Balkans/Events:2011/Sofia/Aftermath
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< Balkans | Events:2011/Sofia
Contents
Meeting notes
The link to the etherpad is here: http://etherpad.mozilla.com:9000/balkans-sofia
You can also find them here.
Goals + Next steps
- Organization
- IRC rather than Skype
- weekly rather than bi-weekly
- short status update template to fill out by each community before each meeting
- every week, Pierros or William must identify person to volunteer to chair meeting
- time of meeting probably Monday evening - doodle survey to be sent around to arrange day/time of week
- Localization
- each community to update their L10n team page + rigorously and regularly update https://wiki.mozilla.org/Balkans/Localization
- Mozilla Reps particularly interested in l10n should join l10n SIG https://wiki.mozilla.org/ReMo/SIGs
- cross-collaborate for l10n tools, provide tutorials, give time to help others, especially beginners
- Regional Market Insights
- one owner of the project to be identified to drive project for all communities
- basic info page for each community will be done
- Grow contributor base
- all participants of Balkan Meetup interested in becoming a Mozilla Rep should apply to join the program
- Large event
- Greek community suggested we organize a large DemoParty (+200 people) + could be combined with next Balkan Meetup
- Athens and Belgrade candidate cities
- planning should begin next week
IMMEDIATE ACTION ITEMS
- send out doodle survey to plan new meeting format [William]
- create "weekly status update" templates to fill out by each community [William]
- create l10n special interest group page on the ReMo wiki [Pierros]
- find owner for regional market insights project [William]
- meet with Kostas and with Milos to discuss DemoParty ideas for possible large event in combination with the next meetup [William]
- explore SIP solution with Nedim for punctual voice meetings [Pierros]
Photos
Post-meetup blog posts
Individual feedback
Please share your thoughts on what worked, what didn't work at the Balkan Meetup Sofia and your suggestions for improvement as we plan the next Balkan Meetup later this year.
William Quiviger
- WHAT WORKED:
- everyone made it safely to the meetup and safely back home
- the hotel rooms were clean and comfortable + great view of the forest nearby
- the "closed laptop" policy was respected by almost everyone, most of the time. We're getting there...
- there was good participation from everyone, by and large everyone was engaged
- lots of new faces, proof that the community is growing
- very good progress in addressing challenges Balkan communities are facing and solutions to them
- a lot of interest in ReMo, everyone has applied and currently being mentored
- WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
- no wifi (Kostas fortunately helped us get a somewhat functional connection by tethering an ethernet connection)
- room was too small, no tables, very little room to move around
- no projector on Sunday
- coffee was not drinkable :(
- first time in my life I am in a hotel that does not serve fruit juice for breakfast nor milk/cream for coffee
- lunch at hotel was way too expensive for what was served
- food during Firefox party was barely edible
- attendance at party was low
- poor participation of meetup attendeed in the weeks before the meetup so schedule was more or less hashed last minute by William when it should have been a collective effort
- Bogo was absent most of the time, running all over the place and could not join in on the critical discussions on Saturday and Sunday
- SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:
- we need to plan much better as a team and work harder to get some kind of "meetup" task force to get involved in the planning process very early on
- we can no longer have one person try to lead all the planning of the meetup, there needs to be much more delegation
- there needs to be spcific owners for the following aspects of the meetup:
- logistics (hotel, food, transportation, meeting room) - 2 owners
- programme/schedule - 1 owner
- communication and documentation (prep-meeting planning, ensuring everyone participates, shares ideas beforehand, updates wiki) - 1 owner
- we need to have 2 full days of work so we have enough time to have presentations, discussions and hacking
- if there is a public event, it needs to be on a third day
- a "Balkans Meetup template documnt should be prepared as a base to work from
- a thorough checklist should be used to make sure nothing is missed and all our bases are covered
Pierros Papadeas
- WHAT WORKED:
- everyone made it safely to the meetup and safely back home
- many new people, and still engaged old ones
- very good progress in addressing challenges Balkan communities are facing and solutions to them
- a lot of interest in ReMo, and lots of feedback
- WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
- no wifi (thanks for Kostas we had wifi ad-hoc)
- room was too small, no tables, very little room to move around
- no projector on Sunday and not a nice one on Saturday
- coffee was one of the worst ever tried
- first time in my life I am in a hotel that does not serve fruit juice for breakfast nor milk/cream for coffee
- lunch at hotel was way too expensive for what was served
- food during Firefox party was barely edible
- attendance at party was low
- Organizing team was not obviously there. We needed to know who did all these, and Bogo needed to be more participating.
- Not well structured schedule as the feedback before the meeting was poor.
- SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:
- TBD
Altin Ukshini
- WHAT WORKED:
- the hotel rooms were very good with a great view from the forest
- everyone was very friendly
- everyone got back home safely
- and almost everything else
- WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
- no wifi (the epical fail)
- very hot inside rooms, and the ventilation didn't help
- didnt like the coffee, and there was no milk there
- food during Firefox party was barely edible
- attendance at party was low
- Bogo was absent most of the time, running all over the place and could not join in on the critical discussions on Saturday and Sunday
- THERE WAS NO DISCUSSION ABOUT MARKETING
- SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:
- we need to have 2 full days of work so we have enough time to have presentations, discussions and hacking
- a "Balkans Meetup template document should be prepared as a base to work from
- a thorough checklist should be used to make sure nothing is missed and all our bases are covered
- we need to find hotels that have wifi for sure
- I think we need to reserve a special part of our next IRC Meeting for a MARKETING Discussion for Mozilla.
