(I wish there was a separate forum for this, but posting it here in the general discussions.)
Reff. the accouncement: "Drupal.org advertising proposals requested"
( http://drupal.org/node/147036 )
Important discussions goes on related to the potential of the Drupal Association. Good and exciting :-) In particular, the question of advertisements and membership payment is important.
I would basically like to take the opportunity to as for a "slow", well organised, transparent and thorough process... Below is an example on why:
Advertisement is a multi-headed beast. There are good reasons why multi-national companies use local teams to determine the marketing strategy for each region.
An "Advertisement" is not just an "Advertisement"...
The notion and tolerance about advertisements varies according to culture, and ultimately - regardless of asking for donations or adversisers, the perception of the message directly affects the outcome.
There are many and very different ways of approaching and shaping this, and also in where to draw the line as of what is "too much" etc. But in particular, there are significant differences in perception between for example EU(rope) and USA. I think that it could be useful to make a list of examples for this, as we move along.
I guess one solution that is successful in EU, might not be appreciated or work well in USA or in Asia for that matter. Fortunately, web technology enable us to "do both", Target those markets with different "strategies" by serving the pages based on the location of the visitor.
Eastern Europe, Acia, Latin-America, etc. also have their own cultural perceptions that we may benefit from taking into account. Should we cater for this? What about assigning this to several regional groups, define the appropriate regions and have them do surveys, polls, etc. within the scope of that "culture"? After all, this is about successfully trigging the interest of some local people or organisations to send their money. That communication goes through their cultural filter, so ignoring it would affect the result.
I am not trying to overcomplicate this issue, but reality is that we are in fact a global community. I just want to point out that how these concerns are addressed wil inevitably affect the outcome.
Fortunately we are in the CMS business, and definetely have exactly the right (and the best!?!) medicine to tackle such intercultural communication and collaboration challenges ;-) So this may be a good way to eat our own dog food. Use Drupal for what its worth in communicating and collaboratively and democratically survey, poll, delegate and make decisions about this for several regions, and summon main points and results from around the world in a practical way.
