= Give a Laptop, Change the World =
One Laptop per Child is launching its second '''Give 1, Get 1''' [G1G1]
program starting '''November 17, 2008''', following last year's highly
successful program. This year the delivery of the laptops in the USA will
be handled through Amazon.com.
The laptops feature the latest release of the Sugar window manager, running
on a Linux-based Fedora Core operating system. For answers to frequently
asked questions, and for other XO giving programs, see the OLPC wiki.
Media and other materials from the first year's deployments are available
from a community-curated media page and from OLPC's photostream.
On Amazon: http://amazon.com/xo
Flickr photostream: http://flickr.com/photos/olpc
More on G1G1 2008: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/G1G1_2008
== Details ==
This year's Give 1, Get 1 campaign launches in November and will become an
on-going program. Amazon will be the fulfillment channel, and you can see
the developing OLPC storefront at http://Amazon.com/xo . The program
details will be similar to those from last year's program:
$199 to give a laptop to a child in the developing world.
and/or
$399 to give a laptop to a child and get one of your own.
The campaign motto is "Give a Laptop. Get a Laptop. Change the World."
We are focusing on sharing images and experiences from members of gen-XO,
particularly from OLPC's largest deployments.
This time last year, we were uncertain how our young project would fare
under the demands and needs of large deployments. Today there are
hundreds of thousands of children using their XOs every day, including
over a quarter of all young students in Uruguay. Almost 10,000 students
visit the site each day from Uruguay alone.
You can help spread the word. We will be making a big splash with PR
and advertising to run in donated media across all media platforms: TV,
Cinema, Radio, Print, and Out of Home. We want to supplement that with
personal outreach over local community and social benefit groups
interested in changing education and addressing the root of poverty
around the world. Help us identify groups to contact; G1G1 is an
opportunity for us to forge new alliances and seed new educational
initiatives, at home and abroad.
While the promotion will be on-going, the advertising will run from
November 17 to December 26, to take advantage of the holiday giving
season. We are setting up a separate mailing list for people who want
to be reminded when it launches.
For the moment, please watch our website for updates or write to
g1g1@laptop.org with ideas and questions.
Community media: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Community_media
Deployment reports: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Educators
== Spread the word! ==
To get involved, please join our community mailing list, and help spread
the word about the campaign.
mail: <grassroots AT lists.laptop.org>
http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/grassroots,
Ongoing projects that need help:
* Social site updates -- Facebook, Twitter, MySpace : there are OLPC
accounts on many of these sites which need maintenance and regular
updating. For instance many 2007-era badges and promotions need to be
updated to link to the Amazon site.
http://twitter.com/OneLaptop
* Blog updates -- the relaunch of the campaign will not begin in earnest
for a few weeks, but many people will want to know in advance. Add your
favorite OLPC blogs to our directory, or suggest one for addition to the
OLPC Planet.
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Blogs
* Art projects -- discussions on deviant art, Flickr, photo.net and more.
OLPC needs expressions of its cause and mission that do not rely on
words; art is a universal language that speaks in ways that advertising
can not. Our design group is helping to make great designs for web
badges, swag and the OLPC sites, many of which are being revamped. We
may also need material in specific sizes/formats for non-standard donated
media (see below).
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC:Design_gang
* Donated media -- we can provide advertising materials for any media
vehicles. OLPC does not have an advertising budget, but relies on
donated media. If you have a friend who works at a magazine, a TV
network, or just has an ad supported blog, ask if they will run a G1G1
ad. You can send leads to g1g1-ideas AT laptop.org or directly to
<aaron AT laptop.org>.
* Media concepts -- Nothing is impossible. Ideas that take longer to
create can be used when we launch similar programs in other parts of the
world in the near future.
mail: <g1g1-ideas AT laptop.org>
* Tech/Learning/Volunteering Support -- If you enjoy directly helping
other users, join our very active worldwide Support Gang, by emailing
<holt AT laptop.org> (include your phone number!) or submitting your ideas
to <volunteer AT laptop.org>.
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC:Support_gang
