[H-GEN] Room Bookings Update

[Anthony Towns]

On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 01:21:20PM +1000, Russell Stuart wrote:
> Probably not for most people.  But possibly it would for a
> few.  It is a numbers game.  Get 100 people through the door 
> asking how fix an error with their open source proggie and 
> it seems likely one might like us enough to hang around.

It's not just numbers, it's percentages. From Firefox+Windows users who
haven't already tried Linux, you might get 0.01% of people interested in
trying a livecd; from Firefox advocates, you might get 1-5%; from people
who've already tried a livecd and want to know more you'll probably
get 20%.

For ten new members, do you want to deal with 99,990 problems with Firefox
on Windows that go nowhere, or 40 people who decide Ubuntu really is
too hard, and they're happy with their current system?

> I don't know why they do it now.  That 
> is a worry, because if they ever ask the question "whats in 
> it for us" - how do we answer?

"We're available for students and lecturers to help with Unix/Linux
issues and to connect them with the broader Unix/Linux ecosystem on a
social level; also our membership includes a number of UQ alumni that
would be sad to see us go."

Alternatively, "Thanks so much for your support to date, and of course
we understand the budgetary constraints. We'll find a new location for
our meetings. Thanks again!"

If you want to make up new answers, "regular talks on developments
in Unix/Linux/free and open source software" would seem a lot more
interesting than "free tech support" anyway... Cue Elspeth?

Cheers,
aj

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