Running An Install Fest

More to come later.

HOWTOs for running an Install Fest have been written many times before. Some really good ones are linked at the bottom of this document. This page is meant to act as a checklist to make sure you have done as much as you can to be ready and to have a successful event.

Before the event

Planning

You need to take some time to really plan for an event like this. If you don't you could end up feeling rushed and the attenders will probably notice it. Here are some things to think about.

Location

Where are you going to be having it? This part may mean that you need to reserve the space before hand. Call ahead and check to see how far in advance you have to get on the locations calendar. Also if you have to reserve it find out how soon they would like to be notified in the event that you need to make a change.
If possible try to pick a location that you target attenders will not have to travel far to get to. If you are hoping for a lot of college students then see if you can hold it on the campus. This will take away one of the excuses that someone can come up with to not come.
You need to make sure that the location has internet access. Without this the whole event could be shot.
Some possible locations can include:

• A school
• A local business
• VFW

Date

Try to not pick a date that is going to be around a holiday or a big sporting event.

Get the word out

You have to let people know about the event if you expect them to come to it. Here are a few ways to spread the word. Try to provide a map the the location too in case people are coming from a different state or town.

Participants should be advised to bring every device they want to use so that it can be configured correctly. The computer itself of course, and mouse and keyboard are mandatory. You don't want anyone go home and discover that he can't use the computer at all because one of these doesn't work. Monitor as well, especially if it is a larger or non-standard monitor. Printer too, those don't always work out of the box. In the end it is up to the participant, but they need to know in order to decide what to bring.

Blog

If members of you team have blogs (who doesn't these days) then have them all blog about it months and weeks before hand.

Newspaper

If you can, see if you can get a small section in the local newspaper. It has garage sales why not Install Fests too

Other LUGs in the area

Are there any active LUGs in your area? If so then see if they would all like to do the Install Fest as a joint event.

Sponsors

O'Reilly UG

The O'Reilly publishing company has a very nice program for user groups. It may be worth it for you to see if you meet the requirements at http://ug.oreilly.com/ and sign your team up. If you do then one of the things that O'Reilly does is provide materials for events like books that you can give away as door prizes.

Local companies

If you have companies in your area that you know use Linux in their environment then it may be worth it to check with them to see if they would like to donate some resources to help the event.

Attendance

Workers

You could do this on your own ... but I would not recommend it. You are going to need help. Here is a list of some roles that people can play:

1. Coordinator: contact for all other organizers
2. Host: has the connection to the location
3. Receptionist:
   • greets people as they come in, gives them a name tag and has them sign a waiver
   • can direct people to the restrooms, the nearest computer store
   • orders food & beverages
4. Tier 1 support: people who are knowledgeable about Linux and are willing to share their knowledge and provide hands-on assistance to users
5. Tier 2 support: sets up and maintains network hardware & services (DNS, DHCP), mirrors of Linux distributions

Attendees

It would not be much of an Install Fest if you did not have people there that needed help. Remember too that these people are the reason that you are having the event.

Refreshments

Everyone likes free food. One of the best ways to get people to come is to let them know that they get to eat. Pizza and soda is always a hit.

Materials

Make sure to have plenty of the following items but make sure to mark them as yours. You don't want them growing legs:

• Monitors - Just in case someone didn't bring theirs. Also if you are having the event on something other than a ground floor then it makes it easier on the attendees to not have to lug a huge monitor around.
• Power - Have extension cords and power strips
• Mice and Keyboards (attendees should always bring their own to make sure they are detected and configured correctly)
• Tables and Chairs - The location that you chose may provide some of these.

During the event

Registration

As people are coming in have them stop at a table to register. You may want them to fill out forms like the ones linked at the bottom of the page.

Sign a release form

Installing an OS is a destructive task. The attenders need to know that before hand and they should have already done a full backup of their system. This form is intended to say that the attender understands this and will not hold anyone responsible for the loss of personal data on their system. It may be a good idea to have a lawyer in your area review the form before you use it to make sure that it covers all of the bases.

Fill out a data sheet

This is just some general information about the system that the user needs help with. They should fill out one for each system that they have brought and attach them to the case.

After its all said and done

Clean up

Once the dust settles take some time as a team to think about what went really well. Also think of the stuff that did not go off as planned. What can you do better next time? What did you do that could be cut out?

Other Documents