Hi @Manoj and @lu7 !
We are currently trying to organize such flash party in Lyon (France), for the beginning of April 2023.
If accepted, it would be part of the JDLL 2023: https://jdll.org/ (a yearly event on FOSS). We would be next to the existing install party (focused on computers, that already has a liability waiver paper to sign, that we might copy/adapt).
I’ve already flashed several devices around me, and unofficially flashed a couple of smartphones at the JDLL 2022. The other volunteer also has experience on flashing /e/ OS on devices.
To organize this, our idea would be to have a compulsory registration, for several reasons:
- Know the exact models of devices, to filter the ones that are incompatible, the ones that should be easy (EasyInstaller), and the ones that might be difficult/risky. It should also allow us to download the necessary things before D day, ask the users to backup their data, and (for some models) ask for unlock keys
- Be able to set time slots for each person/device: we would be only 2 persons available to do the installations, and we need to make sure the area will not be cluttered by people waiting
This registration might be setup with a simple https://framaforms.org/ , or maybe a https://pretix.eu/ event (that should handle timeslots too. But we don’t have any organization suitable to use their free SaaS offer, cf “Our services are only available to businesses and similar entities, not to consumers or end users.” in Pricing – pretix – Reinventing ticket sales for conferences, festivals, exhibitions, .... So we might need to self-host an instance…)
We are volunteers, and the registration/installation would be open to anyone, and 100% free.
Regarding the backup of phones, it would be good to provide an “official” procedure to do it. It’s in general pretty easy for Photos/Videos/Music/Documents, but much more difficult for the rest (OS settings, apps and their settings/data etc)