[FOSS4G-Oceania] The Panel Session - It's Time...

[Alex Leith]

Hey Folks

It is now time to get stuck into the details of the panel session.

Three things need to happen:

   1. Establish a topic
   2. Find a moderator
   3. Bring together 4-6 panelists.

As you may be aware, I'm very enthusiastic about running the topic on
Diversity and Inclusion. The reason I want to do a topic on D&I is that
it's something that everyone is talking about now, and it's particularly
important in the spatial industry. Gaby, the past president of SSSI, pointed
out recently
<https://sssi.org.au/knowledge-hub/president-s-message/president-s-message-september-2018>
that our industry has gone backwards, in terms of female representation.
Atlassian are doing great things in this space, and their latest effort has
rebranded to 'Balance and Belonging <https://www.atlassian.com/diversity>'.
And we know that some of the stalwarts
<https://www.zdnet.com/article/linus-torvalds-takes-a-break-from-linux/> in
the open source community are recognising the need for change.

Really, in brief, I think the topic should be 'Strength in Diversity' and
that we should talk abut the human aspects of our community. I think it
will be a very interesting discussion, and perhaps controversial in places,
and I think that this is exactly what we need in order to make our even
stand out from others. I think that by taking a bit of a risk, and being
open to discussing difficult issues, we can make sure that voices are heard
and that we can have an impact (even if it's modest).

Ok, so, how do we feel about the suggested topic here?

And if you have an alternative, now's the time to raise it.

Once we have a topic, we can pick a moderator and start forming the panel.

Cheers,

Alex




-- 

Alex Leith
0419 189 050
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