Help with Python advocacy and marketing

[Stephan R.A. Deibel]

>> * We are collecting user-side advocacy quotes for use in press
>>   releases announcing future versions of Python.  If you have
>>   a compelling statement about how Python has helped your
>>   project or business, this is a great way to help Python and
>>   get some media exposure in the process.  We can't guarantee
>>   your quote will be used in a press release, but with your
>>   permission it will be included on a Python advocacy website
>>   that is under development.
>
>Some companies might have difficulty allowing their name to
>be used by "just anyone" in the context of Python advocacy.
>Can you describe more about the way in which this information
>will be distributed, who is represented (is this a Zope Corp
>or PythonLabs sponsored endeavour?), and so on?  My company
>(not engcorp.com) has so far remained in the closet about
>its use of Python and although it would be nice to get
>permission to help with a little "XXXX company uses Python
>in the following ways..." I know I couldn't begin to get
>permission without more background.

The press releases will come from the Python Software Foundation (PSF),
which is the non-profit that holds the intellectual property rights to
Python.  I've volunteered to help produce and distribute the releases.

We know about company's policies on endorsing products but have been
successful with a number of prominent companies to obtain quotes
because they recognize Python advocacy is a good thing for its users,
and they get a little bit of free PR as part of the deal.

If you do ask about this at your company, make sure to stress that Python
is open source and not a commercial product, and that the PSF is
non-profit.

The final press release that contains each quote is always given to the
company's PR dept for approval before it's released.  I can furnish
a draft press release as example on request from those that might be able
to do a quote.

Once approved, the releases will be distributed to a range of media
contacts and business wire services.  The goal is writing to media
contacts is to try to get more wide-spread mention of Python in printed
and online technical periodicals.  The wire services categorize releases
and distribute them on a technical news feed, usually globally.  These get
monitored and searched by keyword, and similarly may result in additional
exposure in technical publications.

Finally, if approved by the company, the quote will be added to a page
on the python.org website.

Note that some of the other efforts I mentioned are not yet specifically
associated with the PSF.  I've set up pythonology.org to become an
advocacy site for Python, with the vision that it will later include the
Success Stories and Quick Start guides, but there's no requirement that
materials reside there if contributors want them to be elsewhere.

Hope that helps to clarify.

- Stephan

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