FreeLists / openbeos / [openbeos] Re: Waltercon 07

["Jorge G. Mare (a.k.a. Koki)" <koki@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Simon,

Simon Taylor wrote:
> Hi Koki,
>
>   
> > From: "Jorge G. Mare (a.k.a. Koki)" <koki@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Date: 2007/04/30 Mon PM 05:19:09 GMT
> > To: openbeos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: [openbeos] Re: Waltercon 07
> >
> > Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, when organizing an event, 
> > you first think about what general goals you want to achieve with it, 
> > and then figure out what you need to do to pursue those goals. IOW, your 
> > goals for the event should determine it's content and tone, and not the 
> > other way around. This is critical to build perceived value beforehand, 
> > something that is in turn critical to attract potential attendees beyond 
> > the circle of regulars. So instead of taking a let's see what we can get 
> > approach, I think Haiku needs to set at least a general direction for WC 
> > first.
> >     
> IMHO it's still too early in the lifecycle of the project for a professional, business-style 
> conference. There is not much of interest - if representatives from software companies are 
> interested in developing software for Haiku there is not a lot we could say to them besides 
> "develop for BeOS, that dead operating system from about 6 years ago, as we use the same 
> API". Attracting the wrong people too early with a professional-style conference will put them 
> off attending when we do actually have a reasonable proposition for them - in the same way 
> releasing "before it's ready" might put off casual users.
>   
Who talked about a professional, business-style conference?

> What *is* very useful work to the project right now is the activity that has 
> been going on raising the awareness of Haiku - through events like SCaLE and 
> the Google Tech Talk. That allows us to reach the interested-geek audience that 
> is more than capable of looking to the web and finding more information about 
> Haiku and BeOS.
>   
Yes, definitely. But awareness alone does not work. Please, read below.

> Those same interested-geeks will not really be attracted to any event on the 
> basis of the talks on offer IMHO. Personally I would attend WC/BG/TLA for the 
> opportunity to meet and chat to the people behind the code rather than on the 
> basis of the program of presentations.
>   
I think you misunderstand the basics of what I am proposing. The target 
audience for WC should not be based purely on geekiness; that's one 
aspect of your target profile, but not the only one, not even the most 
important one if you make expanding your developer base one of the key 
goals of WC (this is the premise of all I am saying).
If Haiku wants to leverage WC as a tool to grow it's developer base, 
then it has to target people beyond the usual existing developer base. 
Regardless of their geekiness, people not familiar with Haiku have 
different educational/informational needs and expectations from those 
regulars who have been around for years. Your program needs to include 
content that suits their needs if you even want to have a chance to 
attract such an audience. It's about building value that your potential 
target audience will find worth. Having the people behind the code is 
definitely a start (which is why, at least at this point, Europe is 
definitely a better place than the US for WC); but that alone is not 
compelling enough.
In marketing you talk about the process of awareness > understanding > 
acceptance, and how one thing will not work without the other. The 
awareness activities such as SCaLE, Google Tech Talk and others have to 
be followed by activities that pursue the understanding that can lead to 
acceptance among the audience that you were able to capture in your 
first step of the process. Acceptance is the *ultimate* goal, and if you 
don't pursue it, you have wasted your awareness effort for the most 
part. WalterCon can and should try to fulfill that important role of 
providing the understanding part as a way of converting awareness into 
acceptance. It is one of the most suited tool to do so, if its focused 
and planned that way (instead of planning it as a get together for the 
regulars).
A well structured program with the *right mix* of people plus 
educational, informational and some social activities *adequately and 
pervasively* articulated through the *right* channels can definitely 
grow your target audience. I have no doubt that geeks can find their way 
through documents on the internet; but I think you miss a fundamental 
point: attending a conference can give them the opportunity to absorb 
knowledge much faster and directly from the source; additionally, it 
gives them a chance to meet the people behind the code and to integrate 
into easily find their way into the community. It is that mix that 
counts, and if carefully planned and articulated, it definitely has the 
potential to give the desired results.
> It's foolish to think that we have a proposition that will lead professional 
> business people with no Haiku knowledge to fork out large sums of money to 
> attend any event. It really doesn't matter what talks there are, how organised 
> the event is, etc - the core problem is that Haiku is not ready for that 
> audience yet. The people who will attend are those who care about the project 
> (the core regulars) or interested people who happen to be nearby. Even with all 
> the will, marketing budget, and time in the world I don't think that will 
> change until Haiku has had a release and is a platform people can use to build 
> 3rd party stuff on top of.
>   
Again, I think you totally misinterpreted what I wrote. Where did I say 
anything about professional business people?
Cheers,

Koki