Hi,
----- On 9/2/07, Sivabalan Thirunavukkarasu <siva886@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
| Unlike Carte Blanche, we would like to have more fun related events
| than technical demos
\--
There can still be technical demos. What matters is how you 'present' it:
Suggestion 1: Please read:
https://lists.tce.edu/pipermail/glugot/2007-August/001215.html
Suggestion 2: You can also try the concept of "musical chairs".
Instead of students explaining demos to the visitors, give the
visitors a 5-minute chance to sit before the computer in each stall
and let them try the demo. Keep some kinda buzzer so you can boot them
off the chair, else, everyone will not want to leave the 'gaming'
stall :)
Most lectures/BOFs are discussions. Moreover, this is already done in
user-group meetings. So, how different would your event be? Hands-on
experience to FOSS is what we would like the visitors to have, so they
can try it on their own. But, it is hard to get hands-on BOFs in India
because:
1. Not everyone has a laptop, and it is also quite hard to setup as
many computers as possible for the visitors to try them.
2. When you have a 'moving population' of visitors, it is hard to keep
them seated for a session.
3. Different people have different interests, so it is not good to
keep them locked down with fixed, timed lectures/sessions. Worst part
is that these sessions are held in parallel, and it is quite difficult
to pick your sessions.
All conferences/unconferences just copy each other and replicate the
same. But, if you want to showcase your uniqueness, you need to be
different every time you conduct an event, unless it is in a different
venue _and_ a new target audience.
Regarding monthly/weekly user group meetings, some of the
talks/discussions must be changed to hackfests. I understand that not
all have laptops. But, some make-shift trolleys need to be made at
these venues to easily transport users' computers.
Regards,
SK
--
Shakthi Kannan
http://www.shakthimaan.com