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<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Hi all, please review this
draft by 16h00 SAST Thurs 6 Feb so we can distribute the Call on
Friday. Thanks to Graeme for putting this together.
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<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>The FOSS4G (Free and Open
Source Software for Geospatial) conference is pleased to announce the Call for
Workshops for the 2008 conference, being held September 29- October 3 in Cape
Town, South Africa.<BR><BR>FOSS4G is the premier conference for the open source
geospatial community, providing a place for developers, users, and people new to
open source geospatial to get a full-immersion experience in both established
and leading edge geospatial technologies.<BR><BR>This year's FOSS4G is a bit
different, for it incorporates GISSA 2008, the main GIS Conference on the South
African calender, attended by people who are not yet too familiar with
FOSS4G. The crucial point to note though, is that the South African Government
has made a strategic commitment to FOSS. This has created a certain amount of
clamour for more information about FOSS4G. The FOSS4G2008 Organising Committee
believe that immersive workshops could play a crucial role in convincing people
that FOSS4G is "An Option for Developing Nations" alongside more well known
proprietary tools. As the famous wedding quote generator, Kahlil Gibran, once
said, "Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same
music". Not to stretch the poetry too far, but FOSS4G 2008 offers an opportunity
to let people experience the FOSS and proprietary software strings playing
nicely together.<BR><BR>Come to Cape Town to showcase your favorite application,
integration solution, or other topic and get the excitement bubbling around it.
You will use your superior classroom skills to lead a group of attendees through
your chosen topic in {either a half-day workshop or ninety minute
lab}.<BR><BR>No restrictions are placed on topics for workshops, but we expect
interest to be high for workshops on:<BR><BR> * Practical
Introduction to ___________<BR> *
Interoperability<BR> * Exposure to a Software
Stack<BR> * Fitting FOSS4G into the
enterprise<BR> * Using FOSS4G to solve __________<BR><BR>But
FOSS4G plays strongly in emerging spaces, so workshops with NeoGeography-like
themes or on new directions will be welcome and are likely to be fresh topics
for many attendees.<BR><BR>Traditionally, FOSS4G workshops are mostly "hands on"
events, with participants seated in front of computers and able to follow along
with the instructor, working directly with the software and applications under
discussion.<BR><BR>Workshops require considerable preparation. Past experience
has shown that a high quality workshop requires about three days of preparation
for each hour of presentation time. As part of this preparation you will be
expected to develop material for attendees to take away with them, such as
handouts, a 'workbook', CDROM, etc.<BR><BR>In recognition of this effort,
workshop presenters will receive a reduction in the price of conference
registration:<BR><BR> * free registration for delivering a
half-day workshop<BR> * half-price registration for delivering
a 90-minute workshop<BR><BR>Because of limited space, you may want to consider
submitting two versions of your topic, one for each length format.<BR><BR>Please
visit the Call for Papers page on our website to receive instructions for
submitting a workshop proposal at <A
href="/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://conference.osgeo.org/index.php/foss4g/2008/schedConf/cfp"
target=_blank>http://conference.osgeo.org/index.php/foss4g/2008/schedConf/cfp</A><BR><BR><BR>The
deadline for workshop proposal submissions is 15 April, 2008. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>You will hear whether your
proposal has been accepted by 30 April, after which you will be required to
register for the conference to confirm your attendance as well as subscribe to
the <A
href="mailto:conference-workshops@lists.osgeo.org">conference-workshops@lists.osgeo.org</A>
mailing list, which will be the forum for discussing your workshop development,
progress and logistics with the LOC, members of the OSGeo community and fellow
presenters. </FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV class=section1 style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Gavin Fleming </SPAN></FONT><FONT
size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt">MSc, Pr. GISc
Technologist</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=section1 style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Senior GISc and Sustainable Development
Researcher </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=section1 style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.foss4g2008.org/"
target=_blank>FOSS4G2008</A> conference chair</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=section1 style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Mintek, </SPAN></FONT><SPAN lang=EN-US>200
Malibongwe Drive</SPAN><SPAN lang=EN-US> (formerly Hans Strijdom
Drive)</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=section1 style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">P/Bag X3015, Randburg, 2125,
</SPAN></FONT><SPAN lang=EN-US>South Africa</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=section1 style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">w: +27-11-709-4668 c: 0845965680 f:
0866164820</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=section1 style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">xmpp (Jabber, Google Talk, etc.):
</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Tahoma size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"><A
href="mailto:gavinjfleming@gmail.com"
target=_blank>gavinjfleming@gmail.com</A></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=section1 style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Skype: phlemingo</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN lang=EN-US
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">27.9782E
26.0896S</SPAN></FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>