LebGeeks

samer

Admin

LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

Hello all,

I recently received an email from David Munir Nabti from RootSpace informing me about the first ever BarCamp in Lebanon.

To help promote "openness" in various contexts, we are organizing our very own "OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon" in Beirut on February 28.  Through this event we are providing a forum to discuss open source technology initiatives (like Linux, Drupal, Joomla, OpenOffice, OpenSocial, etc), collaborative problem solving, Creative Commons and intellectual property in Lebanon and the region, open business models, Arabic on the web and collaborative sites (like Wikipedia, etc), and more.  Please join us!

As LebGeeks members, we can contribute a lot to this event.

– read more about it on its official page.
– Add suggestions (the page is a wiki)
– Sign up under Participant Registration (make sure to put LebGeeks as your organization)

Have you got any ideas on how we could support this event?

Also, I think we could get good exposure for LebGeeks if we demarcate ourselves the day of the event, both intellectually (good ideas, interesting debates) and materially (wearing lebgeeks t-shirts or other apparel).

Let the suggestions roll :)

rolf

Member

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

Yep, might bring in quality members.

mir

Member

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

Well that is a great project !

aouch.. today was the planning session :S .. i wish i checked this post earlier !

I am In ! - but i don't think i will be wearing a shirt while going there.. Feb28 is gonna be a777 bared for a T-shirt  so i will go with the other apparel thing ( do we have lebgeeks gadgets i am not aware of ? )

well i think there are many things that can be done and many suggestions.
First I want to express my  to the RootSpace people :)

it is interesting that the topic has a broad view on many topics
I will try to contact some ppl that might be intresting and i will invite some ppl who are open source enthusiastics.

halla2 regarding the food thing...breakfast, lunch and dinner... we need to know the number of ppl registering, cuz i know that the first question asked will be for how many ppl ?

other ways we can contribute is by blogging about it on our individual blogs, putting something on facebook as well

we have also to create brochures we can send for possible interested sponsors
and maybe we should distribute some fliers at universities or tell the teachers and ppl we know about the event, so they can tell students to go ( students are a good target for those things, pretty enthusiastic usually, and it may help them choose their careers with open source technologies )

are there gonna be any online meetings for preparations ?

-- sorry for the dis-organized reply, i will get back to other point later.. gotta run now

battikh

Member

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

Since i am stuck in dubai, i can't participate but I will be donating 70$
I got it from a small project i did using wordpress
I will be transferring the money to mir

You guys enjoy the fun at the meeting and hope more and more camps  but with me in them

mir

Member

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

Well... another good news... I contacted Denys ( nuclearcat ) from VISP
I didn't need to even ask and do the begging you have to do when looking for sponsorship ... just after i gave the link they were suggesting sponsorship in different areas : food, gadgets, and offering link to live video and hosting to distribute the content and for bloggers to link to and other help and new ideas...

Damn ! this is why i like VISP , it is also a company built on open source, it is a big sign and proof that open source companies can work in lebanon, they have a good culture, they opened up v-enjoy and gaming zone they did on their expenses to others and are willing to help more and more with open source and they have lot of expertise they are willing to share

I will be getting back to them with the details.. since i was first just asking if they are ok with the idea !

--samer, send me PM containing email of the guy who emailed you since i need to be asking some questions

Last edited by mir (January 29 2009)

samer

Admin

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

Mir, his contact details are present on the official page. (David Munir Nabti)

mir

Member

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

called the dude, exchanged contact info...

starting stage 2

btw, rolf, if you going, we could go together.. want me to put your name on the list ?

Last edited by mir (January 30 2009)

crazy

Member

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

Just to revive the thread (thks to samer;) ) 95% possibility of me being there, and bringing a camera to archive everything:)

mir

Member

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

I think i will be there.. but not for the morning sessions.. cuz a work popped up and i really really tried to put it off but can't.

so i will try finish as fast as possible, hope i get there around noon

samer

Admin

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

Trying to figure out a way to recognize ourselves (those of us who haven't met). Any suggestions?

crazy

Member

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

hmmm... i'll park on the corniche, and come from the girls dorm gate^^ probably will have a camera around my neck, don't know about laptop, long time since i used mine, and its heavy:p maybe I'd take another laptop lying around here...

