LibrePlanet:Interest Groups/New

If you would like to organize and lead a interest group, this page should have everything you need to get started.

Getting Started

Before making the team

• Contact dpic at gnu.org with your proposed team name and purpose for feedback and approval.
• Get on the Group:LibrePlanet Activists email list and see how much interest you can generate.

Please join global communication channels to keep all local efforts in contact.

Microblog: Identi.ca

IRC: #libreplanet on FreeNode

Discussion list: LibrePlanet-discuss

Development list: LibrePlanet-dev - discussing code that helps LibrePlanet teams flourish.

Setting up your team resources

Every team should have the following resources set up:

Wiki

When starting your team, we recommend you create a page on the wiki which can act as your homepage. See the Empowermentors page for an example.

Create a team wiki page here.

Ask the LibrePlanet Wiki Helpers if you need help.

Your wiki should have the following details:

• Introduction - an introduction to the group, what you want to do, what you want to achieve and other things.
• Declaration - a sentence stating that the group operates in accordance with LP's mission statement, code of conduct, and rules and guidelines.
• Join - how to join the team
• Online Meetings - you should have a page that gives details of the next online IRC meeting. This page should be used to say when the next meeting is, where it is held (which IRC channel) and what the agenda is.
• Collaboration - a list of other local GNU/Linux and free software groups, plus a designated coordinator for each
• Categories - Be sure to add the LibrePlanet Teams category, as well as the categories for Regional Teams and your specific regional category or Focus Teams or Project Teams.

IRC Channel

IRC is a great way for the team to have real-time discussions about the group. You should register a channel on the freenode IRC network:

1. Register your nickname on freenode
2. Create the channel

Mailing List

Mailing lists are hosted by LibrePlanet at http://lists.libreplanet.org/ and each team should have one as the main communication channel for discussion and group coordination.

Email sysadmin@gnu.org to request the creation of a mailing list with the the following information and the list should be created within 2 weeks.

• List name
• Wiki page
• IRC Channel
• Admin (your) email

Link from the Interest Groups list

Navigate to the Interest Groups list and add a your team to the list!

Starter Pack

Email campaigns@fsf.org for a free Super Sticker Mega Multi Pack, membership cards, copies of the FSF Bulletin, and flyers!

Badges

Badges like this one for the LibrePlanet Massachusetts team identify users using Semantic Mediawiki. Ask the LibrePlanet Wiki Helpers if you need help.

File hosting

If your group will be making documents, code, or other files available, consider using a free software hosting service designed for this. You can register a project at Savannah, the official development hosting site for the GNU Project, using the same naming standard as the mailing list. Another option is to register a Launchpad team, and then add it to the global umbrella team.

Announce the team

Making a big-as-possible announcement about the formation of your team is essential for the initial recruiting process. See the Media coverage section of the software freedom Activism Guide for good tips on writing a press release.

Running the team

See: here