is that you can use it wherever YOU
want, however you want, as often as you want, for as long as you want. 
It's the technology that enables you to equip a school lab for only the
cost of used hardware.  It's the software that parents and students can
install for free on their home computers as well (OpenOffice, Firefox,
GIMP) and pass on to their friends.

Second fact: It wouldn't hurt to mention that, because Linux (and BSD
and Mac OS X) were designed from the ground up to be multi-user,
networkable OSes, they are invulnerable to viruses and spyware.  This is
a factor conspicuously absent from most TCO studies, and a real hot
button with Windows users.  They are sick of fighting the malware.

Third fact: Linux is compatible.  It works, thanks to OOo and others,
with most Microsoft formats quite well.

Take-away facts to remember:  freeDOM, security, compatibility. FreeDOM,
security, compatibility; freeDOM, security, compatibility. Drum those
three facts all day long, and your audience will have a good idea of why
Linux is a great idea.

You probably knew all this already, but I hope some part of it helps you
with your presentation, Shawn!  Relax and have fun, you -know- you've
got something good to show them.


-- 
Bill Bardon
COMPUTASSIST
Omaha, Nebraska
http://www.computassist.com