A great method of building our community up is to get people together face-to-face to work together, develop social bonds, and have fun. We see this at every Ubuntu Developer Summit; when we get contributors together, it helps seal a sense of camaraderie as we work and play together. All of this helps unite us all as we work to bring Free Software to the masses with Ubuntu.

With much of this in mind, in each cycle we organize the Ubuntu Global Jam in which our global LoCo Team Community organizes local events in which Ubuntu fans gets together to work and play together. Many of these events are loose and informal; just a collection of Ubuntu enthusiasts getting together to get to know each other, contribute in different ways (e.g. testing, creating advocacy materials, development, producing art etc), and have fun. I have organized a few events for the Ubuntu Global Jam in the past and it is great fun, and my goal here is to encourage you to do the same. 🙂

Picture by alexm

The next Ubuntu Global Jam takes place from 1st – 3rd April 2011 and here are some of the events that are taking place:

Africa

Egypt

• Ubuntu Global Jam – Cairo, Cairo – ubuntu-eg – Fri, 01 April

Asia

Afghanistan

• Afghan Ubuntu Jam, Herat – Afghanistan Ubuntu LoCo Team – Sun, 03 April

Europe

Denmark

• Global Jam i Købenahvn, København V – Ubuntu DK – Sat, 02 April

France

• Ubuntu Paris Jam, Paris – Ubuntu-fr – Sun, 03 April

Hungary

• Ubuntu Global Jam Budapest, Budapest – Ubuntu Hungary – Sat, 02 April

Slovenia

• Translation marathon, Ljubljana – Ubuntu Slovenian Team – Sat, 02 April

Spain

• Ubuntu Asturian Global Jam, Gijón / Xixón – Ubuntu Asturian Team – Fri, 01 April
• Ubuntu Global Jam, Les Borges Blanques – Catalan LoCo Team – Sat, 02 April

Switzerland

• Ubuntu Global Jam – Zurich, Zürich – Ubuntu Swiss Team – Fri, 01 April

United Kingdom

• Ubuntu UK Global Jam – Weybridge, Weybridge – Ubuntu UK – Sat, 02 April
• UCubed, Manchester – Ubuntu UK – Sat, 02 April

North America

Canada

• Global Jam in Kitchener, ON, Kitchener, Ontario – Ubuntu Canada – Sat, 02 April

United States

• Ubuntu California Global Jam – Walnut Creek, Walnut Creek – Ubuntu California – Fri, 01 April
• MA Narwhal Global Jam, Lexington – Ubuntu United States, Massachusetts – Sun, 03 April
• Ubuntu New York – Rochester – Global Jam, Rochester – Ubuntu New York State – Sat, 02 April
• Summit Jam, Lakeland – Florida LoCo Team – Fri, 01 April
• Ubuntu-Chicago – Ubuntu Global Jam, Chicago – Ubuntu Chicago LoCo Team – Sat, 02 April
• Ubuntu Global Jam – Michigan, Ann Arbor – Ubuntu-Michigan – Sun, 03 April
• Ubuntu Florida Global Jam (Melbourne), Melbourne – Florida LoCo Team – Sat, 02 April
• Ubuntu New York – Syracuse – Global Jam, Syracuse – Ubuntu New York State – Sat, 02 April
• Berkeley Ubuntu Global Jam, Berkeley – Ubuntu California – Sun, 03 April
• Ubuntu Texas Global Jam, Austin – Ubuntu Texas LoCo Team – Sat, 02 April
• NYC Meetup for Ubuntu Global Jam 11.04, New York – Ubuntu New York State – Sat, 02 April

South America

Venezuela

• Día del Usuario Ubuntu, Tucupita – Ubuntu Venezuela Team – Sat, 29 Jan.
• Dia del Usuario Ubuntu Caripito – Ubuntu Venezuela Team – Tue, 15 March

Although we have organized Ubuntu Global Jam events before, I believe that this one is even more important than ever. We are working hard to ship Unity in Ubuntu 11.04 and this is a great opportunity for us all to get together, test Natty, provide bug reports and feedback, write documentation, translate, and more! If we come together as a community we can deliver an incredible Ubuntu experience. 🙂

Organizing An Event

Everyone is welcome to organize an event! We would like to encourage all of you to put together an event in your area. 🙂

If you are not a member of a LoCo team, see the list of teams, pick your nearest team, click on it, and click the Join This Team link to join that team’s Launchpad group (you might need to wait to get approved to join). When you are a member of the team, you can add an event.

Picture by ubuntuvancouver

To add a team just follow these steps:

1. First, decide a place where you want to hold the event. This can be as simple as a coffee shop that you decide to meet at (you don’t even need to neccessarily let the coffee shop know – just pick a place that everyone shows up to. Other good venues include university/school teaching rooms, local businesses, hotels etc.
2. Now pick a date to hold the event on between the 1st-3rd April 2011. Most teams pick one day or evening.
3. Next check the venues list and see if your venue is already in the database. If not, click Add New Venue to add the venue.
4. Now click here to go and add your event.
5. Finally, spread the word! Let Ubuntu users and Linux fans in your local area know, promote your event in your LoCo, at LUGs, put up posters in coffee shops, promote it on Twitter/identi.ca/Facebook etc.

When promoting your event or promoting existing events, be sure to use the #ugj hash tag. I look forward to seeing the photos and reports from the various events around the world!