[Foss4g2009] Workshops

[shoaib]

1.  RE. the end of Labs: i agree the effort required to organize labs is
similar to workshops but labs add little value in addition to the workshops.
So workshops trump labs

2. Workshop Content: There is no way to tell what kind of content we will
get until we put out the Call for Workshops/Papers. But I agree catering for
a range of competencies is better than just targeting beginners. I think the
days of "Introduction-to-*" workshops for FOSS4G are fast coming to a
close.

3. Impact on Rooms: Similarly workshops can vary in attendance & popularity.
It would be nice to have a range of room sizes. can we get estimates of
attendance from previous years? No of rooms required will depend on how many
concurrent workshops we will run. 6 has been the standard in the past.
Assuming it is still 6 ... we need 6 rooms but which have a flexible size.

Any estimates Paul/Gavin?

Shoaib Burq

On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 9:20 AM, Cameron Shorter
<cameron.shorter at gmail.com>wrote:

> Ok,
> Out of your recommendations, I'd like to determine the impact on our
> program and what rooms we need to secure.
>
> I'm hearing that labs during the conference are a logistics nightmare.
> Could you please expand on why this is the case. Is it because they are
> shorter than workshops, or the presenters are less experienced, or because
> they are running at the same time as presentations?
>
> If we decide that labs don't run in parallel with presentations, then
> should we have 2 days or workshops, followed by 2 days of presentations?
> Should we run more workshops/labs in parallel on the first day? Or should we
> just decide to reduce the number of labs/workshops.
> Or do we decide that we run labs as before, however attendees need to bring
> their own laptop and run a LiveDVD (linux based) or VMWare image?
>
>
>
> Paul Ramsey wrote:
>
>> Thanks for all the good framing questions Dave. I'm going to go down
>> and cherrypick
>>
>> On Sun, Oct 12, 2008 at 11:11 AM, Dave Patton <davep at confluence.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> What is the timeframe for holding Workshops?
>>> How many Workshop slots should there be?
>>> 3-hour slots?
>>>
>>>
>>
>> I agree with Jeff, let the Labs die. Instead, go for two days of
>> 3-hour workshops, Mon/Tues, so you can get as much bang for the
>> logistical buck as possible.
>>
>>
>>
>>> How many simultaneous slots?(e.g. 6 at once, like
>>> Victoria, making for a total of 12 Workshops)?
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Decide post-facto when you've got your roster. Probable more than 4
>> and no more than 6.
>>
>>
>>
>>> Any specific restrictions?
>>>
>>>
>>
>> No, let the committee decide.
>>
>>
>>
>>> Audience balance for the Workshops?
>>> How many aimed at "beginners"?
>>> How many aimed at "intermediate"?
>>> How many aimed at "advanced"?
>>> How many aimed at "developers"?
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Lots of beginner workshops and try to find topics of interest. Do not
>> be afraid to schedule a beginner topic twice, if we're doing two days.
>>  Intro to PostGIS or Intro to OpenLayers or Intro to Mapserver could
>> all probably run twice and still fill up.
>>
>>
>>
>>> Incremental Registration Cost for Workshop attendance?
>>> Aim to break even?
>>> Aim to make X profit?
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Figure out the fixed expenses now (rooms, hardware, food) now and then
>> see how "reasonable" various pricings above that number look.
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Foss4g2009 at lists.osgeo.org
>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/foss4g2009
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Cameron Shorter
> Geospatial Systems Architect
> Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
> Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254
>
> Think Globally, Fix Locally
> Geospatial Solutions enhanced with Open Standards and Open Source
> http://www.lisasoft.com
>
>
>
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