Sinon:) we can make up a password, like you come to a person you suspect being someone here, and you tell them: "Nice day for an apple" and if he replies "I'd prefer a tawouk ma3 extra toum" you'd know its someone from here^^ if he just look at you, and you feel he/she's gonna hit you, run!

samer

Admin

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

I'm most likely going to print out flyers and give them to the members I already know. That way, if you don't know anyone you can just go to the nearest flyer distributor :)

Give me your opinions on this: http://a1.s3.p.quickshareit.com/files/l … r7dbb8.jpg

mir

Member

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

well, i was thinking we make samer dress in some funny colors and clothes or something  to be recognizable from the crowd. hihihihi

regarding the flyer, it is perfect.. maybe you can add :
Do you find this irrelevant, sorry to spam you, but hey this can still make a cool paper plane or something like that.

and maybe on the back you can print something from xkcd about open source (since it will be black and white) and it will make the fliers funny and might attract ppl, specially that almsot every geek i know reads xkcd, so he/she will relate
and usually ppl tend to keep funny stuff with them to show it to other ppl ( more ppl see it ), they won't consider it as pure marketing stuff and throw it at the next bin

Last edited by mir (February 24 2009)

crazy

Member

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

samer in a dress, mir in a suit then?

As for the flyer, plain and simple, I think it is perfect for this kind of event. You need just 5 sec to read it.. max.. that's what a flyer should be all about.

mir

Member

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

samer in a dress is way harder than me in a suit .. i get to pick the dress ?

crazy

Member

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

You can go for a kilt^^ he'd be original, noticeable, and won't be ashamed of walking around in it:) He might be cold from the legs though:D

If we had more time, (actually you had, I did not:D:D:D) we could've made some pins:) you know that little thing with a needle that you put on your shirt, t-shir etc..

samer

Admin

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

we could've made some pins:)

I have thought of that. It would have been cool (I'll ask tomorrow if I can get it done on time).

On another note, I printed 200 A6 flyers :)

I couldn't afford printing more so we'll have to be picky when we give them out :rolleyes:

If someone is willing to get them printed as well:

Here are the specs:

– A4 135gsm glossy paper.
– colored printing.
– 4 flyers on one A4 paper (since it's A6), make sure you tell the guy to put 4 on one A4 page.
– Here is the source psd file.

Price shouldn't be more than 1,000LL per A4 so don't get ripped off :)

Places where you can print:
– Malik's
– Doculand
– Ghali Copy Center
– etc.

mir

Member

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

the ppl registered are around 70  so 200 are enough i guess

can we split the costs ?

Last edited by mir (February 25 2009)

samer

Admin

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

I presume that around 30 additional people will be there (on-site registration). My theory is to have 4 flyers for every person to be on the safe side. We can share the rest among us to give them out in strategic locations.

can we split the costs?

Definitely. If someone prints additional flyers we can split the cost of those (it should be about 5,000LL on every person if we're 10 to donate).

crazy

Member

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

4 flyer per person? you'd want them to take at least one at first^^

200 flyer for 100 person max is enough I guess. I don't have the time to go and print flyers, too busy this week. But we can split cost, surtout eza fi pins bil da2:D flyers you loose them quickly, not pins

mir

Member

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

and stickers stick around.. u don't loose them

we will nou2af 3al rond point iza dall fi papers and nwaze3on.. don't worry

crazy dude u crazy busy all the time

crazy

Member

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

Haha wa2fe 3al rond point!!! you reminded me the old days of scout!! (not so old but heyyy:D)

Well mir, its my last year at AUB, between graduate projects and FYP (final year project), and going on a jobhunt in a world striked by this crisis... so I can be busy a lot^^
Also I'm working on a side project with a friend, should be up and running soon, you'll hear about it definetly:D

rolf

Member

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

Haha wa2fe 3al rond point!!! you reminded me the old days of scout!! (not so old but heyyy:D)

Well mir, its my last year at AUB, between graduate projects and FYP (final year project), and going on a jobhunt in a world striked by this crisis... so I can be busy a lot^^
Also I'm working on a side project with a friend, should be up and running soon, you'll hear about it definetly:D

IT is never in crisis :) There are always enough viruses and bugs to keep people busy...

rolf

Member

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

so when is that event happening... is it passed yet?

Last edited by rolf (February 26 2009)

samer

Admin

Re: LebGeeks at the OpenSesame BarCamp-Lebanon

so when is that event happening... is it passed yet?

Saturday February 28, 2009.

Read more about it: http://barcamp.org/OpenSesame+BarCamp-Lebanon

Will you be joining the team? :)