Jurgen

Organizing Software Freedom Day: it's not hard!

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Don't want to read it all? Organizing your first SFD event isn't hard! These first steps will get you a long way.

So you're thinking about throwing a Software Freedom Day party? But seeing all those huge events scare you off? Don't worry, they all started small!

Here are some pointers at how easy it is to throw a SFD Party!

When?

Typically, Software Freedom Day is celebrated on the third Saturday of September. But - a bit comparable to a birthday party - you can always celebrate it on another moment around that time, if that works out better. What could be typical reasons to pick a different date?

The date doesn't work out for most of your volunteering team
There's a collision with another event in the area, and you don't want to compete (e.g. there's a religious holiday)
There's another event happening that would fit great together, and you want to align (e.g. there's a town fair where you can have a stand)
...

What?

Basically, if you throw a party, you can pick what you want to do. Here are some ideas to start small.

Give a demo of your favorite piece of music writing software to a bunch of friends
Set up a table on a public spot and hand out flyers explaining how Free Software better respects your privacy and let them try out Linux with LibreOffice and some other applications.
Hang a poster saying: "Your phone is spying on you. Change my mind" and sit on a chair behind it.
Organize an Arduino workshop in your local hackerspace
Give a presentation about how you migrated from a cloud service to your personal installation of NextCloud
Hand out "Software Freedom Day" balloons to kids in the street, and a flyer with some pointers to the parents
Ask some people from like-minded communities to join forces and give some talks on technical or non-technical topics.

Where?

There are plenty of places where you can organize Software Freedom Day.

Your school or workplace is sympathetic to the cause, and maybe you can use some office space or a classroom?
Local libraries often welcome low profile initiatives.
Are you a member of a LUG, hackerspace, computer club or tech group? Probably you can gather over there.
If all fails, gather in a local pub or tea-room and your audience can buy a drink in there.

Who?

So who should you invite? There's a wide range of options here too. You decide what's in your comfort zone. In essence, you could reach out, or you could reach in.

Reach out: invite people who aren't familiar with the topic of Software Freedom and introduce them

You could just put an invitation on the bulletin board of your school or work and see who shows up
You could put flyers in the houses around the area
Spread the word through your social media channels
You could invite local policymakers and/or press if you feel like it (but you don't need to)

Reach in: invite people who are already familiar with the topic of Software Freedom and do a deep dive

Invite friendly groups from the bigger area for more in depth topics
Spread the word on topical niche communities online

Who could be speaking?

You could invite external speakers. They often will be happy to give a talk or workshop
This is the perfect playground for first time experiences in public speaking. It's fun to talk about something you're passionate about.
Friends from like-minded groups.