After the runaway success of Moodle at BETT thanks to the HUGToB team, I was wondering if any Aussies would serious concider helpding us do the same at Sydney's CeBIT.
It will take work, time passion and money. But if we get a good enough team together and some sponsrship, it could well be possible.
CeBIT occus this year May 9-11th.
Thoughts, comments and offers of help should be posted in this thread. Also feedback from HUGToB'ers aout there expereince at BETT would be appreciated to get our creative juices flowing.
If it's done, it needs to be done really well.
That means large professional-looking banners/panels in the booth, good colour handouts and a computer for demos, videos etc. I know you feel the same way, Julian - I can't think of anyone better to be interested in this.
The competition at these things is pretty slick, and a shabby booth, no matter how well-intentioned, is likely to do more damage than good for Moodle's image to people who don't already know about it (especially in the more corporate environment of this exhibition).
I'm sitting on an invite to CeBIT, but I'm not sure yet if it's the best use of the resources I've got ... if anyone else feels strongly about seeing Moodle at CeBIT then contact us.
That means large professional-looking banners/panels in the booth, good colour handouts and a computer for demos, videos etc. I know you feel the same way, Julian - I can't think of anyone better to be interested in this.
The competition at these things is pretty slick, and a shabby booth, no matter how well-intentioned, is likely to do more damage than good for Moodle's image to people who don't already know about it (especially in the more corporate environment of this exhibition).
I'm sitting on an invite to CeBIT, but I'm not sure yet if it's the best use of the resources I've got ... if anyone else feels strongly about seeing Moodle at CeBIT then contact us.
> I'm sitting on an invite to CeBIT, but I'm not sure yet if
> it's the best use of the resources I've got ... if anyone else
> feels strongly about seeing Moodle at CeBIT then contact us.
Last year we had a pretty good booth at CeBIT, and I think this year we are in for another one. Let me ask internally...
(Oops! I was thinking Hannover, not Sydney)
> it's the best use of the resources I've got ... if anyone else
> feels strongly about seeing Moodle at CeBIT then contact us.
Last year we had a pretty good booth at CeBIT, and I think this year we are in for another one. Let me ask internally...
(Oops! I was thinking Hannover, not Sydney)
The HUGToB Moodle@BETT stand was done as cheaply as it could possibly be done. It showed. We had a tiny little stand, "Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of" Olympia. This though was for us a key part of the story - the fact that we were, for the most part, "just a bunch of teachers" with no commercial interest, immediately set us apart from the corporate types in their shiny stands, with whom we would never be able to compete on a gloss-for-gloss basis. What came across was our passion, the shear quality of the porduct, at least for those of the visitors that fought their way to the front of the crowd, and the sense that this was developed by a community of educators, rather than a commercial software house. These factors might not carry as much sway at CeBIT though, I'll grant you.
A few lessons learned:
- My personal view was that a little more planning and clearer understanding of who did what might have been worth it (and I would beg my comrades not to take this personally!), although it might perhaps have spoilt the FUN, and we were all, really, really, busy.
- Press releases need to be done like 6 weeks before the event to hit the weekly press.
- Relying on the goodwill and genorosity of sponsors was great when it worked (THANK YOU!), but left no course for redress when things fell through.
- A set of Moodle banners and panels would have been good - perhaps this might be worth investing in, although I don't know whether it would be cheaper to produce locally than fed-ex to wherever the next show is.
- A tablecloth.
- I did run up a flier for the last day, it's in InDesign format at the mo, but I can probably turn it into a pdf, or whatever else InDesign might talk to. E-mail/message me if you want a copy of this, although it was written for the UK schools context.
For us, the main thing was the being there. I think Mr Buddie may have ambitions for something far more splendid next January, although even that can scarcely do Moodle justice!
On a related matter, I see that our local Regional Broadband Consortium is running a series of Learning Platform Conferences at the end of March, and that some 'selected' LP suppliers will be around to demonstrate their products. Don't suppose Moodle's been invited. Perhaps an e-mail campaign along the lines of 'can we see Moodle please?' might be in order...
Is now about the time we start spruiking for the MMA (Moodle Marketing Arm).
Moodle has really now shaped itself as a market leader in VLE/LMS/CMS/Whatever you want to call it area.
The product offers professional, scalable, cost effective learning management solutions on par with any other major player out there. And, best of all it's open source.
As Moodles reputation has grown, so are the scale of projects that it is becoming involved with (look at OpenU..wow!) and the expectations of professionalism are becoming more apparent. Invitations to events are increasing, opportunities to better place Moodle in the marketplace with larger institutions is growing and events to appear/present at are more prevalent than ever before.