Matjaž Horvat: I pretty much agree with William
- WHAT WORKED:
- The instructions Bogo prepared for printing were perfect, should be used as a template for future events.
- A lot of Pontoon feedback and ReMo interest.
- New faces at the meetup are a clear indicator that we are doing good and growing.
- People solved various problems with tools they are using and were dealing with them before the event.
- WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
- Wi-Fi did not work good enough for a web organisation meetup.
- Wired connection in rooms is unsuable on MacBook Airs, tablets and smartphones.
- Almost zero discussion about marketing.
- SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:
- We need a reliable high speed Wi-Fi access and a decent projector.
- Special problem solving time slot, where everyone can ask everyone for help (like we had on Sunday afternoon).
- Balkans Meetup template document should be based on wiki pages of the past events and Bogo's printed instructions.
Nino Vranešič
- WHAT WORKED:
- The instructions for the event were great.
- I liked the brainstorming session we had.
- Frendly people all around in Sofia.
- We found the solutions for most of the problems.
- WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
- Wi-fi did not work most of the time.
- The rooms were hot and even the ventilaton did not help.
- Wired connection in rooms is unsuable on MacBook Airs, tablets and smartphones.
- No discussion about marketing.
- SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:
- Better organization of event. Bogo was running all around when he should be with the rest of us.
- To share more ideas about marketing between communities.
Vito Smolej
- WHAT WORKED:
- it was a pleasure to meet Chris
- Pontoon looks good
- was great meeting Nino
- WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
- we should become more self-reliant. It just does not make sense to call it Balkans meetup and Wiliam has to jump in again and again. It is ironic, that everybody is so enthused about "coming to Sofia" instructions, while on the other side we all spent hardly any time on getting the schedule set up - with the honorable exception of Wiliam, which just proves my point.
- SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:
- PitStop list: I caused some stir on Sunday. I apologize for it, to Miloš first of all and to everybody else. Here's the background: one can localize until cows come home, but it does not count until the changes get pushed to the HG repository. That was my problem for the last two or three months: my ssh just refused to connect and push (while TB train was slowly leaving the station...), and then it was just two more hours before leaving and the problem unsolved ... well, I got it solved alright, but I would prefer a nicer way to get things done. Having a PitStop list (of things to check, fix, get a hands-on HowTo), where one could in advance describe the problem and give colleagues a chance to get ready to give help, would get me the same result without offending anybody.
- Three important issues for organizers: delegation, delegation, and - last but not least - delegation.
- Have an MC / responsible for every unit on the schedule and make sure he knows his rights & his responsibilities.
- Suggest we stop talking about a "big event", until we get small(er) ones run properly.
Raul Malea
- WHAT WORKED:
- TBD (next days)
- WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
- TBD(next days)
- SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:
- TBD(next days)
Alfredos-Panagiotis Damkalis (fredy)
- WHAT WORKED:
- Clean and comfortable rooms with very nice view
- Bogo's instructions
- The "closed laptop" policy
- Brainstorming session (Good-Bad-Thanks-Ideas)
- Discuss with contributors from Balkans and the rest of the world about problems, solutions and ideas
- Presentations were well prepared, interesting and inspiring
- A very friendly environment
- WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
- Wi-Fi did not work good enough for a web organisation meet-up.
- We focused mainly at localization
- SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:
- We need to have 2 full days of work so we have enough time to have presentations, discussions and hacking
- We can spent the first day for presentations and hacking and the second on discussions (and maybe hacking again)
- If it is possible, it will be nice for non-participants at the meet-up to watch presentations
- Discussions and presentations on subjects other than localization
- Having projector available every day of the event
Aleksandar Savić
- WHAT WORKED:
- Bogo's instructions
- Brainstorming session (Good-Bad-Thanks-Ideas)
- Discuss with contributors from Balkans and the rest of the world about problems, solutions and ideas
- there was good participation from everyone, by and large everyone was engaged
- lots of new faces, proof that the community is growing
- excellent ReMo first steps sprint (now everyone knows what to do )
- WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
- OK we all no WiFi was bad but nvm
- We focused mainly at localization
- no community help in organization of event (not only Bulgarian team, Balkans too)
- SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:
- will add soon
Kostas Antonakoglou
- WHAT WORKED:
- Hotel rooms and food were fine.
- Post-it on the wall and discussion was the coolest thing that happened.
- Participation from everyone in the room, lots of ideas and impressions shared.
- Presentations rocked once more.
- Meeting people from Mozilla and our community for the first time.
- WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
- No WiFi (I couldn't connect) in the meeting room (people managed to connect outside)
- No projector on Sunday
- SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:
- Making the meeting half private (for our introductions,discussions, setting goals etc), half public (for the presentations) will require a bit more space but will also have a possitive impact on the local community. It's a pitty to have so interesting presentations only for ourselves!
Milos Dinic
- WHAT WORKED:
- Real lunch instead of sandwiches
- Comfortable rooms, hotel staff, meetings in the hotel - provided access to quite a few facilities
- Lot of new stuff to hear
- New contributors
- WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
- Internet: most important thing for our organization, but yet not so accessible
- Bad participation when creating the schedule - affected Sunday
- Nightlife: First a party with very few people, as opossed to said ~200, and then grawling wannabe musicians and wasted bikers. Really a bad choice.
- SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT
