[Linux-aus] AUUG to close? Will there be a rush of new members to Linux Australia?

[Bret Busby]

On Tue, 18 Dec 2007, Steven Hanley wrote:

> 
> On Tue, Dec 18, 2007 at 04:15:46PM +1030, Michael Davies wrote:
>> Brand recognition and identity takes a lot to establish.  If we were
>> starting out afresh today our community might possibly choose
>> something different for our name - but I'm not sure having the correct
>> name for today is the most important thing.  Starting afresh with a
>> new name means starting afresh with our efforts, and I'm not sure we
>> should so easily toss aside those efforts.
>>
>> Or put another way, if it ain't broke don't fix it.
>>
>> We have lots to do on every side - from the technical, to the
>> advocacy, to the business of OSS, and many other things that I haven't
>> considered this moment.  My personal opinion is that we should be
>> spending our efforts "to facilitate enthusiasms within the Linux
>> Community to flourish" rather than re-invent the wheel time and
>> again.  We have in place an organisation that isn't perfect but is
>> doing a great job - and while hacking on the organisation is ok and
>> fun and cool, achieving Linus' World Domination, or RMS's "Free
>> Software is a matter of liberty, not price", or fixing Ubuntu's bug 1
>> is more important - and Linux Australia's job is to help in achieving
>> these and other similar efforts rather than just optimising itself.
>>
>> Of course, this is all IMHO :-)
>
> Full agreement from me on this.
>
> Spending time and effort to reeducate on a new brand would be counter
> productive. A brand really does have a huge place in mindset once it is
> established.
>
> LA and LCA are recognised both within and outside the community for the
> great work and great product.
>
> It may seem barely relevant however an obvious example of brand change
> affecting people even though efforts had been made to educate them this year
> was in the existance of two competing 24 hour mountain bike races in
> Canberra.
>
> CORC (Canberra Off Road Cyclists, non profit mountain bike club that
> services ACT) has for 9 years now run a solo and all other categories 24
> hour mountain bike race in Canberra. However last year there was a change of
> major sponsor.
>
> The race is "The Australian 24 Hour Mountain Bike Championships", however
> affixed to the front of that long title has always been the major sponsor.
>
> In the past the major sponsor was Mont Adventure Equipment. However the
> sponsor changed to Scott. Thus last year and this year CORC has run the race
> with the name "The Scott Australian 24 Hour Mountain Bike Championships".
>
> This year an event promotions company teamed up with Mont Adventure Euipment
> and some other sponsors and put their own 24 hour mountain bike race on, 2
> weeks after the CORC race and called it the Mont 24 hour.
>
> Now onto the branding, for two years now CORC has been educating people on
> the change of sponsor and doing everything as CORC as it normally does. Yet
> this year a large number of poeple were heard to say
>
> "Oh I am doing the Mont as I want to support CORC and all the efforts put
> into mountain biking in Canberra by the club"
>
> Sure it could be suggested CORC failed in their efforts of reeducation if
> that was heard by so many people, thinking CORC were involved with and
> running the Mont race this year. However it would have been nice if
> reeducation had not been necessary and if the confusion was not there in the
> first place.
>
> I agree with Michael, linux.conf.au and Linux Australia are not broken,
> there is no need to "fix" them. We promote FLOSS and in the work and efforts
> we do that as part of our message, we already educate people as to what we
> do when we interact with them, the conference and the organisation can
> attatch what we do to our existing strong brand rather than expending
> effort to generate a new strong brand attatched to what we are already
> pushing out and promoting and working towards.
>

So, there was never any need for the CALU to be renamed, and, renaming 
the CALU was detrimental to the success of what became the Linux 
Australia Conference?

Hmmm.

Okay.

--
Bret Busby
Armadale
West Australia
..............

"So once you do know what the question actually is,
  you'll know what the answer means."
- Deep Thought,
   Chapter 28 of Book 1 of
   "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
   A Trilogy In Four Parts",
   written by Douglas Adams,
   published by Pan Books, 1992

....................................................