let me start off by saying i how much i respect the work you have done for the android community, without asking for even as much as a thank you. it is down to committed people, such as yourself, that makes these communities so much fun to be a part of.
i fully respect the amount of time and commitment it takes to be an active member (and considered by some to be a major player) of a community. i have been there myself and know how much effort is put in without the other members knowing what really goes on.
so i take my hat off to you and say thank you for all the hard work you do.
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last year i heard about an event going on in the states called the big android bbq. this produced alot of buzz in the uk for having one on our shores. i asked around to see whether people would actually be interested in such event. i have organised events for other communities before and know that even though people say they are interested, when it comes to it, they really are not.
the initial feedback i got was very positive, so i decided to doing something about it. i started off with creating a username on twitter called androidukbbq and for a place to blog about it used http://androidukbbq.blogspot.com . i can't remember whether i came up with the #androidukbbq tag, or someone else but i decided to associated these three together.
the first things i needed do was to find out where the most popular location for such an event would be, so i started a poll on the blog and created a thread for people to add their comments to. @raphaelsavina got @scottyabrown to mention it on the android podcast and it also got a mention on this week in mobile by @androidashley. it seemed like everything was going along nicely and should be a great day for all android lovers to enjoy.
then ... one monday evening, after just getting home from work, i see i had become part of a flame war on twitter about #androidukbbq tag. i must admit i was surprised, as in my mind i had done nothing wrong and here i was getting accused of kanging the big android bbq for my own benefit. the tweets weren't only coming from aaron but other respected members of the android community.
i also had the below posted on my blog by aaron :
"Aaron said...
You need need to contact me do the right thing. I want to support your event, but trying to duplicate ours with no contact to us is wrong, how do you know a BigandroidBBQ UK is not already in the works. Again I repeat you need to do the right thing. So you know we had to get permission to use the name androidbbq it is trademarked. I would hate to see somebody trying to support the community get into trouble. Again do the right thing and get in contact with the the team putting together the BigAndroidBBQ, you are looking pretty shady right now."
i talked to aaron over gtalk that evening and he told me that androidbbq was a trademark which he had to get permission to use. he also told me that the big android bbq was a brand, which i fully respected and he didn't want anything that i was doing to reflect badly on his event. i also appreciated the fact, that at the time we talked, he was running at a loss for the event and it looked like he would put the whole event on at a severe debt to himself.
aaron made it plainly clear that if i went ahead, i would be in breach of the trademark and offered, because he was thinking of bringing this brand to the uk maybe in 2011, to contact me if such plans came to fruition. my overall assessment of this chat was i had better not put on the event, so with this information i decide not to.
my idea for an android uk bbq was not going to be on the scale of the big android bbq and also, just like the bbq in america, was to be a non-profit event with any money raised being donated to charity. so i changed my plans to organise something else for android fans in the uk but due to unforeseen circumstances i wasn't able to do this.
my opinion
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background : @MrsChains and @ChainsDD are hosting a bbq with the tag #ukandroidbbq on the 14th May 2011 (http://uncutandroid.com/2011/05/uk-android-appetizer-may-14th-spread-the-word ).
i would consider both of them very dear friends, so when @ADroidian tweeted :
"@mrschains great job with the UK BBQ that's the same way we started the one here. 20 people having a blast in a back yard."
i emailed @MrsChains, as i found it strange how i got a flame war whilst she had praise from the same person. what follows is my opinion on some of the tweets from @ADroidian that followed.
"I never told anyone they couldn't, my only beef was they wanted to do it at the same time."
you had actually told me that i would be in breach of a trademark. as for "at the same time", androidukbbq hadn't even decided on a date at that point. in fact seeing as the big android bbq was going to be in october, the chances of it being "at the same time" would have been zero. have you any idea what the weather is like in the uk in october? ask michael fish, the ex-bbc weather man, he'll tell you! it's wet & windy!
"I don't see people trying to create alt I/Os I don't see why there is so much desire to do so with the BBQ"
google i/o is an official event by google, the creators of android. unless you are either google or the creator of the bbq, i see no valid point to your statement. people enjoy android - people enjoy bbq. it was a good idea by you to put the two together but it is not your right to tell others outside of america what they can do.
"I guess the way I see it is a bunch of identical events at the same time diminishes the main event."
the main event. do you know how conceited that sounds? just because it is in america or that it was the 1st, does not make it the main event.
