On the heels of the success of our nearly completed Events and Room Reserve 6.7 bug hunt, we are now starting a Summer Reader 2009 bug hunt contest as well. Summer Readers went through some changes this year and the new release is running about 20-30 days behind where we'd want to be but with your help we can get the new version bug free long before anyone's patrons are accessing it this Summer.
The new version of Summer Reader (V7/2009) will be releasing to Beta in the next 2 weeks. Anyone that wants an upgrade is welcome to request that through our product support group. In addition we will be registering 20 (or potentially more) library teams for a Summer Reader 2009 bug hunt. Just like with the Events/Room Reserve contest, the team that collects the most points for submitting bugs, omissions, etc. will receive prizes.
The rules are similar to the Events/Room Reserve contest, but there a few differences.
- To participate you must authorize us to upgrade your LIVE site to the new Beta version by no later than February 5th. (With the Events/Room Reserve contest we upgraded a copy of your systems not the live system. Because most libraries are not running live programs to the public at this time of the year, we felt it would be best to upgrade live systems instead. So all your current programs will be upgraded (and if you are about to start an offseason reading program it too will be affected/upgraded). If you want to participate but don't' want your live system upgraded contact support for possible options.
- Each Site can be an individual or team (1 Team per Customer)
- We will have a special place on our Support Forum where bugs will be reported (a basic format for the bug reporting will be listed there).
- The first site/team/library to report each bug will be given credit. The bugs will be posted to the support forum so you'll know what has already been submitted. Points are awarded
- The teams that get the most points(earned by finding and reporting bugs) will receive prizes:
- 1st Prize: A Nintendo Wii OR $300 in Amazon gift certificates (broken down for teams)
- 2nd Prize: An Apple Nano iPod OR $150 in Amazon gift certificates (broken down for teams)
- 3rd Prize: $60 in Amazon gift certificates
To register your library/team for this contest go to: (It’s a February 5th event on our corporate Event Calendar: http://host.evanced.info/lib/eventcalendar.asp?et=Special+Events+and+Dates&dt=mo&mo=2/5/2009&df=list (Please note this is not a webinar, but the registration for the contest itself.)
A couple of clarifications on the contest:
This contest will be in addition to our own internal testing. Our testers will submit bugs into the same forum in order to prevent overlap. All participant's Beta systems will be updated on a regular basis and all system will be updated at once. We'll notify participants when updates are posted.
Contest will begin approx February 5th, 2009 by which time everyone’s system will be upgraded and posted (we’ll do these as close together as possible). Contest will end at Midnight on March 1st, 2009, where the final counts and winners will be posted. We’ll try to post updates on progress and standing about once a week through the contest. So the new released version of Summer Reader will be made available on March 2nd, 2009. We probably will still have some updates leading up into May (mostly non-core issues, some reporting enhancements, and add-on features like Facebook integration)
Point System:
- 1 Point Bug – A bug that is more a suggestion for operation. An “It Really should work like this!” comment. These are not really classified as bugs, but we felt they are important enough to include in the list.
- 2 Point Bug – A bug that is an inconvenience or nuisance. Not a major failure but a problem none-the-less.
- 3 Point Bug – This is a doozey! This is a bug that stops a significant portion of the program from running correctly. Just about any kind of error message or screen would fall into this category.
The upgrades in February will be done primarily for libraries who sign up to participate. You CAN request an upgrade to the Beta and NOT participate in the contest. Just email support.
We will actually upgrade your LIVE system with your real data. So be aware that what your doing is live. Any running programs will be affected. Once released your system will be upgraded to the final version and all programs you create during the Beta phase will be kept, so work towards your real Summer Programs is encouraged. (More information on a seperate Template Design contest is coming soon)
We aren’t setting any rules on how you want to handle prizes on your end. You can use the prize for your library or yourself but we leave compliance with your own library’s policies up to you.
IF the number of interested libraries exceeds 20 we will consider expanding the field some. HOWEVER libraries that do not have direct accounts with Evanced (e.g. libraries whose licenses were purchased through State wide agreements (Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and (maybe NY if it still happens this year)) are not eligible to participate in the contest though they still will have access to the Beta version if they request it (all PA and AZ sites will be initially installed with the new version).
If you are a multi-branch system you can have more than one location/branch participating though as a part of a single team. I realize that this gives a somewhat more inherent advantage to bigger libraries. We weren't sure what to really do with that this time, so I promise that if the whole contest gets dominated by Big libraries/customers we'll make some adjustments(maybe some additional prizes this go around and rule changes for the next time) so the smaller libraries don't get left out or put at a disadvantage. Though it was NOT the case with the Events/Room Reserve contest which so far has been dominated by some small and mid-sized libraries.
That's all for now but if you have additional questions please don't hesitate to contact me/us and we'll get your questions answered.
Thanks
Rob Cullin (rcullin@evancedsolutions.com)
CSO/Co-Founder
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