Tag Lines and Summary Text (mission statement?) for OFBiz

[David E. Jones]

As part of the new identity (logo, web site, other marketing collateral) for OFBiz we need to set down some of the general principles and ideals of the project. Si mentioned this in his email a few days ago (on the 23rd) in topic #3 and this can drive a lot of the visual elements and organization of the site and other stuff. I appreciate Tim Ruppert who has been pushing some of this along (including pushing me along, thankfully) for identifying this as a to do and conversation point for this mailing list.

I guess there are 2 main parts of this to brain-storm on (meaning nearly anything goes at this stage...):

1. a tag line (short motto, whatever)
2. a project summary, perhaps even more like a mission statement

For #2 I saw some interesting guidelines for a mission statement, namely some questions to as ourselves:

1. What is the best thing the project/community does?
2. What do you want do to?
3. What would my customers value most?
4. What should we do?

In addition to those the goal should be to keep it short and to the point, much shorter than the typical "elevator pitch". This might be a good starting point for a more conversational elevator pitch, BTW.

The new logo has kind of a power button motif, and that fits pretty well with OFBiz for a tag line like "Turn On You Busines" or "Power On Your Business". Or we could cozy up to the line a little and use something like "Turn On Your Developers" because OFBiz is so great for empowering developers and increasing their productivity. Too bad we're not in the video game industry, that would go along great with a spokes-model. ;)

But seriously, something more business oriented related to power on or turn on seems pretty good. Of course, this in brain storming, so don't take my ideas too seriously!

For the mission statement my thoughts are to include something to emphasize the community oriented nature of the force behind the project; the flexible, powerful and customization orientation of the software and architecture; the business oriented functionality to make things directly applicable to your business; and so on.

There is kind of a mission statement, more of a project description though, at the top of the ofbiz.org home page in the "Introduction: What is OFBiz?" box, but I think we can do a lot better than that. There is also some reasonably good content and ideas on the Philosophy page that I wrote a long time ago (with feedback and ideas from various people, many of whom probably won't even get this email), and those could be a good source of ideas too.

The Strategic Plan is a few years old and needs some updating for changes in the last 4 years ;o) , but the same basic stuff there still applies very much to what OFBiz is all about from a business perspective. This is really the core of how OFBiz has moved forward. Here is the URL:

http://www.ofbiz.org/strategic-plan.html

Some of my more recent thoughts on this are something along the lines of:

"The Open For Business Project harnesses the power of a loosely coupled community and a collaboration empowering open source license (the Apache 2.0 license) to bring to you the best in loosely coupled enterprise software that can be molded to the needs of your changing organization."

We might want a bit more than that and maybe have different items that address different stake holders in the project.

============================

After a bit of discussion on this I'd like to put in on the OFBiz.org New Site Plan page on docs.ofbiz.org, which is here:

http://docs.ofbiz.org/display/OFBIZ/OFBiz.org+New+Site+Plan

Thanks in advance for all of your feedback, help and ideas!

-David

[Daniel Kunkel]

Hi

In reading both David's marketing ideas, and Adam's comments about that
new system which sounds great makes me think we may want to revisit one
more time before going forward with the new marketing thrust the
question of splitting the framework from the OFBiz application, at least
in name.

In short, I think OFBiz's framework is an amazing piece of software by
itself, and it is often overlooked or discarded by many people who could
really use because they can't see past the application. It could be much
more popular if it were marketed separately and had separate
documentation and tutorials, however I don't ever want to see the
framework diverge from OFBiz the application.

---

One other quick thought on marketing.

SOA has become a super-hot marketing term, and using it might bring in
some very interesting collaborators.

