Re: [SLUG] Video Sales to Support SLUG

["Oscar Plameras" <oscarp@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I think SLUG should come up with a process or policy on
TALKS delivered during meetings and other things. This process
or policy spells out a number of things, amongst which the copyleft
(copyright) issue. It is logical to use GPL license on the materials
 produced by SLUG in general.

TALKS policy, if it can be concretised by outlining or detailing
the acceptable topics, duration, whether synopsis of the talks
will be required to be submitted 2 weeks, 4 weeks, or 6 weeks, etc
in advance, whether acceptance by a committee is required or
not, copylefts issue, etc. In this way the proponents of TALKS
know in advance the rules of the game. This policy will also
filter out in the eyes of the Committee TALKS of interest or no
interest to the general or special interest groups. This enhances
predictability, confidence, and relevance in the behaviour of  SLUG.
Perhaps, SLUG has this policy somewhere ?

This is just a thought.


From: "Jeff Waugh"
To: "Penguinillas" <slug@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2003 3:30 PM
Subject: [SLUG] Video Sales to Support SLUG


> Hi all,
>
> SLUG is building a pretty good resource with the meeting videos that Jan
has
> been taking with our new digital video camera. We're working on turning
the
> (massive) DV into something useful to distribute to our members, either
VCD,
> CD-ROM or DVD. Hopefully, these will be available to members very soon.
>
> It occurred to me last month that it's a very small leap between making
> videos for our members, and making videos available to the wider
community,
> both nationally and internationally. At the top of my mind was the success
> of the SLUG Pearls around the world, and we only published seven editions!
> <http://kt.zork.net/slug-pearls/archives.html>
>
> It would make sense for SLUG to take advantage of, and support, vendors
who
> already have advertising, sales and distribution channels, rather than
SLUG
> getting actively involved in a commercial enterprise (which has been
widely
> frowned upon, for good reason).
>
> Essentially, we'd provide the videos, and a vendor would be able to sell
CDs
> or DVDs and send some of the profits our way, to support SLUG [1]. We
don't
> need to build the infrastructure, change our organisation or partake in
> unnecessary risk, plus we can support vendors involved in our community.
All
> good things.
>
> So, the big issues with this idea come down to:
>
>   - Speakers must be given the opportunity to say "no, I don't want my
talk
>     recorded" and "no, I don't want my talk sold (but I'm happy for it to
be
>     given to SLUG members)". This is easy to do, as we already have
speaker
>     info emails sent out before the meetings.
>
>   - Is it appropriate for SLUG to sell stuff at all, even if the "real"
>     commercial aspects of it are done through another organisation?
>
>   - How many potential speakers are going to see it as SLUG profiteering
on
>     their work, as opposed to their support of SLUG? (I would have thought
>     anyone doing a talk would feel they're supporting SLUG in some way,
but
>     perhaps there are more selfish reasons for doing talks.)
>
> Have I missed any big issues here? What are your thoughts on these (as
> members, potential speakers, potential buyers, etc)?
>
> I'm going to respond with my thoughts separately. :-)
>
> Thanks,
>
> - Jeff
>
> [1] Yes, SLUG has a fairly good bank balance right now, but we're no
longer
> receiving the kind of sponsorship for events and things that we once used
> to. While finding new funding avenues will open up more possibilities for
> us, it's not the *primary* reason why I think we should do this, but a
good
> secondary benefit. The primary reason is making good material available to
> the wider community.
>
> --
> linux.conf.au 2004: Adelaide, Australia
http://lca2004.linux.org.au/
>
>       "Are you XFire's crazy girlfriend? And if so, shine on you crazy
>                           diamond!" - Paul Cameron
> --
> SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/
> More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
>