[Epo-marketing] Marketing announcements - opening discussion and tasks

[Mike Whitaker]

Ok, since this list appears to contain the brains trust for announcing  
things.

We have three (and counting) things that need announcing, especially  
given the current storm over various blog posts like Ovids, and  
striking while the LPW iron is (hopefully) hot

1) EPO itself.
2) The extended core working group
3) The marketing working group plus (possibly) 52 weeks of Perl.
4) (perhaps) Me keynoting Perl Oasis

Announcing all of these in one go is probably going to make folks  
switch off halfway down. To my mind, we also need two versions of both  
- a snappy one for blogs, Perl Buzz etc, for the Perl audience, and a  
more press release-y one for outside.

All I have so far is my first draft of 1) for Perl Buzz, and a list of  
aims for 2), both of which are pasted below. I'd appreciate some  
revision work on both, and if anyone has any more suggestions or can  
take them further, please PLEASE let's get cracking

EPO announcement:

> A lot of folks out there, outside the 'Perl community', have a lot  
> of misconceptions about the language - in fact, sometimes it seems  
> the most common perception of Perl that it's still the language  
> that's presented in early editions of the Llama and the Camel (not  
> that there's anything wrong with the Llama and the Camel!).
>
> Perl's come a long way since then, and a bunch of us involved in  
> development of what could be called 'modern' Perl modules and  
> frameworks have got together and formed Enlightened Perl to try and  
> do something about that perception.
>
> Why Enlightened Perl?
> - Because Perl isn't dead;
> - Because we're not waiting for Perl6;
> - Because we believe Perl is an enterprise language;
> - Because TMTOWTDI, but ours works, and scales;
> - Because we think it's time.
>
> What's it for?
> - To promote the use of Perl as an enterprise-grade platform;
> - To sponsor development projects that further that goal; 	
> - To make it easier to install and deploy Perl in the enterprise;
> - To specify and support a common extended core of enterprise- 
> quality Perl modules;
> - To encourage people to write about their experiences with Perl.
>
> What will we do?
> - Solicit applications for grants for specific projects to further  
> our goals;
> - Source funding for those grants;
> - Raise the visibility of Perl as an enterprise language, both at a  
> developer level and a CxO/management level, within and outside the  
> community.
>
> How can I help?
> - Join.
>  - As an individual, it tells employers you're committed to the use  
> of Perl enterprise projects, and it gives you a chance to have a say  
> on our working groups
>  - As a company, it tells prospective and current employees you're  
> equally committed to the use of Perl in the enterprise; it allows  
> you to give back, both in a material and technical way, to the  
> future of Perl as a modern development language.
> - Participate.
>  - Join one of our working groups and have your say.
>  - Contribute code or documentation, whether grant-backed or not;
>  - Write articles and/or white papers about Perl in the enterprise,  
> for specific target audiences.
> - Use.
>  - Make a point, where you have a choice, of using modules from the  
> Enlightened Perl extended core.
> - Advertise.
>  - Spread the word;
>  - Blog about us;
>  - Add one of our banners to your site.

EPO Extended Core working group brief

> EPO is delighted to announce the formation of a working group  
> dedicated to working on the EP Extended Core. Its brief is the  
> following
>   a) to identify the areas of functionality an extended core needs  
> to cover
>   b) to draw up a set of recommended extended core modules which  
> cover the tasks required for
> modern enterprise use of Perl
>   c) to agree on a set of minimal standards for release process,  
> documentation and (where possible) API for those modules
>   d) to liaise with the authors of those modules regarding their  
> inclusion in the extended core
>   e) to identify places where those modules fall short of the core  
> standards, and then
>       i) to advise the EP funding working group on possible fundable  
> projects to rectify these
>       ii) to define projects for GSoC 09 to rectify these
>   d) to liaise with major Linux/Windows etc distributions (RH,  
> Debian, Ubuntu, ActiveState, Strawberry Perl) to get the extended  
> core packaged in an appropriate manner
>   g) to coordinate releases of the extended core
>   h) (perhaps) to find a better name for the extended core
[aside: we need a small section on WHY this isn't P5EE and won't go  
the same way]
--
Mike Whitaker    | Perl developer, writer, guitarist, photographer
mike at altrion.org | Board member, http://www.enlightenedperl.org/
Y!: tuxservers   | Blog: http://perlent.blogspot.com/
IRC: Penfold     | CatSwag: http://www.cafepress.com/catalystdev