Thanks

Daniel


On Tue, 2006-06-27 at 18:07 -0600, David E. Jones wrote:

> As part of the new identity (logo, web site, other marketing collateral) for OFBiz we need to set down some of the general principles and ideals of the project. Si mentioned this in his email a few days ago (on the 23rd) in topic #3 and this can drive a lot of the visual elements and organization of the site and other stuff. I appreciate Tim Ruppert who has been pushing some of this along (including pushing me along, thankfully) for identifying this as a to do and conversation point for this mailing list.
>
> I guess there are 2 main parts of this to brain-storm on (meaning nearly anything goes at this stage...):
>
> 1. a tag line (short motto, whatever)
> 2. a project summary, perhaps even more like a mission statement
>
> For #2 I saw some interesting guidelines for a mission statement, namely some questions to as ourselves:
>
> 1. What is the best thing the project/community does?
> 2. What do you want do to?
> 3. What would my customers value most?
> 4. What should we do?
>
> In addition to those the goal should be to keep it short and to the point, much shorter than the typical "elevator pitch". This might be a good starting point for a more conversational elevator pitch, BTW.
>
> The new logo has kind of a power button motif, and that fits pretty well with OFBiz for a tag line like "Turn On You Busines" or "Power On Your Business". Or we could cozy up to the line a little and use something like "Turn On Your Developers" because OFBiz is so great for empowering developers and increasing their productivity. Too bad we're not in the video game industry, that would go along great with a spokes-model. ;)
>
> But seriously, something more business oriented related to power on or turn on seems pretty good. Of course, this in brain storming, so don't take my ideas too seriously!
>
> For the mission statement my thoughts are to include something to emphasize the community oriented nature of the force behind the project; the flexible, powerful and customization orientation of the software and architecture; the business oriented functionality to make things directly applicable to your business; and so on.
>
> There is kind of a mission statement, more of a project description though, at the top of the ofbiz.org home page in the "Introduction: What is OFBiz?" box, but I think we can do a lot better than that. There is also some reasonably good content and ideas on the Philosophy page that I wrote a long time ago (with feedback and ideas from various people, many of whom probably won't even get this email), and those could be a good source of ideas too.
>
> The Strategic Plan is a few years old and needs some updating for changes in the last 4 years ;o) , but the same basic stuff there still applies very much to what OFBiz is all about from a business perspective. This is really the core of how OFBiz has moved forward. Here is the URL:
>
> http://www.ofbiz.org/strategic-plan.html
>
> Some of my more recent thoughts on this are something along the lines of:
>
> "The Open For Business Project harnesses the power of a loosely coupled community and a collaboration empowering open source license (the Apache 2.0 license) to bring to you the best in loosely coupled enterprise software that can be molded to the needs of your changing organization."
>
> We might want a bit more than that and maybe have different items that address different stake holders in the project.
>
> ============================
>
> After a bit of discussion on this I'd like to put in on the OFBiz.org New Site Plan page on docs.ofbiz.org, which is here:
>
> http://docs.ofbiz.org/display/OFBIZ/OFBiz.org+New+Site+Plan
>
> Thanks in advance for all of your feedback, help and ideas!
>
> -David
>
>
>

[cjhowe]

I like that idea, sort of a dual marketing. "OFBiz
Framework" and "Open for Business".  Where "Open for
Business" is powered or built ontop of the "OFBiz
Framework" (better marketing names please apply
within)

