Yocto Conference Production - Revision history

David Reyna: /* How to Work the Yocto Project Booth */

2022-06-20T21:20:07Z

How to Work the Yocto Project Booth

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:20, 20 June 2022
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	It is usually best to start with these two questions:		It is usually best to start with these two questions:
	(a) "Do you know about Yocto Project?", or "How much to you know about Yocto Project?"		(a) "Do you know about Yocto Project?", or "How much to you know about Yocto Project?"
	(b) "What question(s) do you have?", or "What ~~problem~~ are you trying to solve?"		(b) "What question(s) do you have?", or "What problems are you trying to solve?"

	By starting with these basic questions, you will know how best to help them out and direct your efforts, as opposed to attempting a full presentation that might completely miss the mark.		By starting with these basic questions, you will know how best to help them out and direct your efforts, as opposed to attempting a full presentation that might completely miss the mark.
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	* The Yocto Project home page, with its extensive documentation and information		* The Yocto Project home page, with its extensive documentation and information
	* The Yocto Project community, with regular open meetings, chat channels, email lists, and again our fabulous documentation		* The Yocto Project community, with regular open meetings, chat channels, email lists, and again our fabulous documentation
	* The Yocto Project ~~expects~~ who like to hang out near the booth		* The Yocto Project experts who like to hang out near the booth
	* The live demo, to show YP in action		* The live demo, to show YP in action
	* The twice-yearly YP Summits, with several days of presentations and hands-on classes – the next one is in November		* The twice-yearly YP Summits, with several days of presentations and hands-on classes – the next one is in November

David Reyna: /* Considerations and Practicalities */

2022-06-20T21:18:23Z

Considerations and Practicalities

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:18, 20 June 2022
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	== Considerations and Practicalities ==		== Considerations and Practicalities ==

			=== How to Work the Yocto Project Booth ===

			1) Why You Are Here

			We are all part of the open source Linux community, all trying to make Linux useful to the larger world.

			In this booth we are contributing to this multi-faceted world of embedded Linux with a community and tool set that is both powerful and extensive.

			We are here to help people achieve their dreams, and we want people to enjoy the benefits of our project and we embrace people that want to become part of our community as users and contributors

			We give thanks to the many individuals and corporate partners that work together and help make this community strong and vibrant.

			2) The Fundamental YP Elevator Speech

			Directly from the YP website front page. This is your foundational information.

			"The Yocto Project. It's not an embedded Linux Distribution, It creates a custom one for you."

			"The Yocto Project (YP) is an open source collaboration project that helps developers create custom Linux-based systems regardless of the hardware architecture."

			"The project provides a flexible set of tools and a space where embedded developers worldwide can share technologies, software stacks, configurations, and best practices that can be used to create tailored Linux images for embedded and IOT devices, or anywhere a customized Linux OS is needed."

			3) How To Greet People

			It is usually best to start with these two questions:
			(a) "Do you know about Yocto Project?", or "How much to you know about Yocto Project?"
			(b) "What question(s) do you have?", or "What problem are you trying to solve?"

			By starting with these basic questions, you will know how best to help them out and direct your efforts, as opposed to attempting a full presentation that might completely miss the mark.

			When talking to people, it is great to:
			* Lead with Yocto Project (open source!)
			* Follow with the YP Community (stronger together!)
			* Then if they are interested, go into depth about your particular company and skill set (we all bring our own special things to the table!)

			In this manner we pay respect to our open source credentials before differentiating into specific companies.

			4) Always Be Positive About The Larger Community, Even About "Competitors"

			We often get questions about "competitors", most often being Buildroot.

			My standard answer is that:
			* Buildroot is definitely an easier build system to learn, use, and start projects with, and if that works for your project then that is a great choice, especially since it is "Makefile" based.
			* If however the time comes that you need a more powerful and extensible build system that can support your growing designs, then Yocto Project becomes the excellent choice. Yocto Project is "bitbake" based and does have a high learning curve, but it has the power to carry you forward with complex designs over many years.
			* The point is that everyone serves the community in different ways and each system has their strong points, and there is every reason to embrace.

			5) Common Questions and Answers

			Here is a rough summary of common questions and their answers.

			(a) About 30% of the people are just passing by an have no idea about what YP is.

			Give them the elevator pitch to help them understand what we are all about. If they have problems that YP can help with, given them the brochure, and point them to the web site and all its resources.

			(b) About 30% of the people want to know if YP supports their specific CPU or user space package.

			Bring up the Yocto Project "Layer Index" website and search for their CPU and/or packages.

			http://layers.openembedded.org/layerindex/branch/master/layers/

			* The "Machines" tab has the list of 828 supported CPU variants.
			* The "Recipes" tab has the list of 22861 supported packages
			* The "Layers" tab has the list of 418 supported layers for features, package sets, machines, packages, and so forth.

			(c) About 10% will want to know about general features, like "Security", "CVEs", and "Long Term Support (LTS).

