[OSGeo-Discuss] FOSS4G 2013 Nottingham Update

[Barry Rowlingson]

The latest update after nearly two hours of today's webex meeting,
which featured Mark Iliffe sounding like he was in a call centre, a
dog barking somewhere, and for the first time my microphone actually
working.

First order of business was pricing - there were some fine adjustments
to the costings but the committee is still confident of running an
affordable, enjoyable conference and returning a lump of cash to OSGeo
for the greater good. The registration system will go live next week.

The final signing of the contract with the venue edges closer, and we
will have plenty of internets.

The timetable was discussed, and the days of hackathons and workshops
were sorted out. Updates will be appearing on the web site soon. Those
interested in participating in the hackathon should look out for some
Google Hangout sessions that our hackathon organisers will be
publicising soon to get your ideas on what should be hacked on.

The deadline for academic track papers has been pushed back to Feb
22nd. Our reviewers will have to work a little bit quicker, but we
should still be on track for publications by the conference start.

We now have 19 sponsors, paid up and displayed on the wall of sponsors
on the web page. Slashgeo is our single media partner sponsor at this
stage. Please direct potential sponsors to our site, 2013.foss4g.org

We are happy to announce Paul Ramsey, the Co-founder of PostGIS, as
our first confirmed keynote speaker. Perhaps he will tell us how many
legs that perspicacious pachyderm really has. [see:
http://www.cleverelephant.ca/index.html ].

We have some other keynote speakers almost ready to announce, but that
will have to wait...

For our next conference call in two weeks time, Steven may well be
chairing the meeting from a chairlift in between high-speed adventures
on the snow!


Barry