Moodle is a fantastic product fueled by a passionate community. Many members (including myself) want to take Moodle and evangelize it to those that surround us. Some do it through papers, others at lectures, and those that are real keen hold conferences/seminars. But nowhere currently is there a set of marketing materials to aid this.
Moodle has now established itself as a brand. And a brand that should be well nurtured and protected. In my opinion at least, we are reaching the critical mass point of explosive growth (if we haven't already been well into it), and to continue this, we need to demonstrate a level of professionalism that is expected of us.
Moodle Doc is growing at an amazing rate under Helen, but so far its focus has been on software training documentation. I would like to see a marketing resource area set up for members to have access to approved materials to be used at events and other situations where such documentation is required.
Items such as Fact sheets, brochures, signage, power point templates, print quality logos and more importantly usage guidelines come to mind.
What do you all think?
Am I moving to fast? Would others see this as a need? How else could this be achieved? Post below.
Moodle has really now shaped itself as a market leader in VLE/LMS/CMS/Whatever you want to call it area.
The product offers professional, scalable, cost effective learning management solutions on par with any other major player out there. And, best of all it's open source.
As Moodles reputation has grown, so are the scale of projects that it is becoming involved with (look at OpenU..wow!) and the expectations of professionalism are becoming more apparent. Invitations to events are increasing, opportunities to better place Moodle in the marketplace with larger institutions is growing and events to appear/present at are more prevalent than ever before.
Moodle is a fantastic product fueled by a passionate community. Many members (including myself) want to take Moodle and evangelize it to those that surround us. Some do it through papers, others at lectures, and those that are real keen hold conferences/seminars. But nowhere currently is there a set of marketing materials to aid this.
Moodle has now established itself as a brand. And a brand that should be well nurtured and protected. In my opinion at least, we are reaching the critical mass point of explosive growth (if we haven't already been well into it), and to continue this, we need to demonstrate a level of professionalism that is expected of us.
Moodle Doc is growing at an amazing rate under Helen, but so far its focus has been on software training documentation. I would like to see a marketing resource area set up for members to have access to approved materials to be used at events and other situations where such documentation is required.
Items such as Fact sheets, brochures, signage, power point templates, print quality logos and more importantly usage guidelines come to mind.
What do you all think?
Am I moving to fast? Would others see this as a need? How else could this be achieved? Post below.
hey Julian... go for it, I'm in... 
I think it's a need so we can transform what is in some cases a grassroots movement into something that has more sway at a 'higher' (i.e. governmental) level...
On a slightly related note, anyone seen (opens in new window) this blog post concerning HE? 
I totally agree that the stand at Bett was very effective for teachers - it was a very good idea and full props to the whole HUGTOB crew for putting it together. I don't mean to diss any of that effort - I think it was an amazing thing.
That said, I would obviously like to see the Moodle brand (which is my trademark in the UK among other countries) presented in the best light as possible, so that it also appeals to the people who need to make expensive decisions about implementing it on a wider basis.
That said, I would obviously like to see the Moodle brand (which is my trademark in the UK among other countries) presented in the best light as possible, so that it also appeals to the people who need to make expensive decisions about implementing it on a wider basis.
Firstly I completely agree with everything Miles has said 
Secondly my part in the hugtob campaign changed my opinion about how moodle should be presented.
BETT was great. The best thing about it was the people who came to the stand and Moodle, in my humble opinion, is about people. Nobody really looked at the stand as such but obviously it's unclear if people were turned off by it as they didn't, and perhaps wouldn't, say to our faces. What is very telling, however, is there were a lot of other companies around us (a posh e-assessment stand with plasmas and such opposite for example) and non of them came close to the interest we had. Nowhere near. We even took overt the space of the vacant stand opposite and that still wasn't enough. For me the stand turned into a user group stand like the pre-corporate days of computer exhibitions and this was obviously what a lot of people at BETT wanted and needed and I am glad Moodle was the product to supply that. It was a real breath of fresh air and it would be a shame to loose that because, at the very least, it would make it easier for the commercial companies to sell their products which may be no match for Moodle. Also it provided a human extension of these forums as you would get at a moot but only hitting a much wider audience and wider Moodle experiences.
That said, I personally didn't speak to many people who were senior managers, from CLCs, LEAs or the government and I feel Moodle now needs to target these areas, at least here in the UK. If it doesn't Moodle will be something that teachers want to use but it will not be presented as an option. I am mainly thinking of senior managers in schools buying VLEs from sales people (I think the Moodle partners could have a major roll here) and also the fact that Moodle will not be a viable option for LEAs if it does not meet BECTAs specifications.
A year ago I would have felt a little sad if I thought Moodle was going to dabble in proactive salesmanship and flashy corporate exhibitions. Now I feel it will be a real shame if it doesn't. We'll all still be here doing what we are doing now in these forums, at the moots and hopefully more user group type meetings and presentations a la BETT but I think Moodle also needs a slick presence at every event the other VLE folk are at along with a pro-active sales team.
