From the very start of my advocacy four years ago, it has always been about
marketing. It has always been about reaching out to as many people as
possible to raise public awareness. I cannot be sure, but I believe I've
reached out to more than 100,000 people around the world who did not
previously know about Smalltalk, or who thought Smalltalk was dead. Whether
or not this is a positive outcome remains to be seen.
I'm sure its had a positive effect overall, but of course its very hard to judge.
The latency is large and conversion rate low, but it all helps.
Your later articles improved a lot in providing a balanced presentation.��
The high school competition is another marketing tool, and probably the most
powerful one at my disposal. From my perspective, it is not a waste of
money. Seeding thousands of young minds across the country with knowledge of
Smalltalk may have profound consequences in the years to come, just as
seeding thousands of college students with experience in Linux helped to
lift Linux into the mainstream during the 1990s and 2000s. Advocacy begins
with our younger generation ��� that's the only way to ensure the future.
I do agree it has potential to make an impression on impressionable minds
and a back door approach to widely introduce professors to Pharo/Smalltalk
when their students complain about lesser tools.�� I think what you are trying to
achieve is ambitious but also worthwhile if you succeed.
��
From what I can tell, the above message resonated with the Smalltalks 2018
conference. Everybody seemed pumped. This suggests to me that my strategy is
sound.
It all boils down to this: Either you agree with my marketing strategy, or
you don't. If you don't, then I am not sanguine about Smalltalk's future.
Its community will always remain very small. If that's acceptable, then my
advocacy is no longer needed.
Allow me to make one final comment: There's seems to be a perception that my
effort over the past four years has been insignificant and without monetary
value. I've worked on this for thousands of man-hours.
Of course that background is not immediately apparent in remote interactions.����
Though I think its more that some believed your time would be better spent on other activities
than thinking you've not put in significant effort.��
But you don't spend a lot of time "here". You just drop in when you need something. :)
And really thats okay to ask, but you need to manage your expectations��
about how quickly people align their lives with your goals.
So its good to understand your effort, but also that just put yous on par with others here.
If I consider it I'd guess I'd put in 4 hours every day for around 1500 hours a year,
and many others do much more.
Even at minimum wage,
it would amount to $60,000+. I have never asked for a dollar, nor even any
recognition. I've done all this for the good of the Smalltalk community. It
has been pure altruism all the way.
But you see... that is "your" itch that you are scratching, so even when its arduous you (presumably) don't mind.
The hard work provides a sense of achievement and well being.�� Its an emotional response.
its said that you can't argue someone out of an emotional position with a logical argument.
All that left-brain right-brain stuff.�� And thats where you're at.
So when people are contributing to Pharo to scratch an itch of their own,
and you're saying "come over here and scratch my itch"��
its not surprising they don't drop everything and come running.
So much depends on their current circumstances and interests.
So it is disingenuous to imply that I'm offloading too much on others in the��Smalltalk community.������
"Disingenuous" implies a purposeful falsehood in our comments.�� :)��
Whereas everyone's comments here have been I believe our honest perceptions.
So its more like... there is a perception that I'm offloading too much on others in the��Smalltalk community����
And marketing is all about perception...
So maybe you've just not have marketed yourself to us very well.
��
I'm not asking for much, certainly much less than I've already given these past four years.
I think its not so much about comparing respective efforts, but more about��
what discretionary time people have available and their momentum with their interests and priorities.��
��
You are correct, the competition plan is still a work-in-progress. That's
why I'm asking for collaboration. If I could do it all alone, I would.
So you are big on marketing :).����
Well consider us a market of coding resources you need to understand
what drives our desire to contribute.�� ��Otherwise you are not marketing, just advertising.
��
Personally I'm open to helping out, just not in the near term.
Hope you keep chipping away at it.
cheers -ben