[OSGeo-Conf] Format questions for 2009 conference

[Michael P. Gerlek]

In my humble opinion, you guys are right on for items (2) and (3):

* I'm in favor of a five day event: 1st day for workshops, 3 days for
"regular stuff", and an optional, extra credit 5th day for sprints.
This works out to your "baseline" attendee having to spend three full
days on the ground, which seems about right.

* No bags, fancy badges, or color glossies: please-oh-please don't give
me yet more stuff to carry around / throw away / recycle / give to my
kids.  I'm likely to have my own carry bag anyway, thanks.  B/W/grey
handouts are just fine, especially if printed nicely.  And fancy badges
with add-on ribbons that say "Hey, Look at Me, I'm a Special Person!"
make me cringe.

Item (1) is a bit trickier, though: yeah, a bring-your-own/rental plan
would seem to make direct financial sense, but I'd have deep fears about
the logistical IT overhead of getting a couple dozen random laptops all
up and running quickly..?

-mpg

 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: conference_dev-bounces at lists.osgeo.org 
> [mailto:conference_dev-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of 
> Cameron Shorter
> Sent: Monday, January 07, 2008 2:12 PM
> To: conference_dev at lists.osgeo.org; Aust-NZ OSGeo; Virginia 
> Loyola; Kerry Richardson
> Subject: [OSGeo-Conf] Format questions for 2009 conference
> 
> In Sydney we are currently putting together a budget for a 2009 
> conference and would like feedback on Conference length, and 
> relying on 
> participants having laptops.
> 
> We are basing our bid largely upon information we have 
> gleaned from the 
> 2007 conference.
> 
> So our suggested agenda is:
> 4 days conference, including 1 day worth of workshops.
> 1 extra day for a code sprint, which will be conducted as a low key 
> afair. (Lunch, internet connection and office space provided) 
> Possible 
> nominal fee for attending code sprint - say $40 to ensure we only get 
> people who are interested and don't have to buy lunch for hangers on.
> 
> 1. For our workshops, we are proposing that participants 
> bring their own 
> laptops. (We can set up a laptop hire program for those who 
> don't have 
> one). This will reduce our computer costs and risks.
> We are making a bet that an OSGeo live CD will be available 
> by 2009 and 
> using your own computer should be a realistic option with 
> minimal fuss. 
> Any objections?
> 
> 2. Is 4 days, including workshops long enough? We considered a 5 day 
> conference, but have heard that 5 days is longer than the majority of 
> conferences. Non-core SW developers (which will be a large 
> proportion of 
> the attendees) might not last 5 days. Also, 5 days is 20 to 25% more 
> expensive. (We note that attendees seem to be price 
> sensitive, based on 
> accommodation booked).
> 
> 3. We are focusing our spending on "value" items instead of 
> "fluff". Eg, 
> use B&W programs rather than glossies, and not provide things 
> like satchels.
>  
> Responses by today will be included in our thinking. Later responses 
> might miss our deadlines.
> 
> -- 
> Cameron Shorter
> Geospatial Systems Architect
> Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
> Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254
> 
> Think Globally, Fix Locally
> Commercial Support for Geospatial Open Source Solutions
> http://www.lisasoft.com/LISAsoft/SupportedProducts.html
> 
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