Of course these things cost a lot of money
Darren
Secondly my part in the hugtob campaign changed my opinion about how moodle should be presented.
BETT was great. The best thing about it was the people who came to the stand and Moodle, in my humble opinion, is about people. Nobody really looked at the stand as such but obviously it's unclear if people were turned off by it as they didn't, and perhaps wouldn't, say to our faces. What is very telling, however, is there were a lot of other companies around us (a posh e-assessment stand with plasmas and such opposite for example) and non of them came close to the interest we had. Nowhere near. We even took overt the space of the vacant stand opposite and that still wasn't enough. For me the stand turned into a user group stand like the pre-corporate days of computer exhibitions and this was obviously what a lot of people at BETT wanted and needed and I am glad Moodle was the product to supply that. It was a real breath of fresh air and it would be a shame to loose that because, at the very least, it would make it easier for the commercial companies to sell their products which may be no match for Moodle. Also it provided a human extension of these forums as you would get at a moot but only hitting a much wider audience and wider Moodle experiences.
That said, I personally didn't speak to many people who were senior managers, from CLCs, LEAs or the government and I feel Moodle now needs to target these areas, at least here in the UK. If it doesn't Moodle will be something that teachers want to use but it will not be presented as an option. I am mainly thinking of senior managers in schools buying VLEs from sales people (I think the Moodle partners could have a major roll here) and also the fact that Moodle will not be a viable option for LEAs if it does not meet BECTAs specifications.
A year ago I would have felt a little sad if I thought Moodle was going to dabble in proactive salesmanship and flashy corporate exhibitions. Now I feel it will be a real shame if it doesn't. We'll all still be here doing what we are doing now in these forums, at the moots and hopefully more user group type meetings and presentations a la BETT but I think Moodle also needs a slick presence at every event the other VLE folk are at along with a pro-active sales team.
Of course these things cost a lot of money
Darren
I have some video footage from BETT which looks down the corridor of stands in two directions and it is Welcome to the Mary Celeste, stands with no visitors as far as the eye can see. Then the camera pans to the Moodle stand and it is a maelstrom of casual clad teachers and ernest moodlistas extolling the virtues of our favorite VLE. This was fairly typical of most of the show.
I don't think we reported quite how successful the BETT stand was after the show. We had about 4 people constantly demonstrating for three straight days for about 7 hours a day. We are talking about demonstrating to hundreds of people. If we had not been there the main moodle presence would have been a company that was promoting their moodle as if they were the authors, rather than crediting the real origins and continuing support. The presentation in the demo theatre was standing room only (I know cos I was standing trying to hold a camera steady).
I have a great deal of experience manning the stand at commercial computer shows and companies would kill for the kind of traffic that we had. I was going horse by the end of day one with talking to enthusiastic potential and actual users. The people demonstrating varied in background from those that looked corporate to those that looked like what they are, actual teachers using the product "in anger". It was an absolute buzz for me and I'm already looking forwards to next years show.
I have a great deal of experience manning the stand at commercial computer shows and companies would kill for the kind of traffic that we had. I was going horse by the end of day one with talking to enthusiastic potential and actual users. The people demonstrating varied in background from those that looked corporate to those that looked like what they are, actual teachers using the product "in anger". It was an absolute buzz for me and I'm already looking forwards to next years show.
I guess some of the traffic could actually be ascribed to curiosity generated by Moodle itself over the past few years , and not entirely by the booth itself. But in future years I see no reason why all that good interaction can't be continued in front of a nice booth that explains the wider picture (including moodle.com etc).
Can you pop your video on the web for us, Marcus? I'd love to see it.
Can you pop your video on the web for us, Marcus? I'd love to see it.
I would say none of the traffic was generated by the booth in regards to it's presentation, That was the point I was trying to make. Everybody else in that section did have slick booths and no traffic.
Of course we think there was room for improvement for the stand but, to be honest, we weren't trampled in the rush of people willing to get down there the night before and set up. Also nobody offered to be in charge of presenting the stand (if I remember correctly) so it was left mainly to Drew otherwise there would have been nothing there.
I think location is an important factor that nobody has really explored.
At BETT the stand was out 'in the sticks'. People had to seek the stand out which made it even more impressive. Although the traffic was overwhelming it was easy for the more official bodies and national media to ignore us. I'm not suggesting moodle should be next to RM and Apple (On a side not I was actually digusted to see the major stands in main area, especially the BBC - They must have spent well over 100k of public money just to present not very much at all.) but if people are wanting to raise the stakes ...
Darren
Of course we think there was room for improvement for the stand but, to be honest, we weren't trampled in the rush of people willing to get down there the night before and set up. Also nobody offered to be in charge of presenting the stand (if I remember correctly) so it was left mainly to Drew otherwise there would have been nothing there.
