Is RunRev marketed to developers mainly?

[Lynn Fredricks]

> many times I have been wondering, why so many people know of 
> Air, and all these fresh new things about flash, Flex 3, 
> Python, Java, MySQL, SQLite, PHP, even Logo, etc... Those are 
> babies of Adobe, Sun or not so well known companies or even 
> open source projects. And why do they usually know next to 
> nothing about Revolution, which is not a new IDE product at 
> all... Then I realized that Revolution is absent from press 
> releases of major printed IT/PC/MAC magazines. On each new 
> release or upgrade of its products Adobe and even open source 
> project leaders "shout out" a press release appearing on 
> printed pages of many journals, that's why we know. But when 
> Revolution Released 2.9 no IT magazine (please correct me if 
> I am wrong) ever covered it. Why?

Each product has a strong supporting group that helps to build momentum.

Big Company Backing - AIR/Flex/Flash are all Adobe (now), which means
there's a tried and true formula for producing books, training and the like
- that incentivizes both the book and magazine press - plus, Adobe spends a
lot of money on things like advertising. Their costs are spread out over a
broad offering of products. Apply to any of the gorillas, like Microsoft or
even Apple.

Big Group Backing based on Free - MySQL and SQLite wouldn't be where they
are today if they were not open source (for MySQL) and free (SQLite). "Free"
for ISPs made MySQL what it is today. These projects get highly "loved" by
their users, who also blog regularly about them.

Lets dispense with general computer magazines - it's a nice score to get
covered in PCWorld or MacLife, for example, but these mags usually stay away
from highly technical products and stick to what is of known interest to
their general readership. Coverage generally helps but because of the
readership you don't see many conversions.

IT mags are more probable, but you have to battle with MS and Linux tools
there for coverage that fit the "big group" model above. A lot of these
folks are intimately tied to those public projects as well, like Commander
Taco.

2.9 was the first release that my Mirye group did, and we did get some
online coverage; our channel strategy is just being implemented for it and
so far response has been positive from resellers, now that they can get
physical product. But 2.9 isn't a feature release version that will have the
same wide appeal as what we know is coming from Revolution Live.

At Revolution Live, I asked the collective group in the main room who was
blogging - it turned out only I was, though I know later a few others
started. I also sent out an email to other potential bloggers last week
about linking up and making a concerted effort. It's the sort of thing you
do to build "authority" in the blogger world, which is the street cred you
need to get attention. 

Noone I invited replied to that suggestion, or to the list of actions I have
suggested.

When you lack Adobe/VC type money, there has to be an alternative. That's in
the grass roots promotion - and doing it all alone does not build much
momentum.

My approach is to:

-utilize the new wave of communication venues like Linked In, mySpace and
Facebook
-utilize my own blog, plus get it out to others who blog
-pro-offer our affiliate system which is in place and working, though not
many long time users are particpating
-get coverage in many of these ad hoc and next generation events like
BarCamp Seattle
-draw lines between old ways of doing things (channel) and new (social
networking based promotion)
-sponsor and support community events...

And there's a long list of other things that arent in process quite yet, but
Id be genuinely happy if the community would get involved.

If folks are interested, I would be happy to put together a chat meeting for
anyone that would be interested in helping out. 

I have also set up a "Revolution Community Leader" forum on our community
site at http://miryesoftware.ning.com/group/revolutioncommunityleaders. It
requires an invitation, but you can request one.

Best regards,

Lynn Fredricks
Mirye Software Publishing
http://www.mirye.com

Mirye Community NING
http://miryesoftware.ning.com