Hi everyone,<br><br>I've only just heard about FOSS4G and signed up to the mailing lists. I've been working in GIS for the past 10 years in Australia and the UK, mainly using (not very free or open source) proprietary software. I'm currently contracting at the NSW Department of Lands in a GIS role.<br>
<br>I run an event in Sydney called <a href="http://www.ignitespatial.com/" target="_blank">Ignite Spatial</a>
- it's a presentation evening for GIS and mapping folks with a
"lightning talks" format, where each presenter gets exactly 5 minutes
to give their presentation. <br><br>To get an idea of Ignite Spatial, check ou the presentations <a href="http://www.ignitespatial.com/?page_id=13" target="_blank">here</a>
- some good examples are Chris O'Dell, Diana Mounter or Richard Lane. I also run Ignite Sydney, where presenters can speak about any topic they like. There's a great presentation <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UYZtjQICiM&feature=channel_page%20" target="_blank">here</a> which talks about Lean programming - this gives a good idea of the possibilities of the Ignite format.<br>
<br>Do you think that FOSS4G would be interested in doing
a tie-in, and running an Ignite Spatial event one evening during your
conference?<br><br>One option would be to run it on the first night of
conference as a welcoming party, and have some of your speakers give a
5 minute overview of their presentations. This would allow people to
decide which presentations to attend.<br>
<br>Another option is simply to run it on one of the evenings as an
open event whereby any of the attendees is able to give a presentation
on something Spatial.<br><br>Entrance would be free to anyone who wishes to attend. We would expect
around 150 of "our" people to attend, so if FOSS4G attendees were also
coming we'd need a bigger venue - is this something that FOSS4G could
organise at the convention centre?<br>
<br>I'm also interested in helping out with stage managing some of the workshops or sessions in the conference, if this is of interest to you.<br><br>Cheers,<br>Steve<br><br>0410 638 348<br>