Getting your LoCo team approved

Purpose

The purpose behind this page is to explain what a team needs to do to move from the New Teams or Unapproved category to the Approved Teams category.

LoCo Team Categories Defined

In Ubuntu the Local Communities or LoCo Teams are organized into two categories of teams:

• Unapproved Teams - are teams that are in the process of getting started (and listed under New Teams) and have not yet been “officially” approved as an Ubuntu LoCo team or those teams which no longer hold the status of approved.

• Approved Teams - are teams that are up and running, making effective use of the required resources and as a team are making productive progress.

When a LoCo team is approved, it is then eligible to receive additional Canonical funded benefits [NEED LINK TO LIST] such as marketing materials. An approved team is also considered “official” NEED LINK TO THE DEFINITION AS USED BY CANONICAL AND UBUNTU by the Ubuntu project. Additionally, approved teams will be re-assessed every two years in order to maintain its approved status.

Is The Team Ready?

The first question team leaders should ask, “Is our team ready for approval?” When a New Team via its leaders determine the answer to the teams readiness is “yes”, then there are a few things about the LoCo Council’s decision making process that the team leaders and its members need to know.

Approval Process Purpose and Application Criteria

The purpose of the LoCo Team approval process is to ensure that a LoCo team is an active resource for Ubuntu enthusiasts in a local geographical area and that as a team it offers both help and information to those who are interested in contributing to the Ubuntu community. The LoCo Council will use the following criteria when evaluating team applications:

Resources

(More details how to get these resources setup can be found on the LoCo Team Howto wiki page)- make sure the naming of the LoCo team and all ISO codes NEED LINK follow the correct naming protocol. It is very important that this protocol be used and as the LoCo Council will verify and ensure its usage as part of the approval process. More information on this naming protocol can be found at: NEED LINK.

The criteria listed below is evaluated on a team by team basis and may be considered differently depending on the connectivity limitations of the applying LoCo Team’s country.

• Mailing list set up.

• IRC channel on Freenode (irc.freenode.net).

• Team wiki pages set up on the Ubuntu Wiki or on the teams own website/wiki

• Team launchpad account should be setup using the correct naming protocol.

Experience

• What has the team done so far?
• Has the team participated in any advocacy, exhibitions, support or other activities? If yes, please give details of these activities. Include any supporting documentation--pictures, blog posts, articles, Social Media mentions etc.

• The LoCo Council recommends that the team has participated in at least three Ubuntu global activities. These could include but are not limited to the following: Ubuntu Global Jam, Ubuntu Bug Jam, Ubuntu Launch(Release)Party, and more.

• The LoCo Council recommends a team have at least eight months of activity and are using team reports prior to applying for approval. However, it is important to understand, that depending on activity levels a team may be advised to wait to apply. If members of LoCo Council advise this course of action, then the applying team will be advised on the suggested length of time to wait for applying for approval and will be given suggestions about what areas of improvement the team may wish to focus its efforts.

Roadmap

• Does the team have an idea of what goals it wants to achieve and what projects it should work on to achieve those goals?

• Future planned activities - Teams which have future events planned give the LoCo Council confidence that a team is committed to staying active and building the team. These future planned activities should be included on the team’s roadmap and added to the Local Team Portal (LTP) if at all possible.

Membership

Are there currently Ubuntu members participating on the LoCo Team? Having an Ubuntu Member in your LoCo is not required; however, membership does show wider Ubuntu involvement of not only the member, but of the overall scope and knowledge of the team as a whole.

How the Approval Criteria is Used

Note: The LoCo Council will factor in all of the above criteria to make a decision on the applying team’s approval status. There is no magic formula of time or quantity of activities that will guarantee a team approval. The real concern for the LoCo Council is that a team will stay active.

Questions the LoCo Council may ask to determine a team’s ability to stay active include, but are not limited to:

• Has the applying team demonstrated its ability to meet future goals and have these goals been successfully communicated to the LoCo Council?

• Has the applying team demonstrated that it is continually growing its member base as to ensure that team leaders and highly active participants aren't setting themselves up for burnout or withdrawal from the community, thus creating an inactive team in a short time after approval?

• Has the applying team indicated to the LoCo Council its understanding about what it means to be an Ubuntu LoCo Team and demonstrates how its mission differs from that of a LUG (Linux Users Group)?

The Approval Process

In order for a new or unapproved LoCo team to become an approved LoCo Team, the LoCo Council needs to have confidence that the team is both active and performing well. The application process is designed to confirm that the applying team has established the required resources (website, mailing list, etc) and is actively working on effective use of these resources and has been given the information for successful implementation, accomplishment of items listed on its roadmap, attending events (where physically and financially possible), and demonstrates that it consists of more than one highly motivated individual. The applying team must create a wiki page (more on this below) that outlines the team’s activities by addressing the items listed above in the Approval Process Purpose and Application Criteria section. This must include links to any documentation that can confirm the activities and experiences listed on the applying team’s approval application wiki page.

How to Write an Approval or Re-Approval Application Wiki Page

The success of a team’s application to become an approved Ubuntu LoCo team largely rests in its approval application wiki page. The application wiki page should use the following naming protocol: <LocoTeamName>ApprovalApplicationYEAR and it should be in your LoCo team's sub-pages. An example application is available on the LoCo Example Application wiki page. This shows an applying team the kind of structure that the page should form.

Important tips for a team's approval application wiki page

• Do not change the structure of that page - use the same section headings and structure of the LoCo Example Application wiki page - this makes it easier for the LoCo Council to read the page as it considers the team’s application.

• Use as many links and references as possible - this is essential! In the Roadmap and Experience sections and elsewhere on the Approval Application Wiki page, teams should provide links to websites, blogs, team reports, mailing list archives etc. that confirm the points made on the application. Here is an example: If a team lists an activity in the Experience section of its Approval Application wiki, then also included on the wiki and in support of the listed activity, should be links to show what the team accomplished, or links to where the activity was discussed on the mailing list, IRC channel, and/or forums.

• Be concise, detailed and clear - while the LoCo Council doesn’t want to see thousands of words, it does want to be able to gain a full understanding of the team’s past experience, current activities, and future goals, as well as how those will be achieved.

Two Year Review - LoCo Team Re-Approval

The re-approval application is similar to the approval application detailed above. The re-approval application wiki page should summarize the LoCo Team’s accomplishments of the past year and outline plans for the future year.

If a team is applying for re-approval the wiki page should use the following naming protocol: <yourteam>ReApprovalApplicationYEAR. An example application is available on the LoCo Example Application wiki page. This shows a re-applying team the kind of structure that the page should form.

Every month, LoCo contacts from four LoCo Teams with approaching review dates will be contacted privately and asked to submit applications. If those LoCo Teams are prepared for re-approval, the team’s contact will add the re-approval application to the LoCo Council Agenda wiki page for the LoCo Council to review and vote on the status of team’s re-approval.