Diff for "KnowHow/Groups/OrganizeABooth/BoothTimeline"

Differences between revisions 45 and 46
Revision 45 as of 2012-02-16 14:07:05
Size: 7417
Editor: anonymous
Comment:
Revision 46 as of 2012-02-16 14:22:53
Size: 7454
Editor: anonymous
Comment:
Deletions are marked like this. Additions are marked like this.
Line 34: Line 34:
    * The main purpose of our boots is to inform people about our Free Software in general, and about FSFE's actions to promote it in particular. In order to help you spreading the word, we have leaflets and Posters which can be used at the Booth. In some of our Booths, we also have t-shirts, sweatshirts and other merchandising that might be sold [Link to the Merchandise page]     * The main purpose of our boots is to inform people about our Free Software in general, and about FSFE's actions to promote it in particular. In order to help you spreading the word, we have leaflets and Posters which can be used at the Booth. In some of our Booths, we also have t-shirts, sweatshirts and other merchandising that might be sold (see our [[http://fsfe.org/order/order.en.html|merchandising page]]

"One cannot not communicate", Paul Watzlawick

One of the main tasks of the Free Software Foundation Europe is to inform the public about Free Software and related topics. For this, it is essential to be present with a booth on tradeshows, fairs, expos, and other local events. Helping at such a booth is a good way to get active for Free Software. Booth volunteers talk to people to explain Free Software and answer their questions. Working as a booth volunteer means at the same time supporting Free Software, meeting interesting people, and having a lot of fun.

At every event, there will be experienced people from the FSFE present to support the booth volunteers, so it is not necessary at all to be an expert in every single aspect of Free Software. However, some basic knowledge about Free Software and the FSFE is helpful.

The purpose of this page is to help you organising a booth, or participating toa programmed booth. Before starting to think organising a new booth, you might want to consider helping to the organisation of an already programmed booth. Your help is important to us, we don't want it to be wasted!

Time factor

How early in advance should you start organisation activities in order to effectively organise a booth? The most important factor is letting people know in advance, so that other potential volunteers can plan a participation to the event and help you. So, there are four steps/phases:

  • Communication phase: 8 weeks in advance
  • Order Material and Volunteers coordination: 4 weeks in advance
  • Volunteers reminder: 2 weeks
  • Prepare material: 1 weeks

This may seem artificious or complicated to you but it's not the case! Most of those phases just require sending an e-mail to a mailing list or posting a new item to the website. Probably, besides the event itself, the most time-consuming activity is the preparation of the communication material.

First step (8 weeks before the event). Communication is crucial!

As an organisation, FSFE relies on communication among team members and volunteers, in order to assure an effective coordination and cooperation. Please always consider that point. For instance, if you fail communicating properly your intention to organise a booth, you might lose the opportunity to have other volunteers helping you through the organisation process. So the first step is to communicate your intention of organising a booth.

Second step (4 weeks before the event). Obtain communication material and meet volunteers.

  • The main purpose of our boots is to inform people about our Free Software in general, and about FSFE's actions to promote it in particular. In order to help you spreading the word, we have leaflets and Posters which can be used at the Booth. In some of our Booths, we also have t-shirts, sweatshirts and other merchandising that might be sold (see our merchandising page

  • A booth is also an occasion to meet other fellows who live near the event location. There might be people interested in helping you with the Booth organisation. So, organise a Fellowship meeting nearby the event location.
    • - Think about a place where you could meet. That could be the booth but also a bar or a restaurant in the nearby zone. - Is there a fellowship group? So coordinate with them.

      - There is no fellowship group? Write fellowship@fsfeurope.org and forward a message to the fellows living in the area by specifying the postcode of the town where you're organising the event.

Third step (2 weeks before the event)

  • Repeat the previous procedure: contact again fellows in your area!
  • Add the Fellowship meeting to the event list on http://www.fsfe.org/ - if you have no write access for the web pages, please write an email with the proposed text to <web AT fsfeurope DOT org> .

Fourth step (1 week before the event)

  • Download and print the Communication material, including the "Support us" form (see below).

Materials

Check out upcoming booths

Useful resources

Materials

ToDo

  • create eye catching slide show
  • create a map and show our Fellowship groups on it. Give people the chance to add themself to the map
  • create better posters for the booth
  • language code and version control on leaflets


CategoryBooth

KnowHow/Groups/OrganizeABooth/BoothTimeline (last edited 2023-12-15 16:46:31 by tobiasd)