[Linux-aus] Education Expo Report and Thanks

[Jeff Waugh <jdub@perkypants.org>]

Good morning everyone,

We had a rocking weekend at the Education Expo! By all accounts, the buzz we
generated was immense, and will hopefully have a lasting impact. The Linux
Australia booth was right at the front of the busiest show floor, and thanks
to a bit of LOUD costuming and a penguin sticker pandemic, everyone knew who
we were! We handed out hundreds of CDs and stickers, ran a popular quiz with
fluffy penguins prizes, talked to students, parents and schools about what
Linux and Open Source can do for them, and had a lot of fun in the process.

I'm not a huge believer in trade shows, but the Education Expo has a massive
audience with surprising breadth. On one hand, it is targeted at the schools
themselves, with plenty of products and services aimed at schools, teachers
and their administration - this includes everything from crayon to canteen
supplies, graphics tablets to management software. On the other hand, it is
aimed at parents looking for learning resources, information about schools
in their area, and special needs education. So it covers teachers, education
purchasing decision makers, parents, students, the schools themselves, other
companies working in the education market, etc. The breadth of people we met
at the Education Expo was nothing short of incredible. This is a market that
touches everyone! :-)

First off, I'd like to thank Sara Kaan for encouraging (and convincing!) us
to run a booth at the show, Pia Waugh for making sure it all came together,
and Linux Australia for sponsoring the effort as part of the grant scheme.
This was also the first official outing of the new Linux Australia banner,
which looks awesome (photos below).

Many thanks to the following contributors to the event:

  ABD Computers - computer hardware prizes
  Canonical - 100s of Ubuntu CDs
  Everything Linux - stickers and fluffy tux prizes
  Linux Australia - primary booth sponsor, rocking LA banner
  Novell - SuSE CDs and pens
  Pia Waugh - alcoholic prizes
  Red Hat - posters and clothing prizes
  SLUG & Chris Deigan - hosting the live webcam for those who couldn't go
  Solutions First - providing comfy and funky furniture for the booth

And of course, to all of our booth babes!

  Bruce Badger
  Chris Deigan
  Lindsay Holmwood
  Sara & Mo Kaan
  Grant Parnell
  Telford Tendys
  Craig Warner
  Pia & Jeff Waugh
  Ken Wilson
  Murali (sorry Murali, didn't get your surname)

Here are some blog entries and galleries of the event - please reply with
more if I haven't listed them:

  http://ctd.id.au/index.php/2005/05/15/penguin-plague/
  http://pipka.org/blog/1116150840?flav=roses
  http://holmwood.id.au/~lindsay/?p=158
  http://www.slug.org.au/gallery/edexpo05

Thanks,

- Jeff

-- 
GUADEC 2005: May 29th-31st                           http://2005.guadec.org/
 
    "You know, it's not that unusual, even in Hollywood, for brothers to
         work together. Heard of the Warner brothers?" - Ethan Coen