OUTLINE OF PROPOSAL Re: [osol-mktg] Re: [osol-discuss] Re: Mascot

[Claire Giordano]

Carl Trusiak wrote:
 >
 > So, what is the next step that we'd like to take with this?  I guess
 > it's establishing the Mascot Contest Committee members.
 >
 > Who all will that be?
 >
 > Carl

Carl:

Thanks for all your ideas and interest.

Due to the summer vacations of many people, I propose we hold off until later in 
August to formulate contest details and structure.  I'd like to make sure we do 
this after the big vacation season is over.  :-)

(And, yes, if you're wondering, that means I have a vacation planned, too!  Yippee!)

Rather than establishing a formal contest committee right now to form the 
rules/structure of the contest, at this point I think we should welcome input 
from anyone who has ideas about structure or prizes or whether to vote or not 
(there are pros and cons to a community vote) and then around the end of August 
either I (or, better yet, Sara Dornsife on my team) will follow up to work with 
the interested parties to get this gig off the ground.

I still think the following approx timetable is a place to start:

- end of Aug:  structures, rules, etc
-  early Sep:  call for submissions
-    mid Oct:  deadline for submissions
-  early Dec:  decision

In the meantime I know I'll be looking at some other contests - how they've run, 
what's worked well, what hasn't - so we don't have to reinvent the wheel here.

Thanks to Carl and Dennis for your interest and ideas.  And I welcome more, too!

Claire


Claire Giordano wrote:
 > Hey everyone:
 >
 > Several of you have suggested that we put together an OpenSolaris mascot
 > contest, which I think it is a great idea.
 >
 > Here's what I propose to do:
 >
 > - My team will send out contest details in August sometime
 >
 >   (things like who will judge, timetables, size/resolution reqs,
 >   prizes, whether there will be a subsequent "museum" for the
 >   submissions, who's eligible, etc etc)
 >
 > - We open up for submissions at the beginning of Sep, after
 >   the summer vacations are over
 >
 > - Deadline for submissions in mid-Oct
 >
 > - Decision by early Dec
 >
 > What do you think?  Do you think folks will be interested?  I think if
 > we put some structure in place for a contest, we will actually get more
 > submissions than we will if we continue our more informal discussion.
 >
 > I would love input on prize ideas.
 >
 > Would also love thinking on how to judge the contest.  There are tons of
 > ways to do it - for some reason my brain has jumped to having a team of
 > 3 people.  I think we should include at least one experienced artist in
 > the mix as well.  I'm sure I will have way more people interested in
 > judging than slots to judge - but I'll try hard not to step on any
 > toes.  Perhaps the fact that this will take TIME may dissuade some
 > folks.  :-)
 >
 > Let me know your thoughts.  FYI, I'm not in the office on Fri but will
 > peek back at your responses on Monday...
 >
 > Claire
> 
> carl.trusiak at robustaos.com wrote:
> 
>> I like your ideas for this.  However, wouldn't it be better to have the
>> committee establish the contest rules and dead lines, but, allow the 
>> final
>> selection to be a Community vote rather than a Judged event.  I personnal
>> feel this will aid in community acceptance.
>>
>> The voting rules could be as simple as Voting starts Nov 1st, and ends 
>> Nov
>> 15th.
>> To cast your vote, you must have a valid OpenSolaris.org login.
>> Each login can cast one vote.
>>
>>
>> Carl
>>
>>  
>>
>>> On 7/15/05, Claire Giordano <claire.giordano at sun.com> wrote:
>>>   
>>>
>>>> Hey everyone:
>>>>
>>>> Several of you have suggested that we put together an OpenSolaris 
>>>> mascot
>>>> contest, which I think it is a great idea.
>>>>     
>>>
>>> Somehow a contest doesn't feel like a "discussion".  It feels like the
>>> opinion of three people will determine something long long term.
>>> Without discussion.  I think that the contest is a good way to get
>>> started.  Perhaps the result would be two options at the end.
>>>
>>> Then these two are posted to the world and then the community can take
>>> a democratic vote.
>>>
>>> That feels like a "choice" and a "discussion".
>>>
>>> One big problem with the democratic process is that a lot of time can
>>> go by with lots of discussion but no real action taken.  If stagnation
>>> like that takes place then perhaps the CAB can stand up and say
>>> something decisive.  Democracy in the absence of real leadership often
>>> fails horribly as people will not be motivated or attracted to a
>>> particular decision.  This is why authority often stems from power and
>>> control as opposed to free "choice" and long never ending discussions.
>>> [ Often because of posts by guys like me with free form core dumps
>>> from my brain. ]
>>>
>>> So someone had to stand up and do something.
>>>
>>> Thank you Claire.  This project needs a mascot.
>>>
>>> Now how to pick it is yet another battle.
>>>
>>> Because this is a community with a really big corporation bolted onto
>>> the side of it there is a fine line to walk with that whole authority
>>> via power or legal drama issue ( i.e: IP rights anyone?). Somehow it
>>> feels "wrong" in a fuzzy way to have three strangers dictate what the
>>> mascot will be for such a critical long term project.
>>>
>>> But something has to be done.  We need a mascot.  We have some options
>>> but no process.
>>>
>>> And no clear leadership on the matter.
>>>
>>> So unless someone has a stroke of genius and lightning strikes then
>>> you have hit a viable mechanism to achieve action.  Pick a mascot via
>>> the ol' contest game.  Roll out that old chestnut.  With the option
>>> for some revolt from people.
>>>
>>> So consider my name as a volunteer judge.  I promise not to simply go
>>> with my friend Rich Teer and his dog named judge. :-)
>>>
>>> If anyone thinks I have no artistic merit then they can let me know.
>>>
>>> Sorry for the long winding posts but sometime I feel like a fuzzy
>>> thing like this needs to have a brain dump with feelings in it.  This
>>> is not a one plus one equals two kind of geek thing with obvious
>>> answers or a deterministic process.  Its a "oh wow this is nice" and
>>> "I like that" and no no no you can't hang that picture on my wall and
>>> often times a "that's just wrong". :-)
>>>
>>> So I fully expect a real process when it comes to picking a mascot.
>>>
>>> Dennis
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> opensolaris-mktg mailing list
>>> opensolaris-mktg at opensolaris.org
>>>
>>>   
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>  
>>
> 
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