			We do have a security team together with our Commercial Partners, and we are actively fixing CVEs all the time.

			We do have two LTS releases (2020 and now 2022), for people who want to stay with a specific release for a long time, as opposed to the bi-yearly updates.

			(d) About 10% will ask about esoteric features.

			If you do not know, either find someone nearby who does know or get their name and tell them you will get back to them.

			(e) About 20% will be people who have come by the booth as part of a booth browse promotion by LF.

			Sign their cards, see if YP can help them, and then thank them for stopping by.

			6) Your resources

			* The handout brochures, with detailed information and links
			* The Yocto Project home page, with its extensive documentation and information
			* The Yocto Project community, with regular open meetings, chat channels, email lists, and again our fabulous documentation
			* The Yocto Project expects who like to hang out near the booth
			* The live demo, to show YP in action
			* The twice-yearly YP Summits, with several days of presentations and hands-on classes – the next one is in November

			7) You may not know the answer, but you know someone who does

			Do not worry if you do not know answers to the questions that come your way.

			The important thing is that even if you do not know, there are people that you know who do know the answer. Get their name, their contact information, and their specific question. Give that question to other people in the booth and/or send it directly to the people who can help, for example: david.reyna@windriver.com

			8) How to finish your conversation

			If they seem like a likely candidate, make sure you scan their badge and mark their area and level of interest. If they have a card get it and mark the same on the back. Give the collected cards to one of the booth leaders.

	== Past Conference Data ==		== Past Conference Data ==

David Reyna: /* High Level Calendar */

2021-03-22T18:05:33Z

High Level Calendar

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:05, 22 March 2021
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	** Setup flights and hotels		** Setup flights and hotels
	* Two months out		* Two months out
			** Close the contracts
	** Advertise event		** Advertise event
	** Announce the Call for Papers (CFP)		** Announce the Call for Papers (CFP)

David Reyna at 18:02, 22 March 2021

2021-03-22T18:02:15Z

@@ Line 136: / Line 136: @@
 ** Room Rentals are typically via the event organizer and would be part of the contract.
 ** We have for some events (e.g. ELCE Prague) rented our own rooms from nearby hotels
 ** In recent years we have had to pass on the Beginning Class for physical events, due both the high cost and lack of room availability
 ** For virtual events we have used sponsored Zoom accounts, so there is no incremental costs for the additional tracks
@@ Line 146: / Line 147: @@
 ** The class accounts generally cost around $30 per student, though we have had the benefit of full or partial in-kind donations in the past
 * DevDay/Summit Call For Papers
-** We have moved to Pretalx to manager the CFPs, at a cost of ~$200 per event
+** We have moved to Pretalx to manage the CFPs, at a cost of ~$200 per event
 * DevDay/Summit attendee Registration Fees
 ** For physical events it as been in the $200 range, to help cover the conference fees, registration costs, room rentals, and class accounts
@@ Line 155: / Line 156: @@
 === Physical Summit ===
 === Virtual Summit ===
 == Considerations and Practicalities ==

David Reyna: /* Budget and Costs */

2021-03-22T17:38:03Z

Budget and Costs

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:38, 22 March 2021
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	=== Budget and Costs ===		=== Budget and Costs ===

			It is important to create a budget early and get approval from the YP treasurer, especially around the high cost items like travel and lodging. All sample costs below are in $USD.

	* Conference fees, booth registration		* Conference fees, booth registration
	** Typically a few hundred dollars at the Bronze level		** Typically a few hundred dollars at the Bronze level
	* DevDay/Summit Attendee Registration		* DevDay/Summit Attendee Registration
	** This is contracted via the ELC event, $2-$3 per person, 2%-3% transaction ~~fee~~		** This is contracted via the ELC event, $2-$3 per person, 2%-3% credit card transaction fees
	* DevDay/Summit Room Rentals (physical events)		* DevDay/Summit Room Rentals (physical events)
	** Room Rentals are typically via the event organizer and would be part of the contract.		** Room Rentals are typically via the event organizer and would be part of the contract.
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	** In recent years we have had to pass on the Beginning Class for physical events, due both the high cost and lack of room availability		** In recent years we have had to pass on the Beginning Class for physical events, due both the high cost and lack of room availability
	** For virtual events we have used sponsored Zoom accounts, so there is no incremental costs for the additional tracks		** For virtual events we have used sponsored Zoom accounts, so there is no incremental costs for the additional tracks
	* Travel		* Travel and Lodging
	** Typically core people have their travel and hotel costs covered		** Typically core people have their travel and hotel costs covered
	** Core people include for example the YP Architect, the booth manager, the DevDay/Summit manager		** Core people include for example the YP Architect, the booth manager (Advocacy lead), the DevDay/Summit manager (Training Lead)
	** These costs depend on the distance traveled		** These costs depend on the distance traveled
	* Class Accounts		* Class Accounts
	** These are the virtual server accounts used for the hands-on classes		** These are the virtual server accounts used for the hands-on classes
	** They are typically based on a recent Ubuntu release		** The class accounts generally cost around $30 per student, though we have had the benefit of full or partial in-kind donations in the past
	** These are created managed by Michael
	** The class images are typically created by the DeyDay/Summit manager (David), based on the class content
	** The class accounts cost around $30 per, though we have had the benefit of ~~this~~ in-kind donations in the past
	* DevDay/Summit Call For Papers		* DevDay/Summit Call For Papers
	** We have moved to Pretalx to manager the CFPs, at a cost of ~$200 per event		** We have moved to Pretalx to manager the CFPs, at a cost of ~$200 per event

