Support meetings/20081214

(add names below if i missed you!!! enhance minutes if I missed anything!!!)

employees/contractors:
	RF Boston                  Robert Fadel, VP of International Operations
	DT Boston                  Darah Tappitake, Managing Give Many / Change the World
	KQ Boston                  Kim Quirk, VP of Support
	RC Boston                  Reuben Caron, Country Support Engineer
	SJ Boston                  SJ Klein, Head of Community/Content
	FH Boston                  Frances Hopkins, Support Specialist
	AH Boston/Europe           Adam Holt, Community Support Manager (organizer of meeting, who wrote up initial minutes below)

volunteers:
	SC North of Boston         Sandy Culver
	YP Austin/Bolivia          Yama Ploskonka
	PW Sydney area, Australia  Pia Waugh
	DB Boston/Nigeria          Daniel Bennett
	AD Silicon Valley          Anil Daswani
	CB Los Angeles             Caryl Bigenho
	AK Houston                 Aaron Konstam



How to "Change the World"?  Designing SUPPORTABLE G100/G1000 Deployments

RF: We (OLPC) are broadening GM/CTW (Give Many/Change the World) seeking the best possible "supportable" program (for schools/groups buying 100+ XO's). Ongoing http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Support_Gang help most appreciated!
SC: What lessons can we learn from the past 6 months of Give Many prospects emailing givemany@laptop.org?  Yes CTW's a newer program beyond Give Many: but can we learn from GM examples in S. Carolina, NYC, New Orleans, be they failures or successes?
RF: Very reasonable. Remember too (if you'll excuse the metaphor) a large fish tank can be much easier to manage than a small one, as a large fishtank forgives mistakes without killing fish, while a small one may not.  But Agreed: we can/should go back and look at small deployments (EG. 100 laptops), examining which qualify as earnest "supportable OLPC programs" -- versus more unsustainable handouts?


100+ laptop deployments: How to TRACK SUCCESS STORIES

YP: How do you know smaller deployments aren't succeeding as well as larger deployments?
RF: The feedback conduit (2-way) is missing around small deployments -- whereas OLPC has better communication with larger deployments.
YP: Sounds inconclusive!
RF: Now with support more built-in to G100 (basic repair kit) & G1000 (includes on-the-ground OLPC visit), more fruitful reportage will flow.
DT: We want a Wiki page where schools document their own success, even if OLPC cannot resource an editor to promote this, we can certainly direct all G100 participants to voluntarily participate.
YP: Can we get a public list of all CTW places, laptop counts, and dates?  He had trouble getting access to basic information in South America, even after very patiently talking with deployments' teachers, we can do better!
DT: Will need to get back to you.  Buyers are not currently required to go public.  For now we can push CTW deployments to post success stories on a Wiki page open to all.
YP: OK, but if there are 3 deployments in Ecuador, they need to be able to find each other.
SJ&AH: Can we insert new questions into the CTW sales / post-sales process to ensure interested such schools don't fall thru the cracks?
PW: Recommendation: please don't re-invent the wheel!  Instead expand upon http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Deployments transcluding to/from other pages if nec, to keep things fresh avoiding inflationary/festering wiki swamplands.


Create a Weekly/Collaborative DISCUSSION SPACE

YP: OLPC needs to consider Internet-based support which scales better across 10-laptop to 10,000-laptop deployments.  Who is our target?
PW: Inter-deployment communications are what is most missing. PW will host weekly irc meetings, at well-announced hour(s), to change this, since she believes physical meetings are insufficient. Pia will create a Direct web interface into this irc channel so that every net-connected teacher/deployer worldwide can participate, without require IRC expertise.
RF: Yes, let's consider. We need online portal/commons regardless of what program/size. Let's create this collab/participative environment.
PW: Can't find docs.  Wants deployment docs accessible -- even kids will occasionally use!
RF: Agrees: Deployment people on ground not always possible.  But neither is "flattening" of all offerings sensible, as deployments face diff issues at diff scales (eg. 100 laptops vs. 10,000 laptops).
RF&DT:  DT apologizes for being late and will meet us in future.  DT similarly offers to try to find a way to update us (Support Gang) weekly.


