While I wouldn't claim to be the worlds leading expert in communications & publicity, my day job in marketing has provided me with a decent amount of experience in this area. I would strongly recommend using the following template and not mentioning door prizes. We only have a limited amount of folks' attention and I don't believe that door prizes drive attendance, therefore, we shouldn't spend it on them.
I do think that the title of "ACCRC+Linux: Keeping Computers out of Landfills" is a very improvement and I like the idea of adding the list of upcoming speakers. That said, I would cut all of the text starting "We also have..." and simple go with the title "other upcoming speakers" and then provide the list.
Lastly, I would highly recommend writing the date out as "Nov 20th" instead of "2007-11-20," because people know that it is this year and "Nov 20th" is easier for most people to read.
-Andrew
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[INSERT GREETING]:
The Bay Area Linux Users Group (BALUG) is hosting a great talk titled "[INSERT TALK TITLE]" on ([MONTH/DATE]) by [INSERT SPEAKERS NAME], [INSERT SPEAKER'S TITLE].
========================================================================== == RSVP@BALUG.ORG - RSVPs are not mandatory, but they do help us out a lot ========================================================================== ==
[INSERT TALK ABSTRACT... TRY TO KEEP IT SHORT & SWEET!]
========================================================================== == The event is free. However, dinner is $13 for those that want to eat. ========================================================================== ==
6:30PM [MONTH DATE, YEAR] Four Seas Restaurant 731 Grant Avenue San Francisco, CA 94108 www.balug.org
About [INSERT SPEAKER OR ORGANIZATION]: -------------- [INSERT DESCRPTION OF SPEAKER OR ORGANIZATION]
About BALUG: -------------- BALUG is lively gathering of Linux users & free software enthusiasts that combines great food, community & intimate access to featured speakers. We meet in the bar of the Four Seas Restaurant from 6:30pm. At 7pm, we share a family-style Chinese dinner, which is followed by our guest speaker. http://www.balug.org
I hope to see you there!
[INSERT YOUR NAME]
---------------------------------------- Andrew Fife Untangle - Open Source Security Gateway download.untangle.com
650.425.3327 (O) 415.806.6028 (C) afife@untangle.com
-----Original Message----- From: balug-admin-bounces@lists.balug.org [mailto:balug-admin-bounces@lists.balug.org] On Behalf Of Michael Paoli Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2007 3:57 AM To: balug-admin@lists.balug.org Subject: [Balug-Admin] [DRAFT] BALUG 2007-11-20: James Burgett,"ACCRC+Linux: Keeping computers out of Landfills"; etc.
[ Note this is DRAFT for announcement. Flyer isn't present at the URL shown ... yet. If I don't get an updated flyer, I may make some edits on the older version and then use that. I did include mention of the door prizes - but kept it very brief. Anyway, I hope to have the "final" version out this evening / tonight, or 2007-11-07 A.M. I also tried to better approximate RFC 1153 message digest format, as that may make reading in many mail clients a bit more convenient and user-friendly. ]
Contents: Bay Area Linux Users Group (BALUG)[1] 2007-11-20: James Burgett, Alameda County Computer Resource Center (ACCRC)[2]: "Free Software, The Environment, Social Welfare, and the Digital Divide" RSVP door prizes Other upcoming BALUG meetings references (about BALUG, time, location, etc.)
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For our 2007-11-20 BALUG meeting we are pleased to present:
James Burgett, Alameda County Computer Resource Center (ACCRC)[2]: "Free Software, The Environment, Social Welfare, and the Digital Divide" flyer[3] (PDF) to help promote the event
James will recount the path ACCRC has taken as it's grown in the last five years to reclaim and reuse computers, peripherals, and other electronic devices people donate. In general, ACCRC gives computers to individuals and worthy organizations without charge or strings. ACCRC uses Linux on the systems it gives away and has developed quite a bit of expertise in installing various Linux distros on various (old) hardware.
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Planning to come to BALUG meeting? Please e-mail us a note at: rsvp@balug.org indicating meeting date and if more than just yourself the number of folks you're RSVPing for, etc. See also: http://www.balug.org/#RSVP%5B4] Thank you for RSVPing if you're planning to attend.
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Door prizes[6]! Yes, we have at least the following for door prizes: _Pro Oracle Database 10g RAC on LINUX_ ISBN: 1-59059-524-6 _Practices of an Agile Developer_ ISBN: 0-9745140-8-X
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Other upcoming BALUG meetings
We also have quite a lineup of speakers/presentations for BALUG meetings. Not only do we have James Burgett, ACCRC[2] as noted above, but we also have the following lined up for the months ahead - be sure to check out our website http://www.balug.org/%5B1] for more details and the latest updates. If you're not already subscribed to the BALUG "announce" list[5], be sure to subscribe to be notified of these and future announcements.
2007-12 (no meeting in December this year) 2008-01-15 Eric S. Raymond 2008-02-19 Bruce Perens 2008-03-18 (TBD) 2008-04-15 Eric Allman
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references: 1. http://www.balug.org/ 2. http://www.accrc.org/ 3. http://www.balug.org/flyers/2007-11-12.pdf 4. http://www.balug.org/#RSVP 5. http://www.new.balug.org/#Lists door prizes (past and coming up): 6. http://lists.balug.org/pipermail/balug-admin-balug.org/2007-August/000401. html meeting time, location, and lots of other great BALUG information: Bay Area Linux Users Group (BALUG) http://www.balug.org/ _______________________________________________ Balug-Admin mailing list Balug-Admin@lists.balug.org http://lists.balug.org/listinfo.cgi/balug-admin-balug.org