So I never posted about the recent talks I did :). Since using ones blog is great for self advertisement here goes!
The talks were delivered to members of the London Java Community, London Open Source & Agile Community and the London Open Source Jam group, it's a shame that there isn't one overriding interest group that can get together for this sort of thing, but I guess it's human nature to build small tribes.
The first talk covered off a wide range of topics that you need to deal with when setting up a successful Open Source project including:
* Getting started (Choosing your project name, Mission Statement, etc)
* Setting up your technical, social and political infrastructure
* Money
* Communications
* Packaging, Releasing and Daily Development
* Managing your volunteers
It's a long and involved topic, so you're best off seeing the Podcast or reading Producing OSS by Karl Fogel.
The second talk was actually an open forum debate covering licensing and legal issues for Open Source projects. We had some great panelists come in for this one including:
* An actual IP Lawyer!
* The chairman of the UK Open Source Consortium
* An Apache project lead
* An expert in academic licenses.
I decided to switch off the video camera as we wanted a full and frank debate on the issues and it certainly proved to be interesting (the lawyer didn't cop too much flak)!
One overriding message that came out of this talk was that individuals really need to check their contracts for the IP clauses contained within. Often organisations use a default agreement which states that the work you do in your spare time is still owned by them. Most organisations are actually quite reasonable once you approach them about this, so don't hesitate to ask them!
Friday, 12 June 2009
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Presentations - Argh!
So once more I find myself preparing to give a presentation to a group of (mostly) strangers, scary much? This time it's on "How to run a successful Open Source project", a topic that I have lots of opinions on having spent the last 8-9 years involved in several projects.
There is a ton of good literature on how to run an effective presentation ("talk like so", "make slides like that"), but since I'm a geek I'm just going to mention the help that modern technology has given me :).
Firstly on the way back from a Hi-Di-Hi! style holiday camp (much fun, go the Falconry lesson!), I was able to use my Wife's Samsung NC10 Netbook to hastily finish off the first draft of the presentation. It's amazing what you can type out on that little monster even when crammed into the back seat of a non people carrier. Oh and thank you good genes for not making me carsick, very useful trait that.
Next up is the use of MS Powerpoint. Yes it's much maligned but it still beats writing notes up on a whiteboard with your back to the crowd. It also helps to have a Wife who happens to be a Graphic Designer, pretty Powerpoint template heaven!
Then there's the borrowing of my Flatmate's Macbook Pro to run the presentation from (not all of us can wear turtlenecks ;p).
Last but not least there's the use of the iClicker utility for the iPhone. I can go back and forth through the slides and have a mini representation of each slide in front of my nose, again I don't have to turn my back on the audience which is a good thing. Bonus points to the developers of this utility for allowing you to swap between the notes for the slide and the slide contents itself.
I'll post the post-mortem on the talk sometime tomorrow, assuming I don't incite the crowd into rioting (IT people are generally far more passionate than people give them credit for).
There is a ton of good literature on how to run an effective presentation ("talk like so", "make slides like that"), but since I'm a geek I'm just going to mention the help that modern technology has given me :).
Firstly on the way back from a Hi-Di-Hi! style holiday camp (much fun, go the Falconry lesson!), I was able to use my Wife's Samsung NC10 Netbook to hastily finish off the first draft of the presentation. It's amazing what you can type out on that little monster even when crammed into the back seat of a non people carrier. Oh and thank you good genes for not making me carsick, very useful trait that.
Next up is the use of MS Powerpoint. Yes it's much maligned but it still beats writing notes up on a whiteboard with your back to the crowd. It also helps to have a Wife who happens to be a Graphic Designer, pretty Powerpoint template heaven!
Then there's the borrowing of my Flatmate's Macbook Pro to run the presentation from (not all of us can wear turtlenecks ;p).
Last but not least there's the use of the iClicker utility for the iPhone. I can go back and forth through the slides and have a mini representation of each slide in front of my nose, again I don't have to turn my back on the audience which is a good thing. Bonus points to the developers of this utility for allowing you to swap between the notes for the slide and the slide contents itself.
I'll post the post-mortem on the talk sometime tomorrow, assuming I don't incite the crowd into rioting (IT people are generally far more passionate than people give them credit for).
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