New LEARNING MATERIALS for deployers & kids

CB: Can we translate & republish TelMex's great teacher-training etc materials currently linked off of http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Mexico ?
YP: Yes! But UY, PE & Nepal have great existing materials we also need to proliferate.
SJ: http://WikiEducator.org can help here -- it's all about translators & educators doing exactly that.
CB&AK: Kids themselves need better math programs, as there's nothing today.
PW: Not true! try GCompris which offers a dozen math apps!
YP: True.  But these programs will only keep your attention for a couple weeks.
DT: New CTW team (incl Mel, Reuben, Frances etc) working towards 2 new docs:
    1. Planning Guide (local support, community stories, power, connectivity etc)
    2. CTW Tech Manual (a more concise [[Deployment guide]] focusing on new issues around smaller deployments, eg. 100 XO laptops.
PW: Let's not re-invent the wheel. Please build upon existing docs like [[Deployment guide]] and [[Support FAQ]] wherever possible.  Transclude or use Semantic Media Wiki wherever necessary to avoid duplication.
DT: Modularization maybe, but tone matters. Will try for Christmas timeframe deadline, to deliver above 2 guides?
AH: Great: those with most experience answering G1/G100/G10000 questions *must* share out their best answers to the most Freq Asked Q's -- regardless of whether they are volunteers or employees!!!  Start here: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Change_the_World


Why do desperately poor countries like Bolivia pay FULL PRICE ($259) just like rich G8 countries?

YB: Why aren't poor landlocked countries given discounted pricing ($219) like the UN's 50 LDC's (Least Developed Countries).
CB: Concurs: Bolivia is the 2nd poorest country in South and North America, above only Haiti. Bolivia should not have to pay as much as rich countries like Japan.
RF: All proposals will be considered. Please understand that the UN's separate lists of (poorer?) Islands nations and (poorer?) Landlocked nations overlap somewhat with their list of 50 LDC's.  OLPC is not excluding island and landlocked nations from consideration.  But currently OLPC made a choice to offer discounted pricing to only the 50 UN-designated LDC's. This UN's list will no doubt change annually.
SJ: Let's continue this discussion on a public web page, so that a clear petition process is available, in case future changes are possible.


Fostering & CONVERTING Interested Prospects into Actual Rollouts

RF: Thanks to the http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Support_Gang for helping continue to cultivate real leads.
AH: Let's make outreach happen -- which prospects seem most real given DT's deep experience supervising givemany@laptop.org over most of 2008?
DT: 80% are generally US-based benefactors/philanthropists (charities, faith-based, school groups) funding small deployments literally around the world.  European foundations & charitable goups too.  Etc.
SJ: Schools mentioned in passing aren't always serious,even while we continue to engage their help@laptop.org tech/informational support questions.


SERVICE Quality

CB: How long til the public's CTW queries get a response?
DT: We are trying to works towards a guaranteed 5 business days, with thoroughly vetted responses.
DB: How can we ensure volunteers don't hold back, continuing to provide the quality handholding we've developed over the past year, converting lukewarm inquiries into hot prospects?
SJ: Is it possible G1 queries are getting much faster responses (from volunteers) than G100 reponses (from employees), and if so how can we reprioritize to strengthen engagement with G100 schools etc?
FH: The CTW team is still getting organized and getting up to speed with RT, let's give them a bit of time.
AH: Let circle back in a couple weeks to see how this volunteer/employee interface evolves & develops.
CB: How to respond to donors' other questions if their ticket's been moved into the CTW queue, yet Tech Support/informational questions remains?  If we are AdminCC's on the ticket, are we removed from the conversation?
AH: Hopefully not, but so far unclear.  For now, clone the ticket by cutting & pasting if a tech support or general informational issue needs addressing.  It just takes a couple clicks to create & paste into a new ticket.  Later SJ & I (among others!) hope to finally upgrade RT, possibly even in December?!  This stands to streamline a lot!
YP&AH: Reuse & enhance "RTFM's" with savvier tools, similar to the Austin company that hosted August's doc sprint. What "answer tree" can we consider?  The best librarians silently foster self-service and get out of the way :)
SC: Yes, use RT's "Simple Search" to better uncover past issues already answered -- train people to discover the power of RT!