Older blog entries for Jewelsthorn (starting at number 36)

Approved artwork for Linux Journal and Linux Magazine ads through 2002. Will get I/O's in tommorrow when "Electric" Bill returns to the office.

Spoke briefly with Kit Cosper. It's amazing how the absence of one person can leave such a hole. Kit started Linux Hardware Solutions before Linux was such a hot commodity and then sold it to VA in '99 I think. He stayed on with VA until a big round of layoffs caught him. It's a terrible time to be unemployed, but he seems to be faring reasonably well.

Wrote a blurb for the Comdex website on IT Business issues.

Got an invitation to do a presentation at some high-dollar marketing conference in Chicago, so I put some thought into what I might say to them. Created an abstract and sent it about the importance of community building.

Worked on 2002 budgets some more. Trying to build programs without money sucks.

ahhhh... the long weekend is over, and there is so much to do!

Spent time this morning cleaning off my desk. I tend to put things there that I need to "get to", but don't have an urgent need. The clutter builds until I can't stand it any longer, and then I dig thru it all and either process or toss it all and the cycle starts again. This seems to be how I deal with life, actually.

In any case, I ran across an article I saved from Marketing News. It talked about how CIO's can maximize their IT dollars, but what really captured my attention was an organization called "Society for Information Management", which apprently serves execs. I browsed their website and found some interesting info. Wish I had time or knew volunteers (hint, hint) who were interested in writing or presenting to them..... (www.simnet.org)

Still cleaning off my desk: From CRN's Sept 10th issue, I found this snippet: "It seems as though the penguin has waddled its way into solution providers' hearts. A recent CRN survey shows solution providers' satisfaction with Linux vendor support is growing. A whopping 79% of respondents reported "adequate" or "good or very good" support from their Linux vendors."

Caught up part way on sending followup emails to potential LI member companies.

Participated in LI Board discussion on the marketing plan maddog and I have been working on.

Spent a very pleasant Thanksgiving day in the presence of my in-laws. I am truly blessed to have the benefit of their impact on my life. My mother in law particularly is delightful! She is silly as can be, and patient to boot. I have often found myself grateful for her.

Got a good night of sleep (even slept until 9:30 this morning!), and now it's time to get back to business I've been looking forward to that.

I've decided to take a modular approach to the LI marketing plan. There are several markets that we need to address, but many could benefit from a relatively small number of programs. Much like a C/C++ development model, I'm going to tackle this as a library of individual programs which are tied together by an intricate fabric. I just have to build that fabric and then "sell" it to the board of directors! Finished draft two of the marketing plan outlined and began working on the budgets. Ugh. Money is such a tough issue, and is so pervasive to getting things done!

Sent maddog draft 2.1 of the marketing plan at 6pm and decided to call it a day.

Read more /. than usual this morning, due to the posting about the Economic Slump. That is rather relevant to the LI marketing plan, so I thought it appropriate to see what /.'ers are saying. I found it interesting that the one group I think is most likely to make money isn't mentioned... resellers.

So, for what it's worth, here are my thoughts of what will happen in the next two years:

- OS developers are writing code like crazy, and will continue to develop highly functional (if ugly and difficult to implement) applications and to contribute to the function and security of the Linux kernel.

- Hardware companies will continue to sell powerful, complex implementation platforms that run increasingly complex applications in specialized markets.

- M$ will keep demanding more and more of their customers' private information, in exchange for money and ease of use (the major weakness of OSS is ease of use IMHO)

- ISVs will build vertical applications which function on Unix and Linux platforms, and will leverage the specialized skills of their channels for implementation

- Consultants (VARs) will be called upon to implement the Open Source alternatives that continue to evolve into more and more functional and secure alternatives to M$ products.

LI can help by building resources for developers and OEMs to connect with Open Source and Linux-compatible vertical market players. The players we target can be: ISVs, VARs, and users who are looking for solutions.

Spent the rest of my day cooking, baking, and cleaning, so not much else to say.....

Working on marketing plan for LI now. Not really much of interest to report yet.

The primary goal of LI is to promote Linux use in the changed world we now live on.... Where there aren't really any Linux companies anymore, and Linux is one of the OS' supported by software developers.

That means we'll need to develop a new strategy for growing Linux as we move into this more mature technical phase of adoption - one which addresses the unique needs of developers, vendors, and users.

Developers are being offerred standards by FSG, testing environment by OSDL, and source code sharing services by SourceForge.

Potential users are put off by the percieved lack of software (if it's not on a shelf, in a catalog, or in a box, it must not exist)

So, we're working on programs that will allow us to coordinate these groups and continue to build Linux use.