"... and will support any event that doesn't appear to be directly competing for attendees and sponsors"
why should any other android event, bbq or otherwise, in the same or a different country, be seen as competing with you. i thought your idea on the big android bbq was so people could enjoy themselves and any profits made were to go to charity. surely the more events that are happening, the more people can enjoy themselves and the more money raised for good causes?
"Just do it in any of the other 9 months not immediately preceding or following the BBQ. Why does everyone seem to have a problem with me saying that?"
i have a problem with it. who voted/nominated you on deciding when people can have android events? i find your dictatorship style with inside an open source community quite shocking!
i would also like to respond to chris soyars LONG Tweet :
"This is pretty simple. Don't have three android events all within 90 days of each-other. It causes competition w/ attendees and sponsors. Don't say it isn't about money, when sponsors are involved the game changes. The tweets saying it is "sad to see the community behave this way" are not getting the full picture. We want all events to succeed, part of that involves keeping dates appropriately separated."
i appreciate the point your are trying to make here but i fail to see how having events within 90 days of each other, in different countries, has an impact on sponsership. big companies love to sponser any event because of the exposure. you're telling me that HTC would not sponser both events in, for example, american and the uk, even if they were both on the same day? i would like to see to the CFO who made that decision.
using the base of your comment, a company would not sponsor two sporting events that were occurring on the same day, which does happen. the speakership will come from the big companies if there is money to be made from the exposure and not on which date they are held.
the end
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thank you for your time (and persistence in reading this far). i welcome any comments.
I take issue with a single point you attempted to make here:
ReplyDelete"I appreciate the point your are trying to make here but i fail to see how having events within 90 days of each other, in different countries, has an impact on sponsership. big companies love to sponser any event because of the exposure. you're telling me that HTC would not sponser both events in, for example, american and the uk, even if they were both on the same day? i would like to see to the CFO who made that decision."
Spelling issues aside, your commentary here demonstrates some true ignorance. First of all, while you are likely correct about HTC, you pretend that every company is the same size as HTC. They aren't. In fact, small companies will take their PR and event budget and make decisions involving fan events based on personal expense and impact, and whoever wins gets the money.
The second, and most significant point I would like to make is that your commentary here completely ignores Mr. Soyars' other point here, which is that attendees would be forced to choose. Personally, I would love to attend all three events, and meet all of these awesome people I talk to every day. However, as neither of these events are even remotely close to me, I must pay for travel and lodging and food and everything else for these trips. My wallet simply can't handle three events back to back to back, and I am CERTAIN I am not alone in that.
Granted, the temporal proximity of the UK event was nullified some by pointing out that no one in their right mind would have an event in the UK in October, the fact still remains that should an event exist within that time frame, it would cause issues on multiple fronts for the very people you claim to be hosting the event for, names the attendees.
There you go, 2 cents delivered. As for the Trademark issues, I sincerely hope that this is a misunderstanding, though I will be monitoring this situation to make sure I am well informed there. Thank you for being honest and sharing this information with the world.
Boring...
ReplyDeleteAaron likes to start beef with anyone who says anything about the BBQ. The fact that he encouraged Adam about creating a UK variant and not someone who is not known as much does not surprise me. This community is full of drama and unless you have a 'big' name you will be fought against with anything you try to do.
ReplyDeleteRussel: Please fire up Google Maps. Find the USA. Now find the UK.
ReplyDeleteNow please find me A) Small companies with limited event & PR budgets but with offices in both the UK and the US and B) Android users/devs that regularly travel between the UK and US yet can only afford, or find time for, one Android BBQ within the same month.
Not only are these moot points, but Aaron has absolutely ZERO right to tell anyone when to do anything.
The people that are looking to organise the UK event aren't even planning to host it at the same time as the Big Android BBQ. At the moment people are thinking about May 2012 for a big event.
ReplyDeleteA lot of this falling out could have been prevented if certain people didn't lie and concerns were made clear. It took a very long time to understand that the two main issues are using the androidbbq name and hosting an event close to the US.
