Recruting marketing-volonteers

[OpenCoffee - Thomas Keup <thomas keup opencoffee de>]

Hallo Marketing-Team:

First i want to say hello as a new member of the marekting-list. My name is Thomas Keup, i'm living in Berlin/Germany and working since more than 11 years as a freelance PR-specialist - since over 5 years in the regional and national it-industry.

I am the press contact for the local it-business-foundation in the german capital region (Berlin) and supporting a view companies in their marketing-communications - including free software companies.

Starting 2004 i support media relations for free software-projects i am a member. After marketing for OpenOffice.org i promoted GNOME and since 3 years i am the national press contact for Ubuntu Germany e. V.

After our marketing-talk at Gran Canaria Desktop Summit with Paul i want to give us all some ideas to find new volonteers for our marketing-work. It's funny, but i found these ideas working together with the PR-volonteer of KDE at the summit.

* To find, connect and recruite new volonteers for GNOME-project we have to change our communications from a "we need"-perspective to a "your are important"-perspective. 

* It is a tipping point to give specially new volonteers a GREAT feeling to be one of the most important guys at the project. There for we could give them

- a special team-e-mail-adress (like my name team gnome org - my name press gnome org)
- a personal gnome-e-mail-adress (pro-active as a special thank you for working for the project)
- a title about working for GNOME (like "GNOME Art Director", "GNOME Press Speaker Europe")

* In my mind volonteers work it is important in the same way than giving money. In this way the foundation could give active volonteers a package with t-shirts/cups etc. as a thank you at the end of a year.

Especially at the beginning of working for a project its important for new members to feel safe and heartly welcome. Let's start to give new GNOMEs a fantastic feeling beeing an important part of a worldwide family of cool people. Because we are COOL!

Thomas