[Foss4g2008loc] Feedback from GISSA National Council meeting on 4Oct

[Dewald Troskie]

Hi All,
 
Just a point - FOSS4G is about Free and Open Source GIS, not proprietry
talks. That is against the spirit of the conference in my opinion - just as
the name states. Otherwise we might as well invite the "Microsoft" of GIS
(we all know whom I'm talking about) to jump onboard. If users are
interested in that, then they should attend one of the ESRI User
conferences.
 
The debate may be a good idea, but it should be properly mediated to prevent
scope creep and have proper direction without getting ugly (I have seen it
happen before between professionals).
 
Just a note. My Zim $5 worth.
 
Dewald.

  _____  

From: foss4g2008loc-bounces at lists.osgeo.org
[mailto:foss4g2008loc-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Gavin Fleming
Sent: 10 October 2007 09:01 AM
To: foss4g2008loc at lists.osgeo.org
Subject: [Foss4g2008loc] Feedback from GISSA National Council meeting on
4Oct



I gave brief feedback from FOSS4G2007 to the GISSA National Council and
asked for their comments on FOSS4G2008 organisation:

*	An idea was proposed for blending proprietary and FOSS talks: have
themed rooms where delegates know certain streams or cross-cutting content
like FOSS will be presented. Previous suggestions include having streams
containing FOSS, though not necessarily keeping them in the same room, or
randomly interspersing talks with FOSS content throughout a topic stream and
just identifying them with some flag. The point was also made that many
delegates will see a talk for the application, not for the tools used, i.e.
to them it's not important whether FOSS or proprietary GIS was used. 

*	The marketing message must be open and inclusive. While we may run a
formal FOSS vs proprietary debate, confrontation is not the message. Most
debate will occur in the presentations and corridors anyway. 

*	Re topics, it was suggested that we add topics for business and
government delegates (pretty much what is being discussed on OSGeo-Discuss
at the moment) such as 


*	FOSS GIS migration strategies 

*	FOSS GIS business case, FOSS vs proprietary TCO, etc. 

*	It was advised that we aim to break even with 600 delegates but plan
space for 1000 delegates. 

*	Carrin would send a letter to GISSA members and vendors advising
them of the conference and asking them to plan for the time and budget to
attend. 

*	A request was made to boost the academic component of the
conference. i.e. improve the options available to those who want peer review
and publication of their papers. Antony Cooper will participate in this. 

*	Local Cape participation in the LOC should be boosted. So far Inge
is the main person on the ground there. Russell Hope might want to get more
involved and Derek Clarke will be approached (Gavin will approach Derek) 

*	The whole Council asked to be placed on the LOC mailing list. 

*	In the development of an agreement between GISSA and OSGeo we need
to clarify respective risks, contributions and benefits and draft the
agreement accordingly. 

Gavin

 

 

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