[Linux-aus] Bids for linux.conf.au 2008

[Jonathan Oxer]

Hi LA,

The LCA2007 team is really moving along now with organisation of
linux.conf.au in Sydney in January. Last weekend was the traditional
"Ghosts of Conferences Past" meeting where previous organisers meet
with the new team to pass on their hard-won knowledge and show battle
scars, and without giving anything away it looks like the Sydney conf
is going to really rock. Some things will be the same as previous
years, some things will be a bit different, but it will *all* be cool
so make sure you don't miss it!

Now that 2007 is under control I want to try bringing the selection
process for 2008 forward as discussed previously at the AGM and on
this list.

In previous years Andrew Cowie has worked hard behind the scenes to
make the selection process a mutual decision between the various
bidding teams, keeping communication open and letting them come to
their own agreement on who is best prepared rather than turning it
into an "us and them" competition that requires a ruling from on high.
It's very important that we continue in that same spirit of
cooperation, so I highly encourage anyone interested in bidding for
future LCAs to be as open as you can and stay in touch with the other
bid teams. Obviously there are some things you may want to keep under
wraps but the aim should be to run LCA as openly as any other FOSS
project.

So, to get things kicked off for LCA2008 we're going to follow this schedule:

2006/05/31 - Draft bids to be submitted for comment (optional)
2006/06/30 - Bids to be submitted for evaluation
2006/07/31 - Final decision to be made on bids after discussion
                           with community members

If you're interested in pitching for 2008 it's time to get moving on
it *now*. Put a core team together, think about a venue and timing,
talk to previous LCA organisers, talk to the Committee
(committee at linux.org.au) and state your intentions, read the LCA-howto
(http://wiki.linux.org.au/Ctte/LCA_HOWTO), put together a draft budget
(examples available from the LA ctte) and come up with a compelling
reason why LCA should come to YOUR city.

Cheers   :-)

Jonathan Oxer