I think location is an important factor that nobody has really explored.
At BETT the stand was out 'in the sticks'. People had to seek the stand out which made it even more impressive. Although the traffic was overwhelming it was easy for the more official bodies and national media to ignore us. I'm not suggesting moodle should be next to RM and Apple (On a side not I was actually digusted to see the major stands in main area, especially the BBC - They must have spent well over 100k of public money just to present not very much at all.) but if people are wanting to raise the stakes ...
Darren
I found a very significant proportion of the traffic was Moodle virgins who had to have concepts explained like "What is a VLE", and "why is it free". If you are like me and have this site set in your bookmarks it is tempting to think that Moodle is on the verge of TOTAL WORLD DOMINATION, but in the real world of busy teachers any concept of the VLE is a spec on the horizon. I did some research where I work and found that even in the IT department the teachers used very, very few of the features of the VLE, so in the non IT sector I suspect that ignorance/indifference is magnified.
It's important to recognise that many of the people involved in the BETT stand spent serious chunks of their own money to make it happen and many of those have no direct financial gain to be made. If we had offers of a free stand then the money raised could have been spent on gloss, but we didn't so we couldn't.
It's important to recognise that many of the people involved in the BETT stand spent serious chunks of their own money to make it happen and many of those have no direct financial gain to be made. If we had offers of a free stand then the money raised could have been spent on gloss, but we didn't so we couldn't.
Hello,
First off -- best of luck to Cebit organisers, I know it took HUGToB a huge amount of worry and effort to get us to Bett and that it looked as though the effort was going to fail entirely very close to the finishing line - so big thank you to the core hugtobbers who fought to keep going (Drew, Darren, Miles and Val - sorry if I missed anyone).
BTW unlike someone else who spoke here, I did speak/demonstrate to at least three LEA's looking seriously at Moodle, as well as decision makers at schools, FEs and HE's. IMHO the greatest strength was the volunteers on the stand - a number of visitors were very aware that we were there because we chose to be, not because we were being paid to be. During my shifts (the first two days) we could have done with at least one more body (larger stands would need even more people).
My tuppence worth and no criticism is implied to anyone's effort - only that we should and can learn from any experience:
cheers
Mandy
First off -- best of luck to Cebit organisers, I know it took HUGToB a huge amount of worry and effort to get us to Bett and that it looked as though the effort was going to fail entirely very close to the finishing line - so big thank you to the core hugtobbers who fought to keep going (Drew, Darren, Miles and Val - sorry if I missed anyone).
BTW unlike someone else who spoke here, I did speak/demonstrate to at least three LEA's looking seriously at Moodle, as well as decision makers at schools, FEs and HE's. IMHO the greatest strength was the volunteers on the stand - a number of visitors were very aware that we were there because we chose to be, not because we were being paid to be. During my shifts (the first two days) we could have done with at least one more body (larger stands would need even more people).
My tuppence worth and no criticism is implied to anyone's effort - only that we should and can learn from any experience:
- Don't use a wiki to organise this kind of thing - it's much too hard to follow the thread, catch-up or find final decisions.
- The look of the stand doesn't have to be flash with matching pillow covers etc, but a really big Moodle logo in fold/roll up plastic (that can either do the rounds or one for each country/continent) wouldn't go amiss.
- The HUGToB concept and effort was great but I think that the visual presence at the Stand and on all promotional material should have been Moodle.
- Have some method in place to do take details in order to do follow up surveys/marketing so as to try to gain an idea of effect of presence at event.
- I would have liked to have seen a different kind of Moodle Partner presence. I believe that all the UK partners contributed something financially - and some a lot more than that, but, and please forgive me if I'm being bullish, I think that it would have been better if the partners had all contributed an equal amount (or percentage of income amount) to eachother and - in return - had a tangible presence on the stand. Please don't shout at me, let me explain first and then you can shout at me
- I think it's very important for people who don't really understand the concept of OSS (how can something free be any good?) to understand and see the business model that supports it.
- It would have frequently been very helpful to be able to pass off visitors to the stand to the different partners to say things like "If you need hosting and installation support then a company like xxx can help you" or "if you need training xx can help you".
- So it's not as though they need to be there in person, but they too need to have literature available (and lots of it!)
- We needed literature - and lots of it - produced for these sorts of events. That speaks to different levels of interest, i.e. detailed spec stuff, to marketing isn't it fab stuff.
cheers
Mandy
Afternoon Mandy... how are you doing?
Don't think you've upset anyone... I pretty much agree with what you think... I know there are thoughts abroad about this sort of thing. Here are some of my thoughts... (and again, all opinions are mine...)