--- Daniel Kunkel <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hi
>
> In reading both David's marketing ideas, and Adam's
> comments about that
> new system which sounds great makes me think we may
> want to revisit one
> more time before going forward with the new
> marketing thrust the
> question of splitting the framework from the OFBiz
> application, at least
> in name.
>
> In short, I think OFBiz's framework is an amazing
> piece of software by
> itself, and it is often overlooked or discarded by
> many people who could
> really use because they can't see past the
> application. It could be much
> more popular if it were marketed separately and had
> separate
> documentation and tutorials, however I don't ever
> want to see the
> framework diverge from OFBiz the application.
>
> ---
>
> One other quick thought on marketing.
>
> SOA has become a super-hot marketing term, and using
> it might bring in
> some very interesting collaborators.
>
> Thanks
>
> Daniel
>
>
> On Tue, 2006-06-27 at 18:07 -0600, David E. Jones
> wrote:
> > As part of the new identity (logo, web site, other
> marketing collateral) for OFBiz we need to set down
> some of the general principles and ideals of the
> project. Si mentioned this in his email a few days
> ago (on the 23rd) in topic #3 and this can drive a
> lot of the visual elements and organization of the
> site and other stuff. I appreciate Tim Ruppert who
> has been pushing some of this along (including
> pushing me along, thankfully) for identifying this
> as a to do and conversation point for this mailing
> list.
> >
> > I guess there are 2 main parts of this to
> brain-storm on (meaning nearly anything goes at this
> stage...):
> >
> > 1. a tag line (short motto, whatever)
> > 2. a project summary, perhaps even more like a
> mission statement
> >
> > For #2 I saw some interesting guidelines for a
> mission statement, namely some questions to as
> ourselves:
> >
> > 1. What is the best thing the project/community
> does?
> > 2. What do you want do to?
> > 3. What would my customers value most?
> > 4. What should we do?
> >
> > In addition to those the goal should be to keep it
> short and to the point, much shorter than the
> typical "elevator pitch". This might be a good
> starting point for a more conversational elevator
> pitch, BTW.
> >
> > The new logo has kind of a power button motif, and
> that fits pretty well with OFBiz for a tag line like
> "Turn On You Busines" or "Power On Your Business".
> Or we could cozy up to the line a little and use
> something like "Turn On Your Developers" because
> OFBiz is so great for empowering developers and
> increasing their productivity. Too bad we're not in
> the video game industry, that would go along great
> with a spokes-model. ;)
> >
> > But seriously, something more business oriented
> related to power on or turn on seems pretty good. Of
> course, this in brain storming, so don't take my
> ideas too seriously!
> >
> > For the mission statement my thoughts are to
> include something to emphasize the community
> oriented nature of the force behind the project; the
> flexible, powerful and customization orientation of
> the software and architecture; the business oriented
> functionality to make things directly applicable to
> your business; and so on.
> >
> > There is kind of a mission statement, more of a
> project description though, at the top of the
> ofbiz.org home page in the "Introduction: What is
> OFBiz?" box, but I think we can do a lot better than
> that. There is also some reasonably good content and
> ideas on the Philosophy page that I wrote a long
> time ago (with feedback and ideas from various
> people, many of whom probably won't even get this
> email), and those could be a good source of ideas
> too.
> >
> > The Strategic Plan is a few years old and needs
> some updating for changes in the last 4 years ;o) ,
> but the same basic stuff there still applies very
> much to what OFBiz is all about from a business
> perspective. This is really the core of how OFBiz
> has moved forward. Here is the URL:
> >
> > http://www.ofbiz.org/strategic-plan.html
> >
> > Some of my more recent thoughts on this are
> something along the lines of:
> >
> > "The Open For Business Project harnesses the power
> of a loosely coupled community and a collaboration
> empowering open source license (the Apache 2.0
> license) to bring to you the best in loosely coupled
> enterprise software that can be molded to the needs
> of your changing organization."
> >
> > We might want a bit more than that and maybe have
> different items that address different stake holders
> in the project.
> >
> > ============================
> >
> > After a bit of discussion on this I'd like to put
> in on the OFBiz.org New Site Plan page on
> docs.ofbiz.org, which is here:
> >
> >
>

http://docs.ofbiz.org/display/OFBIZ/OFBiz.org+New+Site+Plan

> >
> > Thanks in advance for all of your feedback, help
> and ideas!
> >
> > -David
> >
> >
> >
>
>

[Adrian Crum]

David E. Jones wrote:
> The new logo has kind of a power button motif, and that fits pretty well
> with OFBiz for a tag line like "Turn On You Busines" or "Power On Your
> Business". Or we could cozy up to the line a little and use something
> like "Turn On Your Developers" because OFBiz is so great for empowering
> developers and increasing their productivity. Too bad we're not in the
> video game industry, that would go along great with a spokes-model. ;)

Enable Your Business
Enable Your Enterprise

> Some of my more recent thoughts on this are something along the lines of:
> "The Open For Business Project harnesses the power of a loosely coupled
> community and a collaboration empowering open source license (the Apache
> 2.0 license) to bring to you the best in loosely coupled enterprise
> software that can be molded to the needs of your changing organization."

