Re: Arabeyes Marketing/PR Project Proposal

[Ra'id Al-Jamali <rjamali at omantel dot net dot om>]

On Tuesday 19 August 2003 11:45, Isam Bayazidi wrote:

> Salam All..
>   Below is a new project proposal, that need alot of polishing/definition
> and so by all those who can help:
>
> Arabeyes Marketing/Public Relations Team/Project
>


Marhaba Isam and all

The same themes have been stirring up in my mind for the last couple of weeks 
(since I registered)... thanks for providing me with a springboard to finally 
jump in!

On and off, I've been keeping an eye on this project's developments since I 
first 'stumbled' across the site sometime late last year. From the very first 
moment, it has been my intent to support and contribute to something I've 
been looking forward to for several years: an active, productive and 
supportive linux community of Arabic speakers. However, being an end user 
with limited programming skills I couldn't easily slot into a pre-defined 
role. Of course there is always translation. The only problem is that I would 
have probably spent less time accomplishing and more time self-debating 
whether X is a valid translation or (worse) is yet another modern perversion 
of the Arabic language. I must commend here the folks who put together the 
Arabic Documentation Standards for defining a linguistic framework within 
which translation efforts proceed. That a document of its type exists at all 
is quite telling of the calibre of this resource-constrained group. Well done 
folks!

But back to the point... Any project's livelihood is as much a result of the 
'buzz' it creates as anything else. This is not just a reformulation of  old 
philosophical debates of the kind "If we can't see the other side of the 
moon, does it really exist?" It is, in fact, a truism for Free/Libre and Open 
Source projects in general where long-term growth and success are mostly a 
result of continued, differentiated utility and overall project visibility.

As with the translation folks, prior to setting any work plans, it would be 
quite important to clearly set some initial definitions: Objectives, 
stakeholders and process.

OBJECTIVES (or Goals)
What are PR efforts required for? And in what priority?
In other words, is it to get more brains working on the project (developers, 
documenters, etc)? To secure material resources (web hosting, bandwidth, 
etc)? Get products distributed (via Debian, Red Hat, Mandrake, etc)? Is there 
a special issue that requires participation of other parties, such as 
definition of and agreement on a certain standard? This has already been 
touched upon, but I believe we need to be more specific in deliverables, and 
prioritise them in importance.
Objectives should be tangible, clear and directly contributing to the bottom 
line. They will also serve as a metric by which success of the PR process is 
measured.

STAKEHOLDERS
Who are the main stakeholders? How can they contribute to further the Arabeyes 
cause? How should each be approached (passive information, active engagement, 
etc..?

PROCESS
Various duties have already been mentioned. The type of process is clearly 
dependent on the required objectives and the audience.

I very much see this as an area where I can contribute to, both locally in 
Oman and as a member of Arabeyes. However, being a newcomer you can see that 
I currently have more questions than answers, and would therefore much 
appreciate steer and guidance from others members on these issues.

Regards,
Ra'id Al-Jamali