[Viscom-dev] Conference branding advice

Committees Marketing
1

There are two key conferences that Lisasoft is planning to attend in Australia this year, plus one or two possibles.

Key Conferences:

1. http://www.ssc2007.com/ 14-18 May 2007. Hobart Australia.

2. http://gita.org.au/ 6-8 August 2007. Brisbane Australia.
I have been offered 25 min slot to present an OSGeo talk at this conference.

Possible Conferences:

http://www.orkestrate.com.au/events/GIS07/ 27-28 March. Sydney Australia.

Funding/Branding

I've been talking with Milton Lofberg from Autodesk about how best to man and fund stands for both our companies and OSGeo.
We would like to create an OSGeo stand and promote OSGeo, and at the same time promote our own companies, which include proprietary products.
A couple of options open to us are:
1. Buy 3 booths. A Lisasoft, Autodesk and OSGeo booth.
Problem: We might not have enough people to man all booths.
Problem: An extra booth will cost ~ $US3000.

2. Buy 2 booths, Lisasoft, and Autodesk (probably next to each other). Create signs which say "We support OSGeo projects", along with an OSGeo logo.
Problem: We would need to ensure our company supports OSGeo, not the other way around.
Problem: The OSGeo community might not approve of this "watering down" of the OSGeo brand.

1. Buy 1 booth. Same as 2), but we share space.

--

So we are looking for advice on OSGeo Branding. What is recommended? I assume the visibility committee is the body who should make this decision?

--
Cameron Shorter
Systems Architect, http://lisasoft.com.au
Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5011
Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254

2

Cameron Shorter wrote:

2. Buy 2 booths, Lisasoft, and Autodesk (probably next to each other). Create signs which say "We support OSGeo projects", along with an OSGeo logo.
Problem: We would need to ensure our company supports OSGeo, not the other way around.
Problem: The OSGeo community might not approve of this "watering down" of the OSGeo brand.

Cameron,

I think this approach would be fine. I'd suggest:
  o Try to set aside a chunk of counter/table space for OSGeo handouts.
  o Try to avoid mixing corporate an OSGeo materials more than is necessary.
  o It would be nice if folks understood they could ask you folks questions
    about OSGeo.
  o Possibly have any OSGeo t-shirt for someone who is ready to answer OSGeo
    related questions.

(Note: I don't speak for viscom - just one random lurker opinion)

Best regards,
--
---------------------------------------+--------------------------------------
I set the clouds in motion - turn up | Frank Warmerdam, warmerdam@pobox.com
light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
and watch the world go round - Rush | President OSGeo, http://osgeo.org

3

I agree with Frank.

I don't have a problem in principle with an "appropriate" company doing
the "We support/use/recommend OSGeo" approach, although in practice
there could be an issue defining what an "appropriate" company is...
Best handled on a case-by-case basis maybe?; in this case, Cameron and
ADSK are both known to be Good Citizens, so I'd think we're okay...

-mpg

-----Original Message-----
From: viscom-dev-bounces@lists.osgeo.org
[mailto:viscom-dev-bounces@lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of
Frank Warmerdam
Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 8:45 AM
To: Visibility Committee Discussion List
Cc: Milton Lofberg; visibilitycommittee_dev@lists.osgeo.org;
australia@lists.osgeo.org
Subject: Re: [Viscom-dev] Conference branding advice

Cameron Shorter wrote:
> 2. Buy 2 booths, Lisasoft, and Autodesk (probably next to
each other).
> Create signs which say "We support OSGeo projects", along
with an OSGeo
> logo.
> Problem: We would need to ensure our company supports
OSGeo, not the
> other way around.
> Problem: The OSGeo community might not approve of this
"watering down"
> of the OSGeo brand.

Cameron,

I think this approach would be fine. I'd suggest:
  o Try to set aside a chunk of counter/table space for OSGeo
handouts.
  o Try to avoid mixing corporate an OSGeo materials more
than is necessary.
  o It would be nice if folks understood they could ask you
folks questions
    about OSGeo.
  o Possibly have any OSGeo t-shirt for someone who is ready
to answer OSGeo
    related questions.