So in a nutshell the UK event won't be hosted close to the US event dates. It also most likely won't use the same name. And it will happen with or without support from certain individuals.
hi russell
ReplyDeletethank you for your comments but i do have to agree with sorenslim.
i feel there are more then enough sponsors to go around for everyone. i use the uk and the states, for what follows, as an example but that doesn't exclude any other country that might want to do their own thing.
i think i am correct in saying, but don't mind being proven wrong, that neither the uk or the us share any mobile phone providers. there is t-mobile but here t-mobile uk is owned by deutsche telekom. so there would be no competition there.
even though there might be a handful of companies that might be approachable by events in both countries, i feel my next point outweighs that.
you mentioned how some people might be forced to choose between the events, as they would be unable to afford to go to all three. you miss out those people, who are in the majority, that might not be able to afford the travel to go to even one. they are missing out completely, which i feel is unfair.
i would also like to say at no time did i even mention sponsorship for the androidukbbq, it was not meant to be on the scale of the big android bbq in america, hence the lack of word big in the title. ;)
once again, thank you for your comments and i hope i have gone some way to further explaining why i have my opinions.
So who's goin to the teaser then??? :-)
ReplyDeleteNo one has ever talked about this being a big event.. its just a bunch of android / twitter friends meeting for bacon and burgers.
There's no need for sponsors.. no need for an event name even.. if ur in the uk android gang... you'll know about it.. and you'll be tryin ur best to go!
Yeah maybe if the community wanna donate some goodies or prizes great.. and let's hope if there's a meet near you.. the community will do the same for your event.
Isn't this what it is all about??
In the uk.. twitter plays a big role for the android community.. and to follow or have something followed.. it needs a hashtag! why the hell are people being so anal about it.
Its just a meet... that involves some twitter mates... and bacon.. and meat... and beer!
Lighten up and join the fun!
See u at the teaser!
I can't help but feel like Sorensiim and the mystery owner of this site (I say mystery because I don't know you, and there's no name that I could find on the site)may have misunderstood somehow.
ReplyDeleteFirst and foremost, I am in no way, shape, form, or function opposed to this event, nor do I care when it is or who goes. As I understand it, and as it has been pointed out countless times, the events aren't comparable, and this is really just a meetup with a fancy name.
In regards to people travelling to the UK, please allow me to share with you that last year I can't count the ammount of people who were willing to travel to a place they'd never been before just to hang out with other Android fans. People traveled from all over the world to this event, and with appropriate planning, I know for a fact there would be those willing to travel to the UK to attend this event. I know this because I AM ONE OF THEM.
Now, regarding sponsors. Please allow me to re-iterate that YES, larger organizations will have a UK branch with their own funding who will handle things on their own. If everyone here thinks that US companies wouldn't send reps to a UK Android event to promote their thing, I'll drop it, because I'm really not interested in that conversation anyways.
In the end, all I was saying was that while this is designed to be a small event, you of all people should know the drive of the Android community, and how many people would gladly pay to fly to a country they had never been to before just to meet everyone. If what I got from these comments is that we're not wanted, then let's not beat around the bush with it.
you are quite correct, my name isn't on this website. i suppose last year, when it was active, everyone knew who the owner was because of the person who was doing all the tweeting. i won't amend the site now anyway. the main reason is because, as far as i am concerned, this website is no longer in operation and was only just brought back to use for the purpose of the open letter to aaron.
ReplyDeletethat doesn't mean i won't say who i am though. my name is iain hobbs, uk resident and also known as bluescreenkid. sorry for acting anonymously, it was not intentional.
i also do hope i haven't offended you. the comments you made are valid ones, so i didn't mean to come across as if what you had said was a bucket full of horse manure. apologies if i did.
yes, i agree with you that the drive the android community has, people would gladly pay to fly to events in another country. it doesn't mean they can afford to do it though. this is why i think it is important to have events all over the world, for those people who do not have the money spare to pay for all the costs incurred. although i don't have any statistics to back it up with, i feel that due to the current economical climate, you would fall into the minority of people who are lucky enough to have the means to attend events outside of your borders.
as concerns the sponsorship, those events that are large enough to warrant them, i don't see how they would get the backing from companies which do not have a vested interest in that countries market. even if there were such organisation that would do this, i stand by what i said earlier, how "i feel there are more then enough sponsors to go around for everyone".
this in my opinion is very much a moot point because unless there are multiple large events happening around the world, at the same time, we are likely never to find out.
i hope that goes some way to sort out some of the points that might not have been that clear before.
iain (bluescreenkid)
I think the letter was well written. It stated facts that many had said were being misconstrued, along with the evidence to back it up. He acknowledged Aaron's contributions to the community. He also made a rebuttal against things that Aaron had said previously. Some very good points were made by all here. I'm having a teaser at my place and am definitely looking forward to the UK event next year. And when I get back to the States, I'll be looking forward to the events there.
ReplyDelete