- I think every Moodle partner should contribute an annual sum towards this area as part of their being a Moodle partner - after all, the more Moodle is promoted, the more scope and potential there is for their work... this could go into a pooled fund out of which Moodle's official presence at places like BETT should be funded. Don't ask me for the details!
- The "infrastructure" of the stand (if we can keep thinking of a BETT-type situation) should be as 'corporate' as possible - half-decent looking re-usable graphics, etc. but the content should be people - Moodlers, users, partners if necessary - above all it's the people on the stand & their experiences of using it that 'sell' the idea of Moodling - the infrastructure is as much about being able to set up easily with as little stress as possible for those people on the stand (who, let's face it, will almost certainly be doing this from their own time / goodwill and don't need the hassle
of trying to get display boards made / things laminated / CDs duplicated / etc. etc.) - This also reinforces the we're here 'cos we believe in it ethos which I know made an impact (and got a mention in a keynote address)
- I agree, everything should be Moodle, rather than partners or anything... and the literature and follow-up stuff (surely we'll use the database module on a working Moodle 1.6 install?
) is critical...
Again, to all of the hardcore HUGToB team rather than lightweights like me...
... I'm sure I owe a bit of my money that didn't get spent on lunch!
i.
Greetings all!
I thought I would throw my tuppence into this maelstrom! It was an amazing experience for me and other members of the COVCELL project to be at BETT -- the buzz that was generated for Moodle was really remarkable. I basically agree with Mandy but here are some points:
Enough! And thanks again to the BETT organisers for doing such a great job!
Matthew.
I thought I would throw my tuppence into this maelstrom! It was an amazing experience for me and other members of the COVCELL project to be at BETT -- the buzz that was generated for Moodle was really remarkable. I basically agree with Mandy but here are some points:
- If it is possible to maintain the kind of grassroots/open community feeling to the stand that we saw at BETT then it should definitely be maintained. It really created a convincing aura of enthusiasm for a real product that wasn´t spin and hype.
- I did speak to some LEA reps and they seemed positively impressed by the atmosphere at the stand.
- BUT I agree that there were some things that would improve the ability of the individuals at the stand to communicate the products advantages:
- slicker fliers on the advantages of Moodle to distribute
- perhaps a slick rebuttal flier to answer the "why commercial is safer" arguments
- a tonne of ready to run Moodle cds (the ones we had went like hotcakes!)
- all of which costs money -- so yes, I think Moodle partners could make even more out of the event by
- investing more in the stand
- having a individual presence -- I too would have liked to pass interested but inexperienced enquirers on to moodle partners who could offer services if necessary
- and it would not have hurt to have a few large professional Martin-approved posters with the Moodle logo
Enough! And thanks again to the BETT organisers for doing such a great job!
Matthew.
OK some "commercial" advice.
Mail all LEA reps before the next BETT with a postcard - or cheaper still an email with the artwork of a postcard with a map to the stand...
Get the measurements of the stand and have artwork printed up in sections - then take it to a laminators and then buy some heavy duty velcro from John Lewis and velcro the stuff up onto the back wall - looks the business...
Get committment from people about times well beforehand.
Order a bar code reader and amend the data every night. Have a computer or PDA set up just for a database and comment on each conversation. If not then then put it in pads
Operate a "triage" system about talking with people i.e. One person to assess if they are teacher, adviser, LEA, HE , FE etc and have appropriate contact sheets for each if you do not have the expertise. Otherwise point them to a person or moodle resource that matches what they want exactly with exemplars.
Have partner firms details to hand after the "triage" bit to hand out as well.
Bulk buy some naff thing like a wooden pointer and rubber stamp the moodle URL on it for teachers - give away with a disk.
Make sure you get BETT to book you in to lecture in the main lecture theatre now!
I could go on and on and on really...
Cheers,
Leon
Mail all LEA reps before the next BETT with a postcard - or cheaper still an email with the artwork of a postcard with a map to the stand...
Get the measurements of the stand and have artwork printed up in sections - then take it to a laminators and then buy some heavy duty velcro from John Lewis and velcro the stuff up onto the back wall - looks the business...
Get committment from people about times well beforehand.
Order a bar code reader and amend the data every night. Have a computer or PDA set up just for a database and comment on each conversation. If not then then put it in pads
Operate a "triage" system about talking with people i.e. One person to assess if they are teacher, adviser, LEA, HE , FE etc and have appropriate contact sheets for each if you do not have the expertise. Otherwise point them to a person or moodle resource that matches what they want exactly with exemplars.
Have partner firms details to hand after the "triage" bit to hand out as well.
Bulk buy some naff thing like a wooden pointer and rubber stamp the moodle URL on it for teachers - give away with a disk.
Make sure you get BETT to book you in to lecture in the main lecture theatre now!
