The Community Council has delegated LoCo-related governance to the LoCo Council, similar to the recent creation of regional boards for Ubuntu membership. The LoCo Council is responsible for approving new LoCos, re-approving LoCos (more on that below), conflict resolution, resource allocation, mentoring, growth, and highlighting best practices.

The approval process for LoCos has not changed. New teams should continue referring to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LoCoGettingApproved as the reference guide for approval. In the near future, the LoCo Council will be documenting how to bring conflicts in front of the council and how to privately communicate on sensitive issues. The LoCo Council is also working on ways to make it easier for LoCos to request resources, like mailing lists and Canonical-provided hosting.

Approved LoCos will need to be re-approved every year. This is to make sure LoCos have the resources and help needed to continue supporting their area. Re-approval is similar to the initial approval application, simply documenting what the LoCo has done in the previous year and laying out plans for the future. LoCos needing to be re-approved will be contacted by the LoCo Council, and provided a timetable to submit their application. If a LoCo is not ready to be re-approved, the LoCo Council will work with the team to refocus and establish itself again.

Meetings will be held at least once a month. LoCos wanting to be approved or wishing to discuss any issues are welcome to add themselves to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LoCoCouncilAgenda.

The next LoCo Council meeting will be held 04-June-2008, 16:00 UTC.

Mehdi Hassanpour from the Iranian team, reports that the Iranian Team held a Hardy party yesterday, in Tehran. With more than 50 people in attendance, inspite of looming university examinations, it definitely made a great day for the Team.

They had the following presentations :
- Ubuntu Installation,
- Kubuntu 3.5 Tour,
- KDE 4 features and Tour,
- Desktop Effects in Ubuntu,
- Ubuntu Overview and Hardy Tour,
- Iranian Team report and future plan.

The team also distributed K/ED/Ubuntu CD’s, DVD’s, stickers and mugs. In future, they plan to hold Install fests to enable more face-to-face talk and free chatting.

Enjoy some shots of the event and read the full story and presentation available on their website.

You may have already read about it, heck you may have already heard it yourself! The Minnesota (USA) LoCo team went about contacting local media outlets and agencies to inform them about the recent Ubuntu 8.04 release, the Loco Team’s release party, and the exciting possibilities of using an open source operating system. Jon Gordon of National Public Radio (NPR) hosts a daily segment called Future Tense which brings its listeners the latest technology topics in daily five-minute capsules. Future Tense is heard in the United States during broadcasts of the CBC’s As It Happens. Gordon contacted our very own Tony Yarusso for an interview which was sent over the airwaves this mid last week.

Tony wrote on his blog:

Apparently it went well, as he decided to run it, so without further ado I’m happy to announce that I was on the radio, talking about Ubuntu! So, I got the double-whammy of getting myself personally on the news, plus getting an Ubuntu story in mainstream media (and a quite large, respected outlet of such at that). Nifty.

The premise of the five minute sound bite asks: Is Ubuntu ready for the mainstream?

You can hear Tony’s answer by visiting the show’s archive at Future Tense. MP3, RealAudio, and AAC formats provided.

Kudos and congratulations to Tony and the rest of the Minnesota (USA) LoCo team for their awesome job.

Want to get involved in advocating Ubuntu? You can see this kind of success too! Visit the advocacy page and LoCo Team knowledge base on the Ubuntu wiki for more information, tips, and hints on advocating as a team and as an individual.

Help spread the great news and be sure to pat Tony on the back the next time you see him!

Imagine with Ubuntu logo

The German LoCo team is organizing a bit of a mass mug purchase and has invited any you or your LoCo teams to join in. The mugs are made in a contemporary straight-sided style with an elegant white finish and your favourite part, an Ubuntu logo. For those with a dishwasher, your new mug can happily make a trip through that as well.

Time is limited. Julius Boch needs to know by Wednesday of next week, January 23rd at the latest. Mug ordered will cost between € 3.81 to € 3.13 depending on the total number ordered and will need to be shipped from Germany before you can enjoy a fine beverage of your choice in them. You can read the full announcement in a loco-contacts list post by Julius or contact Julius directly via email.

Update: Julius has asked us to mention that the minimum order per person or LoCo team is 5 mugs, so bang on those doors and get more of your friends/coworkers/worst enemies involved.

• Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-nebraska
• Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/NebraskaTeam/Meetings

Martin Owens from the Massachusetts LoCo team is spearheading an effort to pool LoCo resources to make a mass purchase of aluminum “Powered by Ubuntu” case badges.

The wiki page has mockups, cost quotes, and current orders so if you or your LoCo are interested in getting a batch of good quality case badges check it out! The bigger the order the cheaper they are.

Extraordinary meeting for discussion of server hosting issues. See https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/loco-contacts/2007-August/001510.html.

• Location: #ubuntu-newyork IRC Channel (chat.freenode.net)
• Info: https://wiki.kubuntu.org/NewYorkTeam

• Location: #ubuntu-newyork IRC Channel (chat.freenode.net)
• Info: https://wiki.kubuntu.org/NewYorkTeam

• Location: #ubuntu-newyork IRC Channel (chat.freenode.net)
• Info: https://wiki.kubuntu.org/NewYorkTeam