I remember to see a crazy number of events organized by your LoCo, on the old LoCo Portal. Do these still happen regularly?
While I’m thousands of miles away, I’m very curious to know all about these events.
1 Like
Yes they do. We hold 4 Ubuntu Hours each month. Three of these are on line using Big Blue Button (2 in Tempe and 1 in Phoenix) and one is a physical event (in Sierra Vista). It was decided during the Covid epidemic that we should continue with our events even if some of them must be on line. In addition we hold 2 Linux Installfest/Workshops per month in conjunction with the Phoenix Linux User Group These are also currently on line but hopefully will move back to physical events next month. Location permission is the problem at the time. We also hold 2-3 physical Installfests per year in conjunction with the Cochise Linux User Group (in Sierra Vista, AZ). Attendance has dipped slightly but by continuing to hold events, we intend to keep the interest as high as we can.
Since the Ubuntu Hours are really social hours to spread the gospel, they are easier to run. There is no great preparation for them. Get the word out through newspapers, radio, flyers, etc. and then show up with your sign and Ubuntu laptop ready to talk about the distribution. During Covid that became a problem because restaurants, libraries, etc. were unwilling to provide the free space any longer because of liability and some people were unwilling to venture out to attend. Three of our Ubuntu Hours went to on line status and the fourth (mine in Sierra Vista) continued to have physical events.
Installfests are another matter. It becomes extremely difficult to install at an on line event unless the client has a second computer so our on line installfests have generally turned into workshops at least until we can find a physical location. People bring problems to the event and they are solved by the members present. Interesting piece of information is that we have had a lady from Germany attend many our on line installfest/workshops. The installfests in Sierra Vista have remained physical events. Most of the installs that are conducted by the LoCo are done by us in Sierra Vista since we are still doing physical events.
We also hold 2 on line Team meetings per month to distribute upcoming events, Linux news, and Linux job opportunities. Notes from these meetings are also sent to our mailing list.
3 Likes
That’s impressive! Congratulations!
Like I said Ubuntu Hours are easy. They can start with as little as one person with a sign and a laptop. People are curious so they will stop and ask the question, “What is Ubuntu?” They can be anywhere; fast food restaurants , cafes, coffee houses. Once they start, they can run for a long time. The one that I host has been running for 110 consecutive months without a cancellation.
1 Like
“110 consecutive months without a cancellation”
That is an amazing track record!
1 Like
At Ubuntu-pt we have been doing one social event each month with only one interruption since 2013. Technical events have been more rare, but we now have multiple social events each month (depending on the month), and the Ubuntu-pt also leads something we called “Centro Linux” (which is a tech meetup space with a small computer lab), which does technical events almost every month (but not always about Ubuntu).
It was because I was using the LoCo Portal every month to register our events that I saw you had this every impressive record number of events.
We also had an Ubucon Portugal in 2019 (as a practive for Ubucon Europe 2019), and are trying to make that a regular thing.