On Wed, 2009-02-18 at 18:18 -0500, Jack Aboutboul wrote:
> Hello All,
>
> Over the past few weeks, some of us have been diligently working on a
> number of projects on the marketing front. As many of you know, and as
> many of you have participated, I have over the last two weeks been
> talking to many of us, privately, trying to poll the crowd and see what
> those amongst us thought were the best areas for improvement and/or
> optimization of the marketing team. Based on that feedback, I've
> developed this proposal which lays out those key areas, identifies what
> can be improved upon and how we can go about doing it. The solution
> pretty much encompasses everything, so I'll just present the 3 key
> issues and then what I think is the best course forward. Please note, I
> am looking to solicit feedback on this, this isnt like a dictatorial
> edict or anything, just one man's thoughts.
>
> As it stands right now, Fedora Marketing is very strong. I make that
> statement based on the character of all those involved and the quality
> of the discussions which we have. There is a perceived weakness
> however, which many attribute to lack of communication. The truth is, I
> think that any weakness which exists, whether its lack of organization
> or the relatively low amount of traffic on the mailing list I attribute
> to an inefficient workflow. So I ask myself, and everyone else, maybe
> there is alot of room for improvement and a maybe its just a few small
> steps we can take that can have us running at max efficiency?
>
> There are 3 main areas in which we can improve:
>
> 1. Better organization and workflow - we know what we need to do, just
> that often times we don't know when. Also, records and methods of
> tracking are sufficient, sub-optimally efficient.
> 2. Better and clearer delegation of tasks - we know what we need to do,
> just that often times, we don't know who is responsible for it. A large
> problem with this also is that some people refrain from picking up
> certain tasks because they assume it belongs to someone are afraid to
> step on toes.
> 3. Better coordination with other sub projects and project groups - part
> of marketings goal relies on 3 other groups, ambassadors, art and docs.
> There are ample opportunities for improving communication, coordination
> and collaboration with these three teams, to ensure that we get done
> what we need to get done and that they get done what they need to get
> done which requires input from us.
>
> The proposed solution:
>
> A better, calendar based, workflow! The reality is that our workflow is
> cyclical in nature, it is based on a release schedule and we have mostly
> the same, or a majority of similar tasks/milestones that need to be done
> for each release. If we shift our current workflow and task tracking to
> a similar scheme, it may be easier for us to stay on top of things and
> operate more efficiently. It also allows us to have clear "due dates"
> for each item, and have it clearly marked with an owner. Right off the
> bat I see us knocking out two of our major issues. Plus, clarity when
> it comes to responsibility and accountability will facilitate better
> communications amongst ourselves. Also, I propose that part of this
> schedule system includes 2-3 meetings with members of the other relevant
> projects, and this way, anything that hinges on us for them, or them on
> us, will be clearly defined, we achieve mutual understanding, and can
> delegate those tasks to people in Marketing.
>
> So for example, we start out at T-Minus 6 weeks from the alpha, have
> everything necessary from that until the alpha on a grid marked with a
> task, date, owner. Same for Beta, same for GA. A Good example can be
> found at John Poelstra's Schedule Pages found here
>
http://poelstra.fedorapeople.org/schedules/f-11/ .
>
> Also, this should all be kept under
>
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Marketing/Schedule with trailing
> /releasever and an anchor from that main page to whatever the current
> release is.
>
> A little bit of refactoring might do us alot of good, but we all need
> each other's feedback and each other's help, as a team and as a community!
>
> What do you guys think?
>
Right now, I could see something like this as a starting structure:
Milestones, based on
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/11/Schedule:
FUDCon:
* Renew the news distribution network people list to always have
motivated people
* Cleanup the wiki from the obsolete marketing cycles
* Cycle the wiki pages to the new release
Alpha Release:
* Assign marketing people to Fedora features/developers for the rest of
the cycle
* Assign marketing people to SIGs for the rest of the cycle
Feature Freeze:
* Update the features page
* Update the talking points
Beta Release:
* Developer interviews on the coming release?
Preview Release (artwork is generally done at this point):
* Update the screenshots page
* Update the Fedora tour page
* Hold joint meeting with FAMSCo or Ambassadors en masse to make sure
they understand talkign points?
I'd add:
* Monitor community news sites to provide corrections or additional
info as needed
* Contact independent journos or podcasters for followup
--
Paul W. Frields