I could go on and on and on really...
Cheers,
Leon
> Of course these things cost a lot of money 
...but we have some offers of stands / space on stands for nothing - nada, niet, zilch, zero - next year - in fact our ISP's sales manager (who have completely come round to the Moodle way of thinking) said that had he known about things he would have given HUGToB space this year - including an internet connection (which is worth a lot of money, several thousand pounds) - with no expectation of anything in return. Other people have had similar offers, so imho we need to marshall these ASAP in time for next year.
It would be possible to spend the money saved on exhibition space / internet connection to get some graphics done - easily. PR? (see Miles' post) - I have some ideas up my sleeve...
I agree with the LEA / RBC point - I spoke to a few people from as-yet-unnamed organisations but it wasn't a great environment to have strategic conversations...
For BETT 2007, we need to meet, and soon... with the Learning Platforms stuff happening, 2007 is the key year...
Playing devils advocate a bit:
I think Moodle probably got a lot of credibility at BETT for being a grass roots organisation, built by the teachers for the teachers, unable to afford a flashy stand (we paid for it by whist drives and jumble sales) no we're not salesmen/women, we're just teachers like you who've given up some time to be here and tell you about this really great FREE software you can get. Frankly I think we're scaring the commercial people more and attracting more attention purely by being un-corporate and stuck out 'on the unfashionable western arm of the galaxy' as I think Ian U put it.
I saw a program once about extreme clothes fashion, they had footage of a set of Japanese teenagers queueing all weekend outside a shop in an industrial estate just to get these really cool trainers you couldn't get elsewhere. Its a bit counter intuitive but I think (at BETT anyway) there is value in avoiding slickness, to become corporate would lose us attention rather than get us more.
Hearing all these stories about BETT now I'm REALLY annoyed I missed it, I was at BETT last year and it was an eye opener for me (coming from HE), you could just smell the gravy train chugging around as soon as you walked in the hall.
I think Moodle probably got a lot of credibility at BETT for being a grass roots organisation, built by the teachers for the teachers, unable to afford a flashy stand (we paid for it by whist drives and jumble sales) no we're not salesmen/women, we're just teachers like you who've given up some time to be here and tell you about this really great FREE software you can get. Frankly I think we're scaring the commercial people more and attracting more attention purely by being un-corporate and stuck out 'on the unfashionable western arm of the galaxy' as I think Ian U put it.
I saw a program once about extreme clothes fashion, they had footage of a set of Japanese teenagers queueing all weekend outside a shop in an industrial estate just to get these really cool trainers you couldn't get elsewhere. Its a bit counter intuitive but I think (at BETT anyway) there is value in avoiding slickness, to become corporate would lose us attention rather than get us more.
Hearing all these stories about BETT now I'm REALLY annoyed I missed it, I was at BETT last year and it was an eye opener for me (coming from HE), you could just smell the gravy train chugging around as soon as you walked in the hall.
This is a very pertinent post - and there most certainly is value in avoiding slickness. However, I do think two essential things were lacking from the Moodle stand at BETT - a professional A3 sized promotional poster and a professional looking A4 flier. They wouldn't need to be complicated at all - just the Moodle orange background, Moodle logo, the link and a tagline.
Moodle can speak for itself - but we just need to get educators 'on the hook'.
Producing something like this wouldn't be going commerical or slick at all, but such things would be great to take away from trade / promotional events. Ideal to put up in the staffroom, in ICT suites, classrooms. Just literally something to grab attention and get people asking "What's that then?".... When you've got someone hooked like that you can then explain all the benefits of Moodle.
For future events such as Broadband consortium events, LEA meetings, county ICT training and so on, all you would need to do is put up five or so of these posters on a stand and have a bunch of fliers to give away.
Moodle can speak for itself - but we just need to get educators 'on the hook'.
Producing something like this wouldn't be going commerical or slick at all, but such things would be great to take away from trade / promotional events. Ideal to put up in the staffroom, in ICT suites, classrooms. Just literally something to grab attention and get people asking "What's that then?".... When you've got someone hooked like that you can then explain all the benefits of Moodle.
For future events such as Broadband consortium events, LEA meetings, county ICT training and so on, all you would need to do is put up five or so of these posters on a stand and have a bunch of fliers to give away.
I just want to emphasize again what a great idea our UK colleagues had
to set up a stand at BETT. From my view, it was highly successful with
lots of visitors stopping by.
I agree with you Andrew about flyers and posters for schools. Of course, professional adverstising posters and flyers do cost a lot of money - definitely exceeding the budget of the HUGtoB team.
