So far, during the past two months that the US Teams Project has started, we have seen some pretty decent success. First off, let me cover a little bit about the goals and aspirations of the project as well as a few fundamentals.
Guidance, not governance. The US Teams Project is not another Ubuntu LoCo Team. Rather, the US Teams Project is a process. The concept behind the project is to help new and struggling LoCo teams in the United States become strong and successful. As such, we use the democratic system of existing teams mentoring the new or struggling teams. A successful team recognizes that a LoCo team is in need of help, and offers to help the team strengthen itself.
Consistent organization. In order to see the project realized, there needs to be consistent structure throughout the mentoring process and between the teams themselves. As such, the following guidelines were suggested, and for the most part, ratified:
- State versus targeted demography- For the most part, the team needs to be a state-based LoCo team. However, with that said, some demographics don't fit well in certain states, like California. Jono has requested that all LoCo teams be state based, at least to provide an umbrella for city or other demographic-based teams in the state. LoCo teams larger than state based are discouraged.
- Internet consistency- When creating a web presence using existing Ubuntu resources, the suggestion, again, ratified by Jono himself, is to keep all titles and domains in the format ubuntu-(full_state_name). For example, http://www.ubuntu-utah.org, https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UtahTeam, http://www.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-utah and #ubuntu-utah for the IRC channel, rather than the two-letter abbreviation for the state name.
- With that said, if purchasing a domain name or hosting the site for your LoCo team is not an option, there is http://www.ubuntu-us.org. The format of your domain for your site would be in the format of http://state.ubuntu-us.org. As such, you will need to contact Matthias Urlichs (smurf) as outlined on that page to get it setup.
- Ubuntu members as mentors- It has been suggested that officially recognized Ubuntu members be the ones who mentor the new state team, with the assistance of their own state team. The reasoning behind this, is the fact that the Ubuntu member has shown sustained contribution to the Ubuntu project, as well as signing the Code of Conduct. Signing the Leadership Code of Conduct has been suggested as well, although, I don't think we reached a decision on that.
Goals and aspirations. The goal of the US Teams Project is simple. Have a LoCo team in every state by 2008 (it has a cute ring, no?). By making this effort, we are maximizing the presence in the United States, and spreading advocacy about Ubuntu. The further we can reach in the United States, the better off Ubuntu will be, and the better its citizens will be.
Reaching this level of activity isn't easy, and we are calling on all existing and established LoCo teams in the United States to help. We have a channel on freenode: #ubuntu-us, and we are having a meeting this Saturday to further discuss what we can do to get every state started. If you are in the United States, and are either a member of a US LoCo team, or you are looking to start a team, drop by the meeting. The details are as follows:
Date: February 24, 2007
Time: 21:00 UTC
Place: #ubuntu-meeting on irc.freenode.net
We look forward to working with each team, and seeing the United States make a big splash in the Ubuntu world. This is a massive project, so we are also looking for volunteers to help in either creating a state-based LoCo team, or helping a struggling team get off the ground. We have a wiki page, as linked above, and encourage you to put your name next to a team or two that you are willing to mentor. Also, drop by the channel once in a while, and show your support.
See you in the channel!
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