[Linux-aus] Nominating for Ordinary Committee Member

[Chris Neugebauer]

Hi there,

As you may have noticed, I've accepted a nomination for Ordinary
Committee Member. I'd like to explain a bit about what I've done in
the past, and what I'd like to achieve on the LA council.

I've been involved in the Linux Australia community since 2008 – I've
attended Linux.conf.au every year since then. Since 2010, I've sought
to increase participation amongst developers at the conference. To
that end I've run the Open Programming Miniconf every year since 2010
as a way for developers using Free and Open Source development
platforms to share their knowledge.

Along with Joshua Hesketh, I've been leading up the organisation of
PyCon Australia 2012 and 2013 in Hobart. In that role, I've promoted
PyCon Australia as an event run by Linux Australia to sponsors all
over the world, and overseen all of the public relations for the
conference.

I believe that Linux Australia, over the past three years, has found a
real niche in enabling the communities around Free and Open Source
Software projects – not just Linux, but also Python, Drupal,
WordPress, and many more – to gather, to share knowledge and to be
active in promoting their cause. Focusing on this niche has seen
numerous conferences – not just LCA – form under the guidance of Linux
Australia.

There are areas in which Linux Australia can continue to grow in this
direction – firstly, by enabling communities around Free and Open
Source Software to advocate their cause to the broader community. I
would encourage members of LA who have shown interest in Linux
Advocacy to form a dedicated subcommittee to allow Linux Australia to
develop strategies for increasing knowledge and use of Free and Open
Source Software across the whole community.

I would take areas of expertise that I have developed during the
organising of PyCon AU – particularly dealing with sponsorship and
media – and work on turning this into an area that can be exploited by
all Linux Australia events. In particular, ensuring that sponsor
contacts and communication are made available to every LA event can
help to ensure that all LA events can engage with industry and media
as much as possible.

Finally, in my attendance of various Free and Open Source events
throughout the world – I attend PyCon US and OSCON in particular – I
would represent LA to the best of my ability, and make sure that the
Australian Free and Open Source community maintains healthy links with
its international counterparts.

Finally, I support Joshua Hesketh's candidacy as President – as
Treasurer of LA, he's been instrumental in making sure that new events
are fostered under the LA umbrella – continuation of this policy can
only be seen as a good thing. As co-organiser of PyCon Australia, his
enthusiasm and drive for getting things done within the organisation
has made my time as co-organiser even more productive. I would be very
keen to see these skills transferred to the Presidency of LA.

However, if elected to the council, I would happily pursue my goals
for LA constructively with any candidate elected to the executive.


Thanks for reading, and happy voting!

--Chris

-- 
--Christopher Neugebauer

Jabber: chrisjrn at gmail.com -- IRC: chrisjrn on irc.freenode.net --
AIM: chrisjrn157 -- MSN: chris at neugebauer.id.au -- WWW:
http://chris.neugebauer.id.au -- Twitter/Identi.ca: @chrisjrn