David Reyna at 17:14, 22 March 2021

2021-03-22T17:14:08Z

@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 ** Manage the DevDay/Summit registration and money
-We have been working primarily with the Embedded Linux Conference, sponsored by the project's parent organization The Linux Foundation. We have typically sponsored both a booth and a Yocto Project DevDay/Summit in conjunction, given its high synergy.
+We have been working primarily with the Embedded Linux Conference, sponsored by the project's parent organization The Linux Foundation. We have typically sponsored both a booth and a Yocto Project DevDay/Summit in conjunction with ELC/ELCE, given its high synergy.
 === Physical Conference ===
@@ Line 124: / Line 124: @@
 *** Day 1: Advanced and Intermediate Presentations
 *** Day 2: Intermediate Presentations
 === Physical Summit ===

David Reyna at 16:05, 22 March 2021

2021-03-22T16:05:46Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:05, 22 March 2021
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	=== Virtual Summit ===		=== Virtual Summit ===

	== ~~FAQ~~ and ~~Practicals~~ ==		== Considerations and Practicalities ==


			== Past Conference Data ==

			=== Summer 2021 (Self Sponsored) ===

			In progress...

			=== Fall 2020 Virtual (ELCE Dublin) ===

			* Summit:
			** Day 1:
			*** Beginning Class: ~100
			*** Intermediate Class: ~150
			** Day 2:
			*** Hands On Classes: ~50
			*** Intermediate Class: ~150

			=== Summmer 2020 Virtual (ELC Austin) ===

			* Conference Presentations YP-related
			** Monday:
			*** LTS: 238 peak attendance, 377 registered
			*** BoF: 157 peak attendance
			*** Slack: 238

			* DevDay:
			** Class: Start=173,Peak=181,End=164
			*** Slack:

David Reyna: /* Physical Conference */

2021-03-22T10:39:46Z

Physical Conference

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:39, 22 March 2021
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	** Booth Attendance		** Booth Attendance
	*** It is important to arrange a schedule of booth watchers, so that we look organized and can be available to catch visitors		*** It is important to arrange a schedule of booth watchers, so that we look organized and can be available to catch visitors
	*** The booth schedule is typically 2 people in 2 hour slots across the open hours		*** The booth schedule is typically 2 people per 2 hour slots across the open hours
	*** One of the best part of the conference is that Yocto Project people generally hang around the booth even if they are not actually in the booth, so it is often easy to find an expert if a visitor asks a hard question		*** One of the best part of the conference is that Yocto Project people generally hang around the booth even if they are not actually in the booth, so it is often easy to find an expert if a visitor asks a hard question
	*** When the booth is closed each evening, the loose content must be locked up in the booth, and the key must go to someone whom is guaranteed to open the booth the next morning		*** When the booth is closed each evening, the loose content must be locked up in the booth, and the key must go to someone whom is guaranteed to open the booth the next morning

David Reyna: /* Physical Conference */

2021-03-22T10:39:11Z

Physical Conference

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:39, 22 March 2021
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	*** We currently have a short form (~ 4 pages, and an older long form ~ pages with testimonials)		*** We currently have a short form (~ 4 pages, and an older long form ~ pages with testimonials)
	** Display computer		** Display computer
	*** We often have a display running from a laptop of NUC. This can provide live browsing of the Yocto Project home page, documentation, Layer Index, DevDay/Summit home page. Visitors sometimes suggest web pages of their own as part of their questions.		*** We often have a display running from a laptop or NUC. This can provide live browsing of the Yocto Project home page, documentation, Layer Index, DevDay/Summit home page. Visitors sometimes suggest web pages of their own as part of their questions.
	** Demos		** Demos
	*** We try to have live demos at the booth, to attract visitors and stimulate conversations		*** We try to have live demos at the booth, to attract visitors and stimulate conversations

David Reyna: /* Virtual Conference */

2021-03-22T10:37:49Z

Virtual Conference

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:37, 22 March 2021
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	* Slack Channel		* Slack Channel
	** We have found that a separate Slack channel is very effective		** We have found that a separate Slack channel is very effective
			** We usually set up a technical stream and a separate gossip stream (to not overwhelm visitors)
	** That interface is much more flexible and friendly		** That interface is much more flexible and friendly
	** It is also persistent across and after the conference		** It is also persistent across and after the conference