(Note: I don't speak for viscom - just one random lurker opinion)

Best regards,
--
---------------------------------------+----------------------
----------------
I set the clouds in motion - turn up | Frank Warmerdam,
warmerdam@pobox.com
light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
and watch the world go round - Rush | President OSGeo,
http://osgeo.org

_______________________________________________
Viscom-dev mailing list
Viscom-dev@lists.osgeo.org
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/viscom-dev

4

On 19-Feb-07, at 5:28 PM, Cameron Shorter wrote:

Funding/Branding

I've been talking with Milton Lofberg from Autodesk about how best to man and fund stands for both our companies and OSGeo.
We would like to create an OSGeo stand and promote OSGeo, and at the same time promote our own companies, which include proprietary products.
A couple of options open to us are:
1. Buy 3 booths. A Lisasoft, Autodesk and OSGeo booth.
Problem: We might not have enough people to man all booths.
Problem: An extra booth will cost ~ $US3000.

2. Buy 2 booths, Lisasoft, and Autodesk (probably next to each other). Create signs which say "We support OSGeo projects", along with an OSGeo logo.
Problem: We would need to ensure our company supports OSGeo, not the other way around.
Problem: The OSGeo community might not approve of this "watering down" of the OSGeo brand.

3. Buy 1 booth. Same as 2), but we share space.

Hi guys,
Thanks for thinking through this. Any or all of these options sounds fine to me. Cross-promotion in a context like this is always mutually beneficial in my opinion. Unless OSGeo funds and manages a separate booth, it would be quite natural and beneficial for companies and individuals to represent the projects and make the contacts. Especially if you've made the effort or investment to make sure OSGeo is represented!

In terms of watering down the brand, the only place that I think you need to be careful is to not come across as an "OSGeo Sponsor" unless you are one, like Autodesk. Though we may eventually need to discuss how companies can provide in-kind sponsorship by donating booth space to OSGeo.

Would you also consider having/inviting other members-at-large come and help with the OSGeo side of things? That would help buffer any concerns about self-promotion you may have.

My two bits,
Tyler

5

Guys,

I have been necessarily standing off from promoting "ADSK the vendor" as
is our policy. We in Autodesk ANZ (and Asia Pacific, where communities
are growing e.g. Japan and Korea) are glad to help and in a personal,
professional capacity it's more than gratifying to see the same thing
happening in geospatial as has happened in the wider open source
communities for years.

Cameron and I did discuss the working principle of "Vendor as Supporter
of OSgeo" rather than the other way around, which is always a
risk/temptation for some. (BTW 'vendor' may be services or product').

If there is general informal agreement with this principle then I think
that gives us a good platform to approach this year's events.

Looking forward to any other comments.

Cheers

-----Original Message-----
From: Tyler Mitchell (External)
Sent: Wednesday, 21 February 2007 07:38
To: Visibility Committee Discussion List
Cc: australia@lists.osgeo.org; Milton Lofberg
Subject: Re: [Viscom-dev] Conference branding advice

On 19-Feb-07, at 5:28 PM, Cameron Shorter wrote:

Funding/Branding

I've been talking with Milton Lofberg from Autodesk about how best to
man and fund stands for both our companies and OSGeo.
We would like to create an OSGeo stand and promote OSGeo, and at the
same time promote our own companies, which include proprietary
products.
A couple of options open to us are:
1. Buy 3 booths. A Lisasoft, Autodesk and OSGeo booth.
Problem: We might not have enough people to man all booths.
Problem: An extra booth will cost ~ $US3000.

2. Buy 2 booths, Lisasoft, and Autodesk (probably next to each other).

Create signs which say "We support OSGeo projects", along with an
OSGeo logo.
Problem: We would need to ensure our company supports OSGeo, not the
other way around.
Problem: The OSGeo community might not approve of this "watering down"

of the OSGeo brand.

3. Buy 1 booth. Same as 2), but we share space.

Hi guys,
Thanks for thinking through this. Any or all of these options sounds
fine to me. Cross-promotion in a context like this is always mutually
beneficial in my opinion. Unless OSGeo funds and manages a separate
booth, it would be quite natural and beneficial for companies and
individuals to represent the projects and make the contacts. Especially
if you've made the effort or investment to make sure OSGeo is
represented!

In terms of watering down the brand, the only place that I think you
need to be careful is to not come across as an "OSGeo Sponsor" unless
you are one, like Autodesk. Though we may eventually need to discuss
how companies can provide in-kind sponsorship by donating booth space to
OSGeo.

Would you also consider having/inviting other members-at-large come and
help with the OSGeo side of things? That would help buffer any concerns
about self-promotion you may have.

My two bits,
Tyler