[Foss4g2009] FOSS4G conference registration opens

Mon May 4 17:13:09 EDT 2009

The following press release has gone out to numerous contacts today.

      FOSS4G conference registration opens
      <http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2009/05/foss4g-conference-registration-opens.html>

Sydney, Australia. 4 May 2009.

http://2009.foss4g.org <http://2009.foss4g.org/>

The international conference for free and Open Source Software for 
Geospatial (FOSS4G), held in Sydney, Australia 20-23 October, 2009, is 
now open for registration. http://2009.foss4g.org/registration/.

FOSS4G attracts the cream of international Geospatial Open Source and 
Open Standards system implementors and sponsors. With themes ranging 
from the integration of Open Source with Proprietary systems to the 
building of Spatial Data Infrastructures and application of Open 
Geospatial Standards, the conference offers a unique opportunity to tap 
into the wealth of knowledge and experience available among the Open 
Source developers, sponsors and geospatial professionals of all 
persuasions. The Open Geospatial Consotium (OGC) is underpinning the 
conference with a Standards Based integration showcase based on a 
climate change scenario, demonstrating integration between Open Source 
and proprietary applications.

Along with a comprehensive program of thought provoking presentations 
and interactive workshops you would expect from an international 
conference, FOSS4G retains many of the engaging characteristics of its 
Open Source heritage. With Bird of a Feather sessions, code sprints, 
install-fests and impromptu project meetings, there is an unparalleled 
opportunity to take part in active communities and provide input into 
the direction for a variety of projects. FOSS4G encompasses the best of 
Open Communities, such as collaboration, helpfulness, innovation and 
honesty.

Early bird registration is just $AU725 (~ $US525) for 3 days of 
conference and tutorials, and $AU375 (~ $US270) for a day of top notch 
workshops from the world's best international presenters.

Location
<http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3022/2638035737_d4db3bf3f9.jpg>FOSS4G 
2009 will be held in Sydney, Australia which is built around one of the 
largest, most beautiful harbours in the world with miles of golden 
beaches stretching north and south of the city on the shores of the 
Pacific Ocean. It has a warm climate in October with average 
temperatures ranging from 15 - 22°C. Sydney and its surrounding areas 
provide a diverse range of visual excitement and vibrancy. Visitors to 
Sydney are spoiled with choice including national parks, famous beaches, 
the World Heritage Blue Mountains area and the picturesque Sydney 
Harbour. Sydney’s also offers a diverse range of cultural activities 
including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, 
the Australian Ballet and the Sydney Theatre Company all performing at 
the well know Sydney Opera House.

Call for Presentations
Are you planning to present at this years conference? If so, don't wait 
until you have your presentation finalised to tell us about it! Go to 
the submission website now (http://2009.foss4g.org/presentations/) and 
enter your name and contact details and at least a title. Then, closer 
to the close-off date, log back in and fill out the abstract details. 
This will be a big help for the organisers as it will give us some 
advanced notice as to how many and what type of presentations to expect.

FOSS4G 2009 Highlights
The Climate Challenge Integration Plugfest (CCIP): FOSS4G will launch 
the OGC's Climate Challenge Integration Plugfest (CCIP), which 
demonstrates standards based interoperability between Open Source and 
Proprietary geospatial applications. It consists of a server with 
multiple virtual machines, each installed with geospatial applications 
offering standards based web services. All web services will demonstrate 
a common dataset, and will be accessed by a range of geospatial client 
applications installed on client computers. 
http://external.opengis.org/twiki_public/bin/view/ClimateChallenge2009/WebHome

Presenters are encouraged (but not mandated) to make use of scenarios 
and on-site data from the Climate Challenge Integration Plugfest (CCIP). 
This is especially important as demand for access to data over the 
internet is expected to be high, and Australia has notoriously slow 
connections to the outside world.

FOSS4G Live DVD: LiveDVDs, based on the Xubuntu operating system and 
including Geospatial Open Source Software, will be given to all 
delegates. Users can boot a Live DVD on their computer and trial the 
software without installing or effecting the existing system. 
http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Live_GIS_Disc

Installfest: The Installfest will give delegates the opportunity to meet 
in a common area and install a wide variety of FOSS software on their 
laptops, EE PC or any other system they care to bring in. Community 
members will be around to assist with any troubles and provide help and 
insight into the software. The install fest will take place after 
workshops on the first day.

Workshops and Tutorials: Workshops and Tutorials allow presenters to 
lead attendees through applications, integration solutions, or other 
topics in an interactive environment. Half-day workshops (3 hours) will 
be held in computer rooms on the first day. Tutorials (90 minutes) will 
be held in standard presentation rooms, run concurrently with 
presentations during the third and fourth days.

Presentations: The meat of the conference are it's presentations. 
Drawing on a huge community of local, regional and international experts 
we will discuss some of the most current and poignant topics in the 
industry today.

Demo Theatre: During lunch and coffee breaks the demonstration theatre 
will be showcasing live software. These short demonstrations from 
sponsors, open source projects and the user community show what is 
possible with open source today.

Birds of a Feather: Rooms have been set aside for semi-organised 
meetings between like minded groups. Some prominant community 
initiatives started in prior FOSS4G Birds of a Feather sessions.

Code Sprint: The weekend after FOSS4G is reserved for the Hackers' Code 
Sprint. Hackers will be locked in a basement with lots of bandwidth, 
pizzas and coke. (Well, maybe something better than that, but we don't 
want to spoil the mystical hacker image by describing it any differently.)

Upcoming milestones

    * 1 Jun 2009, Abstract submission deadline
    * 13 Jul 2009, Presenters notified of acceptance for talks
    * 31 Jul 2009, '''Author/Early registration deadline'''
    * 14 Sep 2009, '''Completed program available on the wiki'''
    * 20 Oct 2009, FOSS4G Workshop
    * 21-23 Oct 2009, FOSS4G Presentations and Tutorials
    * 24-25 Oct 2009, FOSS4G Code Sprint

Media Sponsors

    * Position Magazine: http://www.positionmag.com.au/
    * Asian Surveying and Mapping Newsletter: http://www.asmmag.com
      <http://www.asmmag.com/>
    * Geoconnexions Magazine: http://www.geoconnexion.com/
    * Directions Magazine: http://directionsmag.com/
    * GIS Development: http://gisdevelopment.net/
    * Baliz Media: http://www.BALIZ-MEDIA.com/ <http://www.baliz-media.com/>

For more information or to keep informed from the FOSS4G Organising 
Committee, join our email list or twitter feed at: 
http://2009.foss4g.org/contacts/

or contact:

Cameron Shorter, Chair of the FOSS4G Organising Committee and Geospatial 
Systems Architect at LISAsoft

tel +61-8570-5050

c a m e r o n . s h o r t e r @ l i s a s o f t . c o m

-- 
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