[Linux-aus] About a User Conference (was...)

[Steve Landers]

Mikal,

> Michael Still wrote:
> (I take it from the complete silence on the part of committee members 
> that the idea is dead?)

Don't assume that on my part - I'm just swamped at the moment.

Patience and persistence - IMO it's a good idea and deserves to be 
seriously considered.

Steve

> Michael Still wrote:
>> Andrew Cowie wrote:
>>> [Reigning the flights of fancy back in, I will mention that Mikal is
>>> considering working on something at the much-smaller end of the 
>>> scale.
>>> I'll let him discuss that if and when he sees fit]
>> Ok, here's me coming out of the closet... This grand plan came to me 
>> in a dream last week sometime, so it's still quite new, and probably 
>> needs tweaking. The fundamental premises are:
>>  - the world needs a introductory user conference in AU
>>  - there are a bunch of people in Canberra who know how to make 
>> conferences now
>>  - I don't mind running another conference
>>  - users are extremely price sensitive
>> Bear those in mind while you look at the following proposal I wrote 
>> up last week. It's still in extreme draft mode...
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> The concept.
>> ------------
>> The market is "ripe" for a user conference in Australia. The 
>> underlying premise of this proposal is that there is now a group of 
>> people in Canberra who understand how to run an event, having just 
>> done it, who are capable of running said user conference.
>> I would like to volunteer to run such an event. The operational 
>> concept is that of "AusLUG". This is a national event styled on a 
>> bigger LUG meeting for two days. The cost is kept deliberately low, 
>> and the event is much simpler than LCA. The concept has room for 
>> growth into a fuller conference in future years, dependant on demand. 
>> I propose that the event have two streams -- a user stream focused on 
>> introductory / LUG grade topics (such as how to install and use 
>> Apache, what distribution might be right for you, email environments, 
>> how iptables works and how to set it up, that kind of thing) and an 
>> introductory programmers stream (what license would be right for you, 
>> what an open source package usually contains (tarballs, README, 
>> license, man pages), how to autoconf your package, what languages 
>> work with Gnome and KDE, that kind of thing).
>> The conference would run in a down scale venue, such as a community 
>> club. The only vendor handouts, unless they are donated, would be a 
>> tshirt. No catering is provided, but may be bought from the club. The 
>> cost of attendance should be approximately $100 per person for the 
>> full two days.
>> I see scope for an associated trade show in future years, once an 
>> audience has been established (which I believe is needed for 
>> exhibitors to be willing to spend money on booths).
>> Draft schedule for the event:
>> Saturday
>> --------
>> 8:30 - 9:30     Registrations
>> 9:30 - 10:00    Welcome
>>                 User stream                    Intro programming 
>> stream
>> 10:30 - 11:30   ...                            ...
>> 11:30 - 12:30   ...                            ...
>> 13:30 - 14:30   ...                            ...
>> 14:30 - 15:30   ...                            ...
>> 16:00 - 17:00   ...                            ...
>> 17:00 - 18:00   ...                            ...
>> 18:00 -         Dinner (not formally organized)
>> Sunday
>> ------
>> 9:30 - 10:00    Welcome
>>                 User stream                    Intro programming 
>> stream
>> 10:30 - 11:30   ...                            ...
>> 11:30 - 12:30   ...                            ...
>> 13:30 - 14:30   ...                            ...
>> 14:30 - 15:30   ...                            ...
>> 15:00 - 16:00   Close, and where to from here
>> There are 10 talks per stream...
>> Funding.
>> --------
>> I am requesting $xxx seed funding from Linux Australia, and the same 
>> amount from AUUG. The reasoning here is to spread the risk of the 
>> event, and maximise the benefits to the community and both groups. In 
>> return both organizations will recieve branding of the event, and 
>> half the profit from the event if there is one. I also need to to 
>> receive a commitment to running the event in a similar shared manner 
>> in the future.
>> In the case of the conference making a loss, then both organizations 
>> would lose their seed funding, but no more.
>> Timing.
>> -------
>> September. Enough after LCA for me to have a sleep. Not too close to 
>> AUUG 2005 (a month away, but a different audience), not too close to 
>> LCA 2006 (and again a different demographic). Open to negotiation 
>> though.
>> Chain of command.
>> -----------------
>> I would report to both Linux Australia and AUUG, but would have sole 
>> delegated control of the event. Subsequent events would be negotiated 
>> between myself, Linux Australia and AUUG if this event is a success.
>> Liability cover would be arranged through Linux Australia's event 
>> insurance.
>> Cheers,
>> Mikal
>
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--
Steve Landers, Vice President
AUUG Incorporated
Ph: +61 2 8824 9511;  Fax: +61 2 8824 9522;  
mailto:steve.landers at auug.org.au