[WMF-outreach-staff] Planning to send this form email to anyone signed up for Developer Days

[Asheesh Laroia]

This is what I plan to send shortly, to urge people to come to the 
Hackathon.

Feedback welcome!

-- Asheesh.

Subject: Newcomers invited to the Hackathon! 9AM-5PM, Tue-Wed, July 10-11

Hi <!--name-->,

We saw you're signed up to be at Wikimania during Developer Days. I wanted 
to make sure you know how great the Hackathon is going to be, and that you 
are invited to stop by for whatever time you can, and make a difference.

(If you're definitely coming, scroll down and read "How to prepare".)

We're putting a lot of energy into making the Hackathon great for 
first-time Hackathon attendees -- especially people who don't write 
software, and everyone who hasn't contributed to MediaWiki or related 
projects, and anyone who wants to step up their game in terms of Wikipedia 
and its tech.

At this Hackathon:

* We have a very clear "laptop setup" page to avoid problems with 
development environments (ready for your Mac, Windows, and GNU/Linux 
laptops).

* We have a clear "Tasks" page, listing ways you can step up your 
involvement -- even without writing code. The Tasks range from fixing how 
pages use templates, to interacting with WikiProjects, to moving your 
extensions into git.

* We will have a Beginners area, where mentors will help you get started 
contributing to Wikipedia and Wikimedia code projects.

* We will have tutorials on wiki-related topics like templates and tables, 
and on technical topics like Git, Gerrit, and Bugzilla.

* You're welcome to drop by for just a few hours, when you can. Find me 
(Asheesh Laroia) or another organizer and tell us what you like to do, and 
we'll help you find something rewarding to work on.

* Experts will be around to discuss advanced topics and other questions or 
ideas you might have.

More info here! http://wikimania2012.wikimedia.org/wiki/Hackathon

Again, if you can only stop by for a few hours, we'd love to have you. 
(We'd prefer to have you when it all begins, 9 AM on Tuesday, for the 
whole two days, if you can!)

How to prepare
--------------

If you don't already have access to Wikimedia Labs and our Git and Gerrit 
systems, please request it now:

     https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Developer_access

We'll process you quickly so you can use the access at the hackathon.

If you want to really get ahead, you can get started with our Laptop setup 
guide, with instructions for Mac OS, Windows, and GNU/Linux:

     http://wikimania2012.wikimedia.org/wiki/Hackathon/Laptop_setup

Note that for general laptop setup, we will have time set aside at the 
start of the Hackathon for that.

Enthusiastically,

Asheesh (on behalf of the Wikimania 2012 team).