But here is a solution which might work. Product design and promotion is a core subject in our curriculum (I'm sure in UK FE colleges as well). What we are planning to do is create advertising posters and flyers in both German and English for Moodle - we have already contacted an FE college in our neighborhood - they specialize in Media design and also have printing facilities for large posters. Maybe other FE colleges would like to do the same - there would be a pool of ideas. We plan to post templates on Moodle.org for everybody to use and insert their own language. This would save a lot of money and everybody who wants to set up a stand at a fair would have enough display material.
In addition, the educational value for our students will be tremendous, since they will actually create something used in 'real life' at 'real fairs' instead of having to design posters about a ficticious product nobody is interested in and which will end up in the paper recycling bin upon completion.
Hoping that other teachers will join
,
Ulrike
I agree with you Andrew about flyers and posters for schools. Of course, professional adverstising posters and flyers do cost a lot of money - definitely exceeding the budget of the HUGtoB team.
But here is a solution which might work. Product design and promotion is a core subject in our curriculum (I'm sure in UK FE colleges as well). What we are planning to do is create advertising posters and flyers in both German and English for Moodle - we have already contacted an FE college in our neighborhood - they specialize in Media design and also have printing facilities for large posters. Maybe other FE colleges would like to do the same - there would be a pool of ideas. We plan to post templates on Moodle.org for everybody to use and insert their own language. This would save a lot of money and everybody who wants to set up a stand at a fair would have enough display material.
In addition, the educational value for our students will be tremendous, since they will actually create something used in 'real life' at 'real fairs' instead of having to design posters about a ficticious product nobody is interested in and which will end up in the paper recycling bin upon completion.
Hoping that other teachers will join
,Ulrike
If you do work on these, please make sure they build them around the standard logo and standard orange colours and so on. Consistency is important in any promotion to something that is instantly recognisable in different contexts.
The standard tag line, incidentally, is:
"Open source software for collaborative learning"
The standard tag line, incidentally, is:
"Open source software for collaborative learning"
I only became aware of the need for a proper flyer when I arrived on the stand on the Wednesday afternoon. I did put something together the first chance I had, but this was late Friday evening, so we only had this in place for the Saturday. Still, others may be able to improve on this work for next time.
I've incorporated the work of others in this, particularly Julian's excellent superman logo, I hope no-one feels I've infringed their copyright - if I have, firstly my apologies, and secondly tell me and I'll deal with it.
The pdf version is at http://stiveshaslemere.com/mgb/moodle flyer.pdf
The InDesign source is at http://stiveshaslemere.com/mgb/moodle flyer.indd
Moodle on a laptop is worth having with you if you're doing this sort of thing at "Broadband consortium events, LEA meetings, county ICT training" etc - the features demo course is a good starting point, but it may be worth building up a portfolio of exemplar courses for such events. Being able to show off how Moodle's used in schools already had quite an impact at the stand, I think.
I've incorporated the work of others in this, particularly Julian's excellent superman logo, I hope no-one feels I've infringed their copyright - if I have, firstly my apologies, and secondly tell me and I'll deal with it.
The pdf version is at http://stiveshaslemere.com/mgb/moodle flyer.pdf
The InDesign source is at http://stiveshaslemere.com/mgb/moodle flyer.indd
Moodle on a laptop is worth having with you if you're doing this sort of thing at "Broadband consortium events, LEA meetings, county ICT training" etc - the features demo course is a good starting point, but it may be worth building up a portfolio of exemplar courses for such events. Being able to show off how Moodle's used in schools already had quite an impact at the stand, I think.
Hey Miles...
On a related matter, I see that our local Regional Broadband Consortium is running a series of Learning Platform Conferences at the end of March, and that some 'selected' LP suppliers will be around to demonstrate their products. Don't suppose Moodle's been invited.
Well, I've been invited to the SEGfL one in Maidenhead on 22nd March (don't know if I'm saying anything though!) - there are others in Portsmouth, Crawley or Ashford in Kent... I know some of our primary schools are going to the Maidenhead one (so I'll wear my suit then...).
I know that Moodle was represented at the roadshow in Cumbria... plus there are other things happening in the background... I think...
i.
>
The HUGToB Moodle@BETT stand was done as cheaply as it could possibly be done. It showed. We had a tiny little stand, "Far
out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western
spiral arm of" Olympia. This though was for us a key part of the story
- the fact that we were, for the most part, "just a bunch of teachers"
with no commercial interest, immediately set us apart from the
corporate types in their shiny stands, with whom we would never be able
to compete on a gloss-for-gloss basis.
To me, that's what gave hugtob it's positive press, especially in The Guardian. However, any stall in future (BETT or wherever) needs to do more to exploit the power of the press - Moodle was conspicuous by it's absence in the TES Online special for BETT, specifically the roundup on learning platforms.
Andy D
To me, that's what gave hugtob it's positive press, especially in The Guardian. However, any stall in future (BETT or wherever) needs to do more to exploit the power of the press - Moodle was conspicuous by it's absence in the TES Online special for BETT, specifically the roundup on learning platforms.