"The Open For Business Project combines the power of a dedicated global
community and a collaboration empowering open source license (the Apache
2.0 license) to bring to you the best in easily deployed, easily modified
enterprise software."

[Adrian Crum]

Adrian Crum wrote:
> "The Open For Business Project combines the power of a dedicated global
> community and a collaboration empowering open source license (the Apache
> 2.0 license) to bring to you the best in easily deployed, easily
> modified enterprise software."

Looking at it again, I think it can be simplified further...

"The Open For Business Project combines the power of a dedicated global
community and an empowering open source license to bring you the best in easily
deployed, easily modified enterprise software."

[Andrew Sykes]

Hi,

Just my 2 cents/pence (subject to exchange rate!)...

"The Open For Business Project brings a dedicated global community and
liberating open source license within the reach of your enterprise."

I'm not sure I like "easily deployed, easily modified" as this is rather
subjective.

> "The Open For Business Project combines the power of a dedicated global
> community and an empowering open source license to bring you the best in easily
> deployed, easily modified enterprise software."

--
Kind Regards
Andrew Sykes <[hidden email]>
Sykes Development Ltd
http://www.sykesdevelopment.com

[Adrian Crum]

Isn't ALL marketing material subjective? ;)

Andrew Sykes wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Just my 2 cents/pence (subject to exchange rate!)...
>
> "The Open For Business Project brings a dedicated global community and
> liberating open source license within the reach of your enterprise."
>
> I'm not sure I like "easily deployed, easily modified" as this is rather
> subjective.
>
>
>>"The Open For Business Project combines the power of a dedicated global
>>community and an empowering open source license to bring you the best in easily
>>deployed, easily modified enterprise software."
>
>

[Andrew Sykes]

Well,

Ok, let me be a bit stronger then, "easily deployed, easily modified" is
wrong, because...

easily deployed: assumes you want to run a generic stand-alone version,
with Tomcat for fun, not use it in anger.

easily modified: unless you already have an OFBizer in your midst, or
pay for consultancy, the learning curve is painful. Once you grasp the
concepts, sure it's faster than anything else, but if you're reading the
marketing jargon, chances are you've not got that far with
minilang/SECAS/GenericDelegator/LocalDispatcher/Screen Widgets/Form
Widgets (to name a few)...

So, I'd rather not see the marketing stuff make "subjective" claims when
there are plenty of objective plus points.

I do like the tone of this text though, it's just the sort of thing
OFBiz needs :-)

- Andrew


On Wed, 2006-06-28 at 08:56 -0700, Adrian Crum wrote:

> Isn't ALL marketing material subjective? ;)
>
> Andrew Sykes wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > Just my 2 cents/pence (subject to exchange rate!)...
> >
> > "The Open For Business Project brings a dedicated global community and
> > liberating open source license within the reach of your enterprise."
> >
> > I'm not sure I like "easily deployed, easily modified" as this is rather
> > subjective.
> >
> >
> >>"The Open For Business Project combines the power of a dedicated global
> >>community and an empowering open source license to bring you the best in easily
> >>deployed, easily modified enterprise software."
> >
> >

--
Kind Regards
Andrew Sykes <[hidden email]>
Sykes Development Ltd
http://www.sykesdevelopment.com

[David E. Jones]

However the specific wording ends up, I like the idea of adding "global" in there.