Just returned from Comdex. Yeesh, I really don't like Las Vegas! Not particularly happy with Key3Media for that matter, but this is not the place for that discussion.

Spent much of the weekend reading. Read my LI email, read some of LWN for the week, but have lots more of that to dig into. This morning, read my LPI email and responded where it seemed important. The biggest news of the day is that LPI Level 2 exams are live worldwide!!! It is amazing how much work goes into certification!

Another interesting tidbit is that cSAGE, the systems administration certification program, will beta at LISA in San Diego December 3-5. The final item review process has been completed, and it is an exciting time for SAGE (the Systems Administration Guild).

Working with a couple of media folks on a couple of continents to expand awareness of LI and Linux Mark Institute. Left my computer running while I went to a Dr appt this afternoon, and something has it pissed off, so I'm going to post and restart X. Then I'll be in the LPI staff meeting for the rest of the day, so it's been a pretty simple day.

Today is prep for Comdex day. From my to-do list:

Prep for session introductions

Prep for LI member meeting

- Expense Summary from FY 2001

- Voting project and ETA/Election

- Linux talks at Comdex (future trade show opps)

- Member survey draft circulation

- Website redesign team

Wheee! Got confirmation that Marcio Saito of Cyclades Corporation will fill the speaking slot at Comdex. He's been fantastic to work with, and although this places a heavy burden on his already demanding schedule, I'm certain he'll deliver a fantastic talk.

LPI won the Linux Journal Editors Choice award for best Linux training & certification! The plaque was presented to Kara at ALS, and we're pretty pleased to have the recognition. All the awards will be mentioned in their December issue, so check us out!

Spent the rest of the afternoon with membership development, prospecting from LWN's commerce page.

Didn't get the logs from last weeks' Website Redesign committee meeting until about 30 mins before this weeks' meeting, so I didn't have time to forward the logs to team members AND prepare a reasonable agenda. Decided to forward the logs and just wing it, so the meeting was quite short. With the Comdex show next week, we can't meet then, so that cost us about 3 weeks of productivity :( I understand the glitch which created the problem has been fixed, so hopefully that won't happen again.

Still struggling with finding a good, technical Clustering talk to fill the shoes of a session that opened up. I had three decent leads, and two have backed out, with the third seeming shaky.

What a wonderful morning, eh?

Getting some responses to membership development inquiries I've been making, but they aren't particularly good. Everywhere we look, there is doom and gloom, so the value equation is more critical than ever.

Making some calls today to folks who didn't respond after two emails. Hopefully I'll get some feedback, at least.

I read the most encouraging thing I've seen in a long, long time from my local newspaper, the Lawrence Journal World on page 8B (back of the Lawrence & State section. Kansas Attorney General Carla Stovall has declined to sing on to the Microsoft Settlement agreement. There are two major reasons I'm in shock: Kansas is a very conservative state, and tends to do whatever big business tells us to do. The majority of our elected representatives tend to just nod and get in line when money talks. I find this extremely irritating, and even infuriating. The second reason I'm in shock is that it made the local paper. Being stuck on the back of Section B was more than I'd expected from The World Company, which owns all the media into my home town. I figured their staunchly Conservative Replublican "balance" would figure out how to avoid printing this article. Yes, I have strongly held opinions!

Working to build stronger relationships with LI members by making personal contact with them. It takes a lot of time, but ultimately offers greater understanding and opportunities.

Made a few membership-related calls. Definitely need to build that ROI picture, as feedback contiues to suggest that is the key to attracting members.

Started preparing for LI member meeting next week. Reporting on Website redesign team progress and preparing to circulate initial draft of member survey. Also, presenting information about what LI has spent during the last year for members to review.

Completed second draft of LI member survey for review by Survey Team.

grrrr... spent time going over the new LI voting software project specifications yesterday and sent a (reasonably) intelligent response yesterday. Then found out this morning that my response was not complete due to some technical error (presumably on my part). Had to re-create the response from memory, so of course it's not as complete as I'd like it to be.

Spent the rest of the morning reviewing a lengthy document for the SAGE cert program in preparation for a noon meeting.

After the meeting, began preparing for a 2pm meeting but she never called as expected, so I put my thoughts into an email and sent that to her.

Got good feedback on my LI member updates. Those positive reinforcements are never expected but always appreciated.

Unexpectedly, one of my session presenters for Comdex bowed out, so I sent a note to the LI membership re: filling the hole. Got several responses and followed up on them, but haven't finalized a plan, as I have two viable options on the general topic and I need to talk with both presenters.