[Foss4g2009] Utimo TAFE and FOSS4G

[Cameron Shorter]

Mark Leslie and I had a productive meeting with Damien Cole, Jeff 
Goodman and Paul Swan from the Geospatial Department in Ultimo TAFE today.

We talked about the potential for Geospatial Open Source training, and 
integrating OSGeo software into existing curriculum, which I shall 
discuss in a separate email (on the osgeo education email list).

And we also discussed the possibility of using Ultimo TAFE as a location 
for the code sprint at the http://2009.foss4g.org conference.

Damien, Jeff and Paul gave off positive vibes about the likelihood of 
setting this up, and will be taking the request up to the appropriate 
people in TAFE. Damien suggested that we should have a response by 
August, if not sooner.

Ultimo TAFE is in a perfect location as it is only 10 to 15 minutes walk 
from the Sydney Exhibition and Convention Center, with lots of training 
rooms, and wireless internet.

Damien,
* About 150 people will likely want to attend the code sprint, maybe 200 
if it is very popular. However, if capacity is a problem then we can cap 
to as low as 60 people.

* Saturday from 9am - 5pm is sufficient for base level requirements for 
the code sprint. However developers will likely want to continue hacking 
until late. I expect that we would have the rooms 3/4 full at 10pm if 
the rooms are still open. So if possible, extra time would be a bonus.

* Ideally we would extend the code sprint till Sunday as well, if you 
can make that available.

* An early indication about TAFE's ability to house the code sprint 
would be very helpful as it means we can stop searching for alternative 
venues.

In return:
* We can provide two complementary tickets to the FOSS4G conference.
* We can provide promotion for the Ultimo TAFE on the high profile, 
FOSS4G website and conference booklet
* Collaboration will open up training opportunities in the emerging 
Geospatial Open Source Software sector.

-- 
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
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