[Ambassadors] Policy RFC: Dealing with Media (and no I don't mean CD/DVDs)

David Nalley david at gnsa.us
Wed Aug 27 14:01:24 UTC 2008


2008/8/27 Paul W. Frields <stickster at gmail.com>:
> On Wed, 2008-08-27 at 08:52 -0400, David Nalley wrote:
>> What I fear is that at some point there something will rub someone the
>> wrong way. I'd far rather have the opportunity to define the policy
>> that gets applied to us than live with whatever policy is born out of
>> reaction. That being said if the group consensus is that we remain
>> laissez-faire then that's fine too.
>
> David,
>
> There's a good opportunity here for Ambassadors to work with the overall
> Marketing group.  Ambassadors regularly speak to the public, since
> that's part of the natural responsibilities they willingly take on.  In
> dealing with print and broadcast media, of course it's very helpful for
> Ambassadors to be thoroughly familiar with the Fedora marketing plan,
> our overview, and general tips on how to be an effective interview
> subject.
>
> The idea is not to tie Ambassadors down so that they need approval for
> local media contacts.  Rather, it's to make them confident in answering
> tough questions like "Why should people care?" and "What makes Fedora
> different?" in constructive, positive ways.  I think many Ambassadors do
> this very well already, but like anything else it's a skill one
> develops, and we can help each other develop that skill.
>
> The Fedora Marketing group is always available to assist.  We should
> encourage collaboration and partnership between Ambassadors and
> Marketing overall to make our public contacts as meaningful, positive,
> and cohesive as possible.
> `

Paul,

My experience is that most Ambassadors are also members of Marketing.
IIRC many moons ago joining the Marketing project was recommended on
the Ambassadors join page. While I think there is probably more of
disconnect between the two groups than previously existed there are
still many people who are in both groups.
But I should go back and talk about why we decided to plod down this
path - last night after introing Larry's page - (around the 9:15
timestamp) Jack said: "the general stance is we should
get stuff cleared with someone before we do anything with media"
http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-ambassadors-list/2008-August/msg00411.html

Then we started looking for policy, and it seemed none existed, but
might have been an unwritten rule. Then we didn't know who was
supposed to clear stuff - do we get marketing's blessing, or FAmSCo or
the Board or??

So maybe what we need is more guidance (that after the fact gets
documented) than a policy - so let me pose a couple of use cases:

1. I am holding a Release Party and want to get some local media
attention and desire to send a Press Release to $localmediaoutlet
announcing that there is a Fedora Release Party occurring.
Do I need any special authority or clearance?

2. I am asked to be interviewed about the Fedora Project by
$mediaoutlet - Do I need any special authority or clearance?

3. What if it goes above local - suppose #2 is a
$syndicatedbroadcastmediaoutlet or a $nationaloutlet - does that
change things?, and if it does, at what point does it change?


The pragmatist in me says that the fact that I am a member of the
Fedora Project, have a fp.o email, and can go around talking
about/representing Fedora to LUGs, conferences etc. makes any special
authority or clearance meaningless. That said I could certainly
understand that such actions might generate angst with traditional
marketing types, specifically among RH's marketing group.
Certainly getting to #3 there would almost of a necessity (one would
hope) be some coordination with Marketing and others, but from a
standpoint of getting things done - do we need to have a checklist
that has a line saying "Get permission from $authentity" ?




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