[Bf-education] Breaking the ice.

Jorge Otero jorgeotero at gmail.com
Wed Aug 20 11:09:55 CEST 2008


Amen to that, blender should be agnostic and let the users create their own
communities :)

Cheerio,

Jorge

On Wed, Aug 20, 2008 at 4:59 PM, Ton Roosendaal <ton at blender.org> wrote:

> Hi David,
>
> Although I agree our website can offer much better info and structure
> for new users, I don't think that's the target of this mailing list
> (this is for educators and trainers support!).
>
> There are cool hints in your text below we can look at further
> (hopefully we get a web team back to work more actively on typo3 cms).
> Several of your ideas will make it easier to browse the site.
>
> However, what I don't like is the "community" approach. I don't want to
> treat blender.org visitors (or Blender users) that way. The only
> community blender.org approaches is the very small minority of "those
> who want to be involved" (devs, documenters, educators, etc). For the
> rest of the 100s of thousands of users, the website should be neutral
> and objective and informative, without bull or marketing stuff, no
> banners, no forms, no registration, no polls, no personal messages from
> the boss, nothing that leads them away from the main reason they are on
> our site: to download Blender and/or learn more about it.
>
> Next to that: we always should treat users as professionals, as artists
> with a serious interest in 3d creation. Hobbyists and amateurs prefer
> to be treated as such as well.
>
> Also: it works very well to have many communities *around* blender.org
> (such as blenderartists.org or blendernation.com). Those communities
> are best served with a very neutral unbiased blender.org.
>
> @ Roger: we shouldn't add registrations or polls on the site to learn
> our demography better. David's trick (get stats for different pages) is
> much nicer.
>
> @ all: I am seriously not interested in getting more users. Let's just
> work on getting Blender better, improve our docs, arrange better
> training material, etc. Or in short, make sure we get better users! :)
>
> -Ton-
>
> On 9 Aug, 2008, at 15:05, DavidHickson at gmail.com wrote:
>
> >
> > Hey, all
> > I have prepared this SWOT analysis to assist Blender in both
> > identifying the needs of users and helping people find what the are
> > looking for as far as specific direction in learning more about
> > Blender and Blender's community. It will also help identify who is
> > using Blender and at what level.
> >
> > I think this method of data collection and the information that can be
> > obtained from it can be very useful to Blender and very helpful to
> > potential users.
> >
> > I am looking for some feed back. I am willing to assist in creating
> > the pages and videos and have other that would be interested in
> > helping.
> >
> >
> > Breaking the Ice and Blending up a Better image.
> >
> > Introduction: I have been a Blender user for over 2 years now and have
> > learned slowly about the community aspect of Blender. During this time
> > I have been lucky enough to meet a lot of great people and learn a
> > tremendous amount about the program and the community.
> >
> >  It has been my experience that new users, hobbyists, part timers and
> > even potential professional studios may be falling between the cracks.
> > they have specific questions they want answers for and it can take a
> > while to get those answers, too much time. Blender needs to build an
> > image like "Here at Blender remember one thing, the Blender community
> > is listening."
> >
> >  I don't have to explain what the Open Source Movement (OSM) is to any
> > of you.  We all know what it is and how it works. But ask yourself,
> > does everyone that Downloads Blender know what they have? What they
> > have become a part of?
> >
> >  This is a great time to be alive! I mean this in the most honest
> > sense of the phrase. Think about it, no longer do people with similar
> > interests have to live in same geographical location, or even country
> > to become a community. I  have met truer friends in the Blender
> > community than those I have met in my local community.
> >
> >  Blender is so much more than just an independent effort, so why
> > should learning it be? Ok, some may say there is IRC and Blender has
> > tons of  tutorials and manuals. I will be honest, I didn't buy the
> > manual because I was waiting for the newest release.... still seem to
> > be waiting for that. Point here is that Blender's developers make
> > changes much faster than commercial applications and as such, a
> > printed manual is out of date by the time it becomes available. As for
> > IRC, that can be hit or miss but, it is the closest thing to what I
> > imagine learning will become. As far as Blenders tutorial library, it
> > is huge. Much to big to find it very efficient. Wiki is ok, but  that
> > too is not perfect.
> >
> > Problem Statement: There is little to no solid information about who
> > is downloading Blender. What there needs are or what they would like
> > to learn or how they learn.
> >
> > Suggestion: Rewrite the welcome page to be more of a "welcome to the
> > community". Not just a, "welcome to Blender, good luck learning".
> >
> >  Things to include:
> >
> >       •        Generic opening welcome message "Welcome to the Blender
> > Community". Outline the importance of the community and that everyone
> > has a role not matter what level they are at.
> >       •        Then add links as follows: (head)"Blender understands time
> is
> > crucial, so  to get start you can get a specific introduction tour
> > designed just for you, just select one of the links below. (/head)
> >       •        . New to 3D?- Moving to Blender (New to Blender)- Studios-
> > Developers
