[OSGeo-Discuss] [location-iwg] FOSDEM 2015: proposal for a geospatial devroom

[Johan Van de Wauw]

Martin,

There is always a call for papers (see the list for last year:
https://archive.fosdem.org/2014/news/2013-10-02-accepted-devrooms/).
But it is up to the organizers to choose who presents what, so we can
definitely invite/encourage people to come.
Just keep in mind that FOSDEM will not provide funds for accomodating
them (we could look for sponsors for the devroom, but it will be with
low visibility).

If you have "high profile" people in mind you could try convincing
them to submit a talk for a main track (or even keynote - I'm thinking
about Humanitarian Open Streetmap). Then selection is done by FOSDEM
staff. They can make sure the talk will not be on the same day as the
devroom. An then it is up to us to convince them to pay us a humble
visit :-)

Johan

On Thu, Aug 7, 2014 at 12:54 PM, Martin Hammitzsch
<martin.hammitzsch at gmail.com> wrote:
> Okay, thanks a lot. So we may talk about a potential schedule for the
> geospatial devroom. I agree, we should keep the type of schedule since
> it is known. But, as suggested, we might mix it with what you have
> summed up very nicely (ideas sharing, collaborative sessions ...). So
> a day could be structured as follows:
>
> Arrive and coffee
> Welcome, housekeeping, about the day and its format
> Keynote(s) (invited speakers)
> Coffee break
> Lightning Talks (me and my projects, 2min each, to get introduced to each other)
> Coffee break
> Talks, talks, talks (speakers 20-30min each)
> Lunch break
> Talks, talks, talks (speakers 20-30min each)
> Coffee break
> Pitching ideas / topics for breakout sessions / collaborative discussions
> Breakout sessions / collaborative discussions (in groups)
> Coffee break
> Results / summaries of break out sessions
> Wrap-up
>
> We may reduce or extend the parts following the unconference type. But
> it would still mean that speakers are an essential part of the
> geospatial devroom.
>
> Johan, next question: Speakers are invited or do they apply / submit
> an abstract?
>
> Martin
>
>
>
>
> On 7 August 2014 11:11, Johan Van de Wauw <johan.vandewauw at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Thu, Aug 7, 2014 at 10:29 AM, Martin Hammitzsch
>> <martin.hammitzsch at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Hi Johan,
>>>
>>> I am bit lost in understanding the format of devrooms. First I was
>>> thinking of a space where developers meet for pitching their ideas and
>>> forming groups to get their hands dirty in 1-3 days of collaborative
>>> ideas generation, of drafting concepts, and of programming. But then I
>>> read something about talks and checked the schedule of FOSDEM 2014 -
>>> it seems that a devroom is something similar to a session or track we
>>> know from other conferences and thus contains lots of talks instead of
>>> programming. However, at least the talks seem to be from programmers
>>> for programmers. Nevertheless, I am a bit confused.
>>>
>>> I very much like the idea of a geospatial devroom. But I would be
>>> happy to clarify first what format you and others have in mind - just
>>> talks, unconference, hackdays, ..., a mix of it? Please let me know
>>> what you have in mind.
>>>
>>
>> Martin,
>>
>> Thanks for your comments. I've been at FOSDEM so many years that I
>> just assumed everyone would understand.
>>
>> Indeed, until now most devrooms were more or less like conference
>> talks, but as you say from developer to developer. I think we should
>> more or less keep to this type of schedule if we want to attract
>> people from other projects to the room. If we just don't have
>> something catchy on the schedule people from outside our projects may
>> be unlikely to join.
>> This being said I think we could definitely add one timeslot where
>> everyone in the room can present quickly his ideas. Or timeslots where
>> we can have a collaborative discussion eg "Let's build openaerialmap".
>>  I think it would be useful to have at least timeslots with a title
>> and a description for the schedule to lure in other developers.
>>
>> Everything above is just my opinion and I should add that I little or
>> no experience with going to any unconferences/... and I'm really open
>> to any other suggestions and ideas.
>>
>> Johan
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