Ubuntu Wiki

Support Saturday #2

This event was held on Saturday January 30th 2009. Complete event history and planning page is here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CanadianTeam/Vancouver/SupportSaturdays/Planning/Session2

If you were at the event as a "Support Hero" in either the Tech Room or the Marketing Room please add your thoughts to items #1 and #2 below.

1. Things That Worked Well

• VCC location was central and accessible. Good facilities.
• LCD Projector, whiteboards, tables, chairs
• Support Heroes were friendly, and enthusiastic
• Good teamwork and can-do attitude
• Friendly assistance/sponsorship by our member to get the VCC space
• Functional internet connection (wired and wireless)
• Good, friendly welcome and registration for guests
• Good sign-in diligence. All guests signed-in.
• Registration at event. We were able to sign up two new members. (With more public this could have been a great way to boost group numbers.)
• High participation level from group as SupportHeroes/Heroines
• Good coordination with security. Rooms were unlocked on time, and re-locked promptly after the event
• Adequate signage at VCC with arrows and room number
• Inter-room communication (radios) and hand-off
• Good diligence in filling out Support Requests

2. Things That Need to be Fixed or Improved

• Need all Support Heroes present at planning meetings and dress rehearsal so we aren't figuring things out while at the event (moving planning sessions to Saturdays would likely help).

• Need more input to this page from all who attended
• Need higher attendance from general public (drop-ins)
• Need better publicity on day of event. Flyers at busy Skytrain stations perhaps?
• Need earlier promotion and wider flyer coverage
• Need more frequent sessions so the community begins to know we are here, and so the events become more routine to organize and run.
• Need a better configuration for the Marketing Room. Something that puts tables away from walls in more of a "trade show" setting
• Need stronger triage process, so we can ensure that the right people are getting the right issues. (List of specialties might help. i.e. "Where to send what")
• Flat-panel LCD's would work better than CRT's (save space, save power, easier to transport)
• Need a morning briefing/huddle once everything is set-up so that we have a good understanding of everyone's role, the tech environment, the marketing environment
• Need a tech tutorial for the Support Heroes at the beginning of the session, before it opens, to review where the servers are, how to connect, where to get ISO's, and other capabilities in the support environment
• Need more compelling take-away materials (We did a bit better this time though).
• Need better/stronger encouragement to donate, to make meetings self-funding
• Need more caterers to provide food and refreshments to the Support Heroes at lunch time
• Need more snacks (cookies, etc) for guests
• Need additional planning session(s)
• Need a "gopher" to run for items that have been forgotten, overlooked, lost
• Need a secure room/area to store Support Hero's coats, personal effects, etc. (This would reduce clutter in the rooms).
• Need redundancy in the materials list so that multiple people are signed up to provide things, in case a Support Hero is late or cannot attend
• Need a phone number on site for Support Heroes to call in if delayed or unable to attend
• Need a stronger process for problem triage and hand-off when guests needing support arrive
• Need to ensure that all Support Heroes (not just the techs) are fully conversant with current release
• Need a team review of problems and how they were solved to make repeat solutions easier, and to develop a "play book" of how we solve common problems/issues
• Need a live demo on how to make the most of the servers that Kim and Stefan put together.
• Need some sort of reference material (ie. Wiki) on previous Support Saturday problems/solutions.

3. Thoughts From People Who Came for Help or Information

(Add information here from people who write in.)

4. Thoughts From People Who Weren't There

(People who provide helpful/useful information based on what they heard about the event.)

Support Saturday #1

This event was held on Saturday December 5th 2009. Complete event history and planning page is here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CanadianTeam/Vancouver/SupportSaturdays/Planning/Session1

If you were at the event as a "Support Hero" please add your thoughts to items #1 and #2 below.

1. Things That Worked Well

• VCC location was central and accessible.
• Bathrooms near the room
• Entrance near the room
• LCD Projector, whiteboards, tables, chairs
• Support Heroes were friendly, and enthusiastic
• Good teamwork and can-do attitude
• Good guest attendance numbers
• Friendly assistance by our member to get the VCC space

2. Things That Need to be Fixed or Improved

• Need higher participation levels from group (180 members total, only 10 showed interest, and of those, even fewer participated)
• Need more frequent sessions so the community begins to know we are here, and so the events become more routine to organize and run
• Need larger space, or separate spaces for demos and technical help
• Need a functional internet connection (wired and wireless)
• We needed a quiet room to get into the more advanced problems so that one could peruse and ponder without being interrupted (the tech room)
• More help for the really advanced problems, we should not have overwhelmed heros
• More Support Heroes that are at the 'advanced' level
• More Support Heroes at all levels. We Should try to have no more than 2 people being helped per hero.
• More power bars (minimum of 6 outlets per wall outlet)
• Flat-panel LCD's would work better than CRT's (save space, save power, easier to transport)
• Need a schematic (system drawing) of the tech environment
• Need a tech tutorial for the Support Heroes at the beginning of the session, before it opens, to review where the servers are, how to connect, where to get ISO's, and other capabilities in the support environment
• Need better sign-in diligence. Many guests did not sign in or did so illegibly
• Need to get better at translating attendance into new group members. Only a small number of guests signed up after the event
• Need a station at the event to do sign ups to the group
• Need more compelling take-away materials
• Need better/stronger encouragement to donate, to make meetings self-funding
• Need better coordination with security so that the room is unlocked on time, and re-locked promptly after the event
• Need more signage with arrows to direct people to the room
• Need all Support Heroes present at planning meetings and dress rehearsal so we aren't figuring things out and organizing while at the event
• Need more caterers to provide food and refreshments to the Support Heroes at lunch time
• Need snacks (cookies, etc) for guests
• Need additional planning session(s)
• Need a sign-up terminal at the session. This should be pointed to the group membership site so that attendees translate into new members
• Need more greeters to ensure that everyone receives a "smile and a friendly face" as soon as they arrive
• Need a "gopher" to run for items that have been forgotten, overlooked, lost
• Need a secure room to store Support Hero's coats, personal effects, etc
• Need redundancy in the materials list so that multiple people are signed up to provide things, in case a Support Hero is late or cannot attend
• Need a phone number on site for Support Heroes to call in if delayed or unable to attend
• Need to indicate that Building "B" is at 1120 E.7th ave. for future events at VCC (if we are there, and in that building)
• Need a stronger process for problem triage and hand-off when guests needing support arrive
• Need inter-room communication so we can hand off from one room to the next without a disruption
• Need a log of problems and how they were solved to make repeat solutions easier
• Need to ensure that all Support Heroes (not just the techs) are fully conversant with current release

3. Thoughts From People Who Came for Help or Information

(Add information here from people who write in.)

4. Thoughts From People Who Weren't There

(People who provide helpful/useful information based on what they heard about the event.)