Thursday, December 07, 2006

A Call to Arms for Python Advocacy

As the Python Advocacy Coordinator, I've put up some wiki pages on the Python website for which I'm soliciting ideas, writing and graphics. Some of the material exists scattered about and just needs locating and organizing.

http://wiki.python.org/moin/Advocacy

First there is a need for whitepapers and flyers - I've put up a list of suggested topics w/notes at:

http://wiki.python.org/moin/AdvocacyWritingTasks

And there are fields for signing up for specific documents. We also have a page of possible magazine articles if that's more your style:

http://wiki.python.org/moin/ArticleIdeas.

These works are to be formed into advocacy kits for various audiences. So far we have the following ideas for kits:
  • College Student's Python Advocacy Kit
  • IT Department Python Advocacy Kit
  • University Educator's Python Advocacy Kit
  • K-12 Educator's Python Advocacy Kit
  • Research Lab Python Advocacy Kit
The table of contents for the various kits can be found at:

http://wiki.python.org/moin/Advocacy#AdvocacyKits

Did we miss your kit? And what would you include in any of these?

Next, we are seeking reusable/retargetable teaching materials, such as those under a Creative Commons license. We need slide presentations and class handouts. Now I know there are a great many slide presentations on the web about Python. I can google them all but we're not looking for just any presentation, we're looking for the best of field. You can find the collection point at:

http://wiki.python.org/moin/Advocacy#TeachingMaterials

Last, perhaps you can dash off an idea or two for promotional merchandise. This could be the usuals like shirts but also posters, bumper stickers and buttons. What would you like to have? And with what graphics or slogans? We can reuse some of the slogans from the PyCon Slogan Contest, but are there others?

Our collection point for promo item ideas is at:

http://wiki.python.org/moin/Advocacy/WearablesGadgets

All materials will be credited to the authors to the extent possible by the delivery media. Make your mark.

Jeff Rush
Python Advocacy Coordinator