Opera Campus Crew Blog

Following on from yesterday’s launch of the long-awaited Opera 10.10 with Unite, we are launching a new activity initiative for the Opera Campus Crew: Opera Unite Geek-ups!

What is an Opera Unite Geek-up? It’s an interactive and informal gathering where people can come to learn about Opera Unite, and most importantly to explore, play and experiment with its applications and technologies. It'll bring out your inner geek!

NOTE: Follow our guide to organising events, but note that an Opera Unite Geek-up is not simply a presentation about Opera Unite. An Opera Unite Geek-up should be a truly interactive experience, where attendees get to use Opera Unite first-hand and/or actively discuss its uses, especially in small groups. To increase the interactivity of the Geek-up you should try to hold it in a computer lab or another room where the audience can have internet access. If it is impossible to find such a location on your campus, you can hold it in a regular classroom so long as the presenters have internet access and a projector. Make sure you are familiar with Opera Unite and have explored the different applications before you plan your Opera Unite Geek-up.

Resources
• Example agenda: We suggest starting with an overview of Opera and Opera Unite, and have provided a list of tasks you can do on Opera Unite with your audience. Close the event with a brainstorm of new Opera Unite applications or how the technology can be used. You can then send these ideas to me, and the best ideas will be published on My Opera and the Opera Unite blog.
• Slideset: For the Geek-ups we have created a slideset about Opera Unite, using Opera’s built-in Web presentation tool, Opera Show. To run the presentation, open the folder and ‘extract all files’ to another folder. Then open the file called "presentation.html". You will see here a linear version of the presentation with speakers notes; click View > Full Screen in your Opera browser (or F11 on your keyboard) to view it in presentation mode.
• Handout: Our Developer Relations team at Opera Software is also working on a handout about how to develop an Opera Unite application... coming soon!
• As usual we can provide you with swag, promotional posters, certificates and feedback forms. Just fill in the request form and send it to us at least three weeks before your event.

Opera is keen to make some campaigns around Opera Unite Geek-ups, so make sure to take photos and even during your event and include them with your blog post. Great opportunities to take photos are during question time, group discussions, interactive tasks, and you can even get the whole group to say hello from your university and country at the end.

We hope you are keen to show off Opera Unite through the Geek-ups, and we hope to see some happening soon.