Launceston Software Freedom Day Event
Software Freedom Day is a global, grassroots effort to educate the public about the virtues and availability of Free and Open Source Software. Local teams from all over the world are organising events on 16 September 2006.
For this year's Software Freedom Day, our Launceston based team is showcasing how Free and Open Source Software can be beneficial both at home and in business environments.
The spirit of open source is community, and we feel that Software Freedom Day represents a way of building a stronger community both globally and locally.
Location: Launceston - Windmill Hill Hall (Launceston War Memorial Hall)
Time: 10:00am - 2:30pm
Event Write-Up
September the 16th seemed against us from the start. In addition to having difficulties obtaining a venue for our Software Freedom Day event, a large rally was being held in Launceston on the same day. In light of SFD2006 being a 'pilot' event for our team, we elected to persevere despite not being able to start promotion prior to the 10th of September.
After some technical issues relating to untested hardware, we opened the doors to Windmill Hill Hall at the scheduled time of 10:00am. Within the first hour, we had our first visitor. Instead sticking to the planned area specific 'presentations', Waide jumped in and opted for a far more appropriate 'tour guide' type approach that allowed visitors to get a far more personalised experience.
Around lunch time, numbers increased thanks to a radio mention by the Hobart Software Freedom Day team. Our 'tour guide' approach was emulated by visitors with knowledge of Open Source Software, which in a way that perfectly reflected the community spirit behind Open Source philosophies, allowed us to continue to offer the same level of attention as more people arrived.
By 2:30, things had died down and we began packing up, comfortable that with all things considered the event was a success, and a rousing one at that.
Between 11:00am and 3:00pm (which was when we had the hall until), there was always at least one person discovering what Free/Open Source Software is all about. Almost every person who came through our door left with a CD packed with Open Source Software, and a new or renewed interest in how they could apply Open Source to their home or place of work. Of the people I personally spoke to, every single one expressed interest in a future event. On behalf of our team, I would like to extend our thanks to everyone who offered their support for SFD as well as those who took the time to show up and see what we were offering. Given our benchmark of "if we tell one person about Open Source Software and have them go home and think about it, we've had an impact", and that our final estimated turnout was somewhere around thirty people, Software Freedom Day 2006 was a good day for us, a good day for Open Source, and most importantly, a good day for the community.
-Josh
If you are interested in contacting us, the below e-mail address will remain active over the coming months.
Email: <sfdlaunceston AT SPAMFREE hotmail DOT com>