[wellylug] Installfest 2006 aftermath, liam at silicon.co.nz, steve at silicon.co.nz

[Brent Wood]

Yep, I thought it went pretty well. Fewer installs from scratch than in
previous years, but a much higher appreciation/understanding of Linux & Open
Source software from the non luggites attending, to the point some of them were
helping others who came along.

Based on CD's taken & a couple of very rough head counts I figure about 100
people attended. 

While there were not as many installs, and we didn't record fixes/problem
solving, (just installs), I got the feeling there were just about as many
people bringing PC's for help as in previous years, but most already had Linux
installed on them, they just wanted to fix things, from sound not working to
changing KDE from 1 to 2 clicks on icons.

I asked several people if they had found it useful & they got what they wanted
and got very positive responses, in fact NO negative comments from the 20 or so
people I asked.... which I think reflected very well on all those who attended
& helped with the event.

Demo systems were very popular, and several of those who wanted an install
carried out, found the demo systems useful to help them pick which distro to go
with.

Jethro's burner & proxy was much appreciated, and enabled us to help those with
problems we had not anticipated.

The Silicon venue seemed to work pretty well (again!), and their comestibles
were much appreciated! Thanks to Steve & Liam for their help with this.



Looking ahead to next year, I know Novell & some of their local associates are
planning SUSE/Linux demos & workshops, oriented at the commercial sector, and
Software Freedom Day seems to be increasingly supported throughout NZ.

If I can plan to be around for this time next year, I'd like to think we could
continue to grow the WellyLUG fest by combining it with SFD, including perhaps
a more commercial event (or even Trade show) the previous day/week with Novell
& NZOSS involved, as well as others in NZ who support or use Open Source.



Any comments/concerns suggestions from others about this?



Thanks to everyone who helped!!! Another successful event.