> >       •               ◦        New to 3D (content) (insert video here)
> >       ▪        Lets talk (lead in to showing an understanding of new
> users and
> > that they are the fundamental part of Blender)
> >       ▪        Basics about 3D
> >       ▪        What Blender can do
> >       ▪        Open the door to a fun new community
> >       ▪        Best resources
> >       ◦        Moving to Blender (content) (insert video here)
> >       ▪        Introduction to those to talk to when and where
> >       ▪        Examples of differences between Max and Bender
> >       ▪        Learning curve
> >       ▪        Examples of Modeling done with Blender
> >       ▪        Emphasis on Power, speed and cost
> >       ◦        Studios (content) (insert video here)
> >       ▪        Emphasis on Power, speed and cost cutting methods
> >       ▪        Benefits of Open source
> >       ▪        What other studios have learned about Blender
> (testimonials)
> >       ◦        Developers (content) (insert video here)
> >       ▪        Great way to learn
> >       ▪        Great team to work with
> >       ▪        What others have done after writing for Blender
> >       ▪        More stuff here if I knew more about the Dev community
> >
> > Strengths:
> >       •        More new users (when they feel like a part of the whole
> they will
> > stay)
> >       •        Better statics about users (by keeping track of what links
> are
> > clicked through will provide usable data on demographics)
> >       •        Identify weak areas and improve (are most people down
> loading new
> > to 3D or coming from studios)
> >       •        More Blender exposer (more word of mouth. If someone asks
> a
> > question they will get pointed to the video pages)
> >       •        Helpful and informative to people before they even
> download
> > Blender
> >       •        Can increase user Base and satisfaction
> >       •        Open the eyes of individuals and studios that might
> interested
> > but not motivated enough to contact Ton.
> >       •        Page should have a message from Ton either recorded or
> typed
> > thanking people for their interest
> >       •        No better way to welcome people to a community than, to
> welcome
> > them.
> >
> > Weakness:
> >       •        Keeping this page current will take resources
> >  (I have volunteers that will make the videos)
> >       •        Band width at Blender may get pushed a bit hard then
> usual.
> >       •        May be frustrating to power users if they just want the
> facts
> >  (although some text can be offered, and no one is forced to watch the
> > videos, they are just offered)
> >       •        This videos can become dated and would have to be kept up
> to date
> > and current.
> >
> > Opportunity:
> >       •        Learn more about those interested in Blender
> >       •        Show Blender is Listening to the community and focused on
> their
> > needs
> >       •        Learn more about how they heard of Blender
> >       •        Understand what the needs are and what they want to get
> out of
> > Blender
> >       •        Grow the community
> >       •        Give the community additional adhesion.
> >       •        Open the door to asking questions of interested to
> nonmembers of
> > the community.
> >       •        Build this to be a model that other OSS projects will
> mirror to
> > grow their communities.
> >
> > Threats:
> >       •        Get the wrong message out about Blender (can be a risk)
> >       •        Up set the community by portraying Blender in with a
> different
> > image
> >       •        Make Blender look like it is going commercial
> >       •        Being on the front line of an effort like this can have
> some
> > level of risk I have over looked.
> >
> > Alternatives:
> >       •        Do nothing and let the community remain the way it is and
> miss
> > out on learning about the people interested in Blender.
> >       •        Implement a re pore with new users that will allow them to
> tell
> > Blender about themselves
> >       •        implement a text only web page that welcomes users and
> doesn't
> > divide users by interests
> >
> >
> >  Example of Generic Welcome page: (I would be glad to build a mock
> > page to show this all in action if needed)
> >
> > Blender is Listening!
> >  This section of Blender is a way for new users and professionals to
> > learn more about Blender and what it has to offer. Blender is a
> > powerful 3D suit of tools  that allows you to take a concept right
> > through to completion. But more than  that Blender is a community of
> > like minded individuals that share one objective, to be heard! We
> > speak through images to our audiences, we create therefor we are!
> >
> >
> >  This section is designed to also help everyone under stand how the
> > Blender community works and shares. New users can get the most up to
> > date learning tools at there finger tips. Advanced users can now get a
> > tour geared just for them. And those of you in studio environments
> > have special needs that can be addressed also.
> >
> >
> >  I am looking for feed back.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Bf-education mailing list
> > Bf-education at blender.org
> > http://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-education
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> --
> Ton Roosendaal  Blender Foundation ton at blender.org
> http://www.blender.org
>
> _______________________________________________
> Bf-education mailing list
> Bf-education at blender.org
> http://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-education
>



-- 
Jorge Otero
Senior Lecturer | Visual Communication
Raffles Design Institute

http://www.raffles-design-institute.edu.sg
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