Andy D
It was conspicuous by its absence - but Merlin John (the editor of TES Online) has since stated:
"Im very pleased to say that there wlll be a piece on Moodle in the next issue of TES Online magazine (March 3), written by Miles. And I have to apologise for there being no mention of Moodle in the learning platforms section in our BETT issue of Online. This was not intentional. I presume that one of our subeditors deleted it from the article by Les Watson and I failed to notice it. Had I picked it up I certainly would have reinstated it."
http://www.helpusgettobett.com/?p=72#comments
Thus, Moodle really will be conspicious by its absence!
"Im very pleased to say that there wlll be a piece on Moodle in the next issue of TES Online magazine (March 3), written by Miles. And I have to apologise for there being no mention of Moodle in the learning platforms section in our BETT issue of Online. This was not intentional. I presume that one of our subeditors deleted it from the article by Les Watson and I failed to notice it. Had I picked it up I certainly would have reinstated it."
http://www.helpusgettobett.com/?p=72#comments
Thus, Moodle really will be conspicious by its absence!
I've just heard from Merlin at the TES that my piece is to be held over until the May edition, for, I think genuine, space reasons.
I've done a couple of 'phone interviews for this edition though, and we've had a photographer come to visit (the girls were delighted!), so I'm optimistic that there will still be a Moodle presence in the March 3rd edition.
I've done a couple of 'phone interviews for this edition though, and we've had a photographer come to visit (the girls were delighted!), so I'm optimistic that there will still be a Moodle presence in the March 3rd edition.
Julian
While your heart is in the right place, the reality is that it will cost $$ and from my past experiences at IT shows in Sydely there would be lottle change out of $15K for an event like this (all expenses included). Then comes the "What's In It For Me?"
This is something that Moodle Partners would need to think about, but it would be my suggestion that the investment be far more valued in programming than promotion. Reality bites - no one will gain $75K of sales leads from this event in supporting Moodle, and that would be the minimum commercial realisation needed to justify attending the event.
Wwe are better off as a community ain looking at th World Congress in October, just after your Moodle conference. The conference is where the efforts should be directed, CeBIT is just not commercially justifiable - for any Moodler.
I agree - the reason HUGTOB was relatively successful at BETT was the fact that teachers and the educational community were the main clients at that show and the fact that ANY new product takes three years to gain acceptance in the UK market.
At first hand observation - the DfES stand had trouble drumming up people to attend its demonstrations of a school showing Sharepoint (and to be fair it was not named in the demo), but the Hugtob demo on the saturday was full to overflowing.
The business community will come running when Moodle is a fully developed web service API etc - why bother going down the route of corporate spend for very little outcome; I think it is an ineffective model - strategically it would be far better concentrating resources on fasttracking Moodle development unless a small investment in time and money can make a big difference in a specifically targetted area - which I do think was the case at BETT.
At first hand observation - the DfES stand had trouble drumming up people to attend its demonstrations of a school showing Sharepoint (and to be fair it was not named in the demo), but the Hugtob demo on the saturday was full to overflowing.
The business community will come running when Moodle is a fully developed web service API etc - why bother going down the route of corporate spend for very little outcome; I think it is an ineffective model - strategically it would be far better concentrating resources on fasttracking Moodle development unless a small investment in time and money can make a big difference in a specifically targetted area - which I do think was the case at BETT.
The business community will come running when Moodle is a fully developed web service API
I think they are here already -- ask any Moodle Partner
I agree with not spending money to be at CeBIT though (btw, I just learned that there shall be no Hannover CeBIT for Catalyst either I was already practicing my Deutsch). People go to CeBIT for more "hardcore" technology, and that isn't Moodle's hot spot. We all go to great lengths to make it look non-geeky (aka non-threatening)... so it doesn't look cutting edge, and that's on purpose.
But throw a Moodle demo in any corporate training conference of business fair and you'll see a very different reaction.
(Edit: can we get a booth at BBWorld'06? Now that would rock!)
Anybody going to a trade show should read the book "How to make more out of tradeshows". The $ 10 investment will pay itself back many times.
Attending doesn't have to cost a fortune and proper planning goes a long way. Fancy displays are nice but everybody who's been at trade shows (and has read this book or simply has common sense) will see those fancy booths with utterly bored people in there. And from those you have to buy?
So I think we Moodlers have an advantage there: we're passionate about our product. The booth may look basic (low budget) but it should not be shabby or unprofessional. BUt the most important are the people in it.
Thorwald
ILISA Language Institute
www.ilisa.com
p.s.: The book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0658009397/qid=1139842553/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-4279982-0999936?s=books&v=glance&n=283155