No Name Yet Team

First of all, yes, this team is lacking a proper name. It has been an idea in my head for a little while now so I thought I would put something "down on paper" as it were.

Purpose

The goal of this team to structure, communicate and schedule regular ubuntu-user training and participation meetings. Think of it like openweek, just all the time. We want to help those that are new to FOSS/Ubuntu be able to contribute and feel like they are a vital part of the community.

This team will act as a launchpad for new user getting involved. Think motu or loco mentoring, but for every aspect of involvement. We can assign mentors to new users, help ease them into a project and follow-up with them along the way to answer questions. This team is about 1) user involvement and 2) retention.

Structure

This team will be a small team. Myself, initially, as team leader/contact. A position for a secretarial type for keeping meeting minutes, etc. Also a core scheduler for maintaining events and coordinating with existing teams. Outside of this, initially, this is not an open-enrolled team.

This team will report to Jono Bacon as it is community-centric.

Use Cases

A new user finds Ubuntu via his local user group. This new user wants to get involved with Ubuntu but is not sure how or who to contact. New user can then contact this team for a timeline on training events, contacts and ambassadors at major teams, etc. This team will then work with that user for a period of time until both sides feel he is a part of that team, feels accepted and welcome, etc.

Training

This team will coordinate and schedule regular training on major topics within Ubuntu. bugs, forum work, wiki & documentation, marketing, etc. Initially we will have very regular training (think open week) in -classroom to educate new (and existing) users on how to participate.

Goals

This team will help set goals with the new user on contributing to the team and be available to answer questions concerning contribution. How to contribute, who to contact, etc.

Why?

The idea was proposed at UDS that more loco members participate in ubuntu development internally. Having long been part of the loco project I realize that most loco members spend 95% of their time chatting on irc & 5% doing something. This project aims to help these users actually contribute with their time by knowing *how* to contribute their time.

Resources

This project may want to monitor Fedoras "Getting Involved Guide" at http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Docs/Drafts/GetInvolvedGuide. This focus is also reiterated by Jono Bacon's post here - http://www.jonobacon.org/?p=1127

Other

The one thing I *really* want to emphasize however is that this puts a human touch to getting involved. Ubuntu is different in that regard, and that should be the focus of this project. Getting Involved.. For Human Beings.

Questions please contact Christer Edwards