-David


Adrian Crum wrote:

> Adrian Crum wrote:
>> "The Open For Business Project combines the power of a dedicated global
>> community and a collaboration empowering open source license (the Apache
>> 2.0 license) to bring to you the best in easily deployed, easily
>> modified enterprise software."
>
> Looking at it again, I think it can be simplified further...
>
> "The Open For Business Project combines the power of a dedicated global
> community and an empowering open source license to bring you the best in
> easily deployed, easily modified enterprise software."
>

[Adrian Crum]

David E. Jones wrote:
> The new logo has kind of a power button motif, and that fits pretty well
> with OFBiz for a tag line like "Turn On You Busines" or "Power On Your
> Business". Or we could cozy up to the line a little and use something
> like "Turn On Your Developers" because OFBiz is so great for empowering
> developers and increasing their productivity. Too bad we're not in the
> video game industry, that would go along great with a spokes-model. ;)

Which logo was chosen? I didn't see any mention of a decision.

[Jacques Le Roux]

HI Adrian,

If the server is not down,  here it is :
http://docs.ofbiz.org/download/attachments/180/ofbiz-03-01.pdf

Atteahment from
http://docs.ofbiz.org/pages/viewpageattachments.action?pageId=180


Did not see any mention of a decision.either, but Youpi, it's the one I liked
:o)

Jacques

> David E. Jones wrote:
> > The new logo has kind of a power button motif, and that fits pretty well
> > with OFBiz for a tag line like "Turn On You Busines" or "Power On Your
> > Business". Or we could cozy up to the line a little and use something
> > like "Turn On Your Developers" because OFBiz is so great for empowering
> > developers and increasing their productivity. Too bad we're not in the
> > video game industry, that would go along great with a spokes-model. ;)
>
> Which logo was chosen? I didn't see any mention of a decision.

[davidnwelton]

> Enable Your Business
> Enable Your Enterprise

"Open your Enterprise for Business"

--
David N. Welton
 - http://www.dedasys.com/davidw/

Linux, Open Source Consulting
 - http://www.dedasys.com/

[Daniel Kunkel]

+1

On Wed, 2006-06-28 at 23:34 +0200, David Welton wrote:
> "Open your Enterprise for Business"
>

[davidnwelton]

> For #2 I saw some interesting guidelines for a mission statement, namely some questions to as ourselves:
>
> 1. What is the best thing the project/community does?

Still being something of an outsider to the technology in the sense
that I haven't had the chance to get my hands dirty with it, what
attracts me to OFBiz is not necessarily the specific stuff it's
implemented on/in, but the data models and business processes and
procedures that are jointly developed by a community of people with a
lot of the same problems and solutions in common.  This has been
valuable to me without even actually using the code.

--
David N. Welton
 - http://www.dedasys.com/davidw/

Linux, Open Source Consulting
 - http://www.dedasys.com/

[Adrian Crum]

Thanks Jacques! Actually, I found that document after I posted this message.
Since the vote was taken on the mailing list, I expected the result to be on the
mailing list.


Jacques Le Roux wrote:

> HI Adrian,
>
> If the server is not down,  here it is :
> http://docs.ofbiz.org/download/attachments/180/ofbiz-03-01.pdf
>
> Atteahment from
> http://docs.ofbiz.org/pages/viewpageattachments.action?pageId=180
>
>
> Did not see any mention of a decision.either, but Youpi, it's the one I liked
> :o)
>
> Jacques
>
>
>>David E. Jones wrote:
>>
>>>The new logo has kind of a power button motif, and that fits pretty well
>>>with OFBiz for a tag line like "Turn On You Busines" or "Power On Your
>>>Business". Or we could cozy up to the line a little and use something
>>>like "Turn On Your Developers" because OFBiz is so great for empowering
>>>developers and increasing their productivity. Too bad we're not in the
>>>video game industry, that would go along great with a spokes-model. ;)
>>
>>Which logo was chosen? I didn't see any mention of a decision.
>
>
>