[FM Discuss] booki mobile makes its first trip

[adam]

thanks for the energy helen :) right now, after such a long trip, its
very much appreciated :)

adam


On Wed, 2010-11-10 at 14:38 +0100, helen varley jamieson wrote:
> wow adam, that is an amazing mission! well done! :)
> 
> stop knocking on the doors that don't open & go through the ones that 
> do; who knows what drumbeat's agenda really is (underneath it all 
> there's bound to be a profit-motive) - if they're not interested they're 
> clearly stupid!
> 
> h : )
> 
> On 10/11/10 1:23 PM, adam hyde wrote:
> > hey all,
> >
> > so a booki mobile update.
> >
> > some photos here:
> > http://adam.engagetv.com/bookimobile_photos
> >
> > well...i have to say this was probably a crazy idea from the start. i
> > was motivated largely because a mobile book producing lab is just a
> > great idea and partly from frustration because we have been trying to
> > work with Drumbeat for some time and it was not going anywhere. i did
> > not and do not understand this since all the aims of drumbeat coincide
> > with what we do however we have had no support from them. in addition
> > there are groups that have not tried to work with drumbeat and have had
> > a huge profiling at the Drumbeat events. The Free Knowledge Academy is
> > one such example - they got major billing at the event where we were not
> > even initially invited.
> >
> > so apart from loving the idea of the book mobile i was also frustrated.
> > i think DB should work with us however there is a blockage somewhere. i
> > didnt want to give up so the book mobile was a last trial to convince DB
> > they should take us seriously.
> >
> > there are many reasons why i want DB to come our way and work with us.
> > its not just ideological (a shared ideology)  but thats a big part of
> > it. it is also because they have the power to profile projects which
> > would help us tremendously and they also have the power to fund which is
> > also interesting to us. also if i was to write the aims of Drumbeat down
> > on paper they would coincide with ours pretty well and it just makes
> > sense to me to make alliances when the match looks good. its about
> > creating synergies as much as anything.
> >
> > on top of all this the book mobile (or now called the 'booki mobile') is
> > just a good idea. so many times i tell people about booki and they get
> > it conceptually but when i give them a book they are amazed. that last
> > step is important and now the booki mobile can do just that. take the
> > technology to the people so they understand its intent and utility. sure
> > its not the optimum way to do things, we also need to improve PR and
> > other outreach channels but it is one very inspiring channel for us to
> > show what we do. additionally i now have the equipment to make books for
> > 1-2 euro to send to reviewers etc to get their attention. previously i
> > had been doing this by buying lulu.com copies of our books and shipping
> > them without letters etc directly from lulu to the reviewers. this is
> > costly as lulu is expensive and it is not good to 'cold call' like this.
> > buying lulu books and having them rerouted through my home address,
> > adding a letter, and sending on is also just a stupid idea. so now i can
> > make books and send them directly and cheaply.
> >
> > anyways. so with 6 weeks to go until the DB fest i wrote some
> > sponsorship proposals for the book mobile. i sent them away expecting
> > negative replies and instead got a +ve response from francophonie.org.
> > Yay!!! however that meant i needed to get more $ else we had only 1/3 of
> > the money required. the total cost of the project on paper was approx
> > 10,000 euro but in fact the cost was about 12000 and we got about 8000
> > in sponsorship.
> >
> > so, i wrote to civicrm and they said yes :) and also iCommons and
> > Mozilla came in. thats cool. so all that came in with about 2 weeks
> > until the fest. i was of course also moving house and i had 2 sprints
> > and several presentations about fm before the event. so it wasnt easy
> > but i researched the equipment and found it all, purchased it, and threw
> > it in the booki mobile (vw t4 van) and drove it 2000 km to barcelona
> > (took 3 days).
> >
> > the equipment consisted of:
> > 1x Fastback 15XS binder (second hand from Munich)
> > 1x Samsung 2850 duplex lazer printer (black and white) (new)
> > 1x Ideal 3915-90 paper cutter (second hand from Berlin)
> > 1 x t4 vw van (second hand from berlin)
> > 2 x laptops (mine)
> > 1 x robocraft cutter (new)
> > heaps of paper
> > scissors, cutting boards, rulers, power cables etc
> >
> > we drove the van and all in it to the festival and set up immediately.
> > the first day was about setting up the site (the fest was 2 days) and
> > the second day was about producing the books. that was in the theory and
> > it worked except that it took a lot longer to test everything and refine
> > the workflow. essentially all worked (except an inkjet printer that I
> > managed to break by trying to set it up too quick) except we had a huge
> > problem with the duplex printing. duplex printing means a printer can
> > take a page print one side then suck it back and print the other side.
> > the big issue here was that the duplex printing did not print the front
> > and back pages in the same position. this was frustrating and we spent a
> > long time working this out. Janet was there trouble shooting and she
> > worked it out. essentially we had to use the printer as a 'normal' (sans
> > duplex) printer, print all the even sides take them out flip them over
> > and then print the odd sides on the back. this was a stupid way to do
> > things but the only way that worked.
> >
> > we used the Booki User Guide as the example book although we also made a
> > few other books for those that came to the booki mobile and wanted to
> > make a book :)
> >
> > so. the feedback was tremendous. although we spent much of the time
> > working out the systems i actually spent a lot of my time talking to
> > people that were interested in the process, floss manuals, booki, and
> > the booki mobile. so much time actually that it slowed down the set up!
> > still, it was good to get people excited and involved so that was ok.
> >
> > in the end we made some books and they looked beautiful.
> > http://adam.engagetv.com/bookimobile_photos/book.png
> > http://adam.engagetv.com/bookimobile_photos/interior.png
> >
> > then we packed up, spent a tired day in barcelona and drove back to
> > berlin (it took 28hours + one sleep stop to get back).
> >
> > so. the booki mobile did what it had to do in terms of actually making
> > books and also it inspired alot of people. it will also have a
> > tremendous future. those aspects i consider a success. however i dont
> > think DB cared and in my own mind i have given up on Drumbeat. its only
> > so long that we can knock at the DB door and be ignored before we get
> > the idea we are not wanted. i think it is worthwhile trying to win the
> > DB open web award for profiling reasons but apart from that i think its
> > not interesting anymore to pursue the DB channel.
> >
> >
> > so, the bookimobile lives and its a cool thing :) next i will blog about
> > it, send pr, send sponsorship reports and look for funding for running
> > costs...
> >
> > :)
> >
> > adam
> >
> 
>