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<p>Hi everyone, <br>
</p>
<p>Hope everyone had a great Easter break. How is it April already?
<br>
</p>
<p>We're back with another edition of
what's-the-LA-Council-and-broader-community-been-up-to for your
reading pleasure. <br>
</p>
<h4>linux.conf.au Ghosts meeting <br>
</h4>
<p>Last weekend, several previous Conference Directors of
linux.conf.au and key core team members met with the Christchurch
linux.conf.au 2019 team to do a formal handover and knowledge
sharing session. On behalf of the Council, I'd like to extend a
huge thank you to David Bell, Stephen Walsh, Steven Ellis, Cherie
Ellis, James Polley, Joel Addison, Michael Davies, Michael 'LT'
Ellery, Joshua Hesketh, Andrew Ruthven and of course the LCA2019
team, so ably led by Steven Sykes and Lisa Sands. 'Ghosts' is a
vital part of helping deliver a safe, well-organised and
world-class event.<br>
</p>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://lca2019.linux.org.au/">https://lca2019.linux.org.au/</a></p>
<h4>Linux Australia Face to Face meeting</h4>
<p>This weekend, Linux Australia Council is converging in Melbourne
for two days to do our regular face to face meeting. Face to face
is a great way to help ensure an effective and efficient Council
by building strong relationships, providing space for robust
debate and formulating concrete action plans. The key topics we'll
be discussing are <br>
</p>
<ul>
<li>budget review (we're midway in our annual budget) - are our
projections correct, and should we adjust any budget items? <br>
</li>
<li>policy review - especially in light of new Data Breach
legislation</li>
<li>key projects - such as MemberDB and website renewal</li>
<li>relationships and stakeholders - which organisations should we
building closer relationships with, how our existing
relationships are faring and what actions we should be taking
next. <br>
</li>
<li>Funding request from Drupal Association - we've been asking to
contribute to Drupal Association's fundraising activities</li>
<li>Linux Australia event progress review - where we check on
progress of LA events and consider post event reports <br>
</li>
<li>to determine what continuous improvement actions we need to
take. </li>
<li>Consideration of which functions, if any, we should move to
paid outsourcing. Social media is high on this list - no one on
Council or Media Team has time to do it justice at the moment. <br>
</li>
</ul>
<h4>Linux Australia Grants program 2018</h4>
<p>We're very close to opening this year's Grants Program. We're
going to slightly alter the application process this year to allow
the community to provide feedback without having to subscribe to
the broader linux-aus mailing list. <br>
</p>
<p>If you want a recap of the Grants we made in 2017, the best place
to read up on them is our 2017 Annual Report -
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux-aus">https://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux-aus</a></p>
<h4>Internet Freedom Hack</h4>
<p>We're delighted to be sponsoring Internet Freedom Hack, which
happens on 20-21st April in Melbourne and Brisbane. <br>
</p>
<p>Internet Freedom Hack is a community event that brings
technologists with a passion for digital rights together for a
weekend to build things that advance the cause of internet
freedom. On Saturday, special guest presenters will deliver talks
and facilitate conversations with renowned digital rights experts
across Australia. Registration is now open at: <br>
</p>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://internetfreedomhack.org/">https://internetfreedomhack.org/</a><br>
</p>
<p>Or follow the hashtag #DefendingTruthHack at
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DefendingTruthHack?src=hash">https://twitter.com/hashtag/DefendingTruthHack?src=hash</a><br>
</p>
<h4>WordCamp Sydney</h4>
WordPress fan? Who isn't? In Sydney? WordCamp Sydney 2018 is in
early planning stages. Keep updated at; <br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://2018.sydney.wordcamp.org/">https://2018.sydney.wordcamp.org/</a><br>
<h4>Pycon AU</h4>
Pycon AU, led by Katie McLaughlin, will be opening #CfP soon. Get
your Python talk proposals warmed up!<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://2018.pycon-au.org/">http://2018.pycon-au.org/</a><br>
<h4>auDA</h4>
Last year, you'll recall that I called for the resignation of the
then-Chair of auDA due to concerns about transparency of operations.
We continue to watch with interest the changes at auDA, including
anticipating the findings of the recent government review of
Australia's .au domain management -
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.communications.gov.au/have-your-say/review-australias-au-domain-management">https://www.communications.gov.au/have-your-say/review-australias-au-domain-management</a>.
<br>
<br>
Keep up to date with auDA news at; <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.auda.org.au/news/">https://www.auda.org.au/news/</a><br>
<br>
<h4>Branding update, Membership Platform and Website refresh</h4>
You might recall that we launched our branding update at our AGM at
LCA2018 in Sydney. We've gradually rolled our brand out to most of
our digital channels - except the website - but if you find an old
Linux Australia logo that needs a coat of paint, do let us know. I'd
like to give a special mention here to Janet Hawtin for her previous
work on the old Linux Australia logo. It served us well for over a
decade. <br>
<br>
We have engaged AgileWare to provide detailed quotes for CiviCRM on
WordPress, hosted on our infrastructure. I have also requested
AgileWare to quote on a voting module to replace MemberDB, to
facilitate elections. Updates as work on this front progresses. <br>
<br>
We're in the early stages of planning our Website refresh, and again
if you'd like to have input - what works, what doesn't, what you'd
like to see etc, we'd welcome your feedback. At this point, I'd like
to give a big shout out to Peter Lieverdink and Joshua Hesketh, who
have both given considerable time and energy to our web presence
over the last decade. Thank you. <br>
<br>
That's all for now, but as always we warmly welcome your feedback,
comments and questions. <br>
<br>
Kind regards ,<br>
Kathy<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Kathy Reid
President
Linux Australia
0418 130 636
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:president@linux.org.au">president@linux.org.au</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://linux.org.au">http://linux.org.au</a>
Linux Australia Inc
GPO Box 4788
Sydney NSW 2001
Australia
ABN 56 987 117 479 </pre>
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