[kwlug-disc] Linux Conference

CrankyOldBugger crankyoldbugger at gmail.com
Fri Jun 5 14:04:49 EDT 2015


Being someone who has fond memories of the big computer shows of the 80's
and 90's (eg Comdex), I would certainly come to an event here in KW,
regardless of the inaugural size.



On Fri, 5 Jun 2015 at 13:53 Digimer <lists at alteeve.ca> wrote:

> Speaking as an interested company, yes, I would want a booth to setup. I
> know this is OSS, and everything we do, we give away for free, but we
> need to keep the lights on. I can guarantee other potential sponsors
> will approach this the same way.
>
> An event organizer in the OSS space has a special requirement that other
> shows don't; There is a cultural and philosophical balancing act that
> needs to be maintained. If it comes across as too corporate, people
> won't come. On the other hand, if there are too few opportunities for
> companies to get their word out, you won't get many vendors.
>
> Find the right balance, and you can have a very popular show on your
> hands after a few years. :)
>
> On 05/06/15 01:32 PM, CrankyOldBugger wrote:
> > Be sure to have an area where vendors can set up booths to do the meet
> > and greet part and display their wares.  People will come for the swag,
> > if nothing else!
> >
> >
> > On Fri, 5 Jun 2015 at 13:24 Digimer <lists at alteeve.ca
> > <mailto:lists at alteeve.ca>> wrote:
> >
> >     I have, unfortunately, zero time to contribute to this effort. What
> I do
> >     have though is a small open source tech company in the KW area. If
> you
> >     start getting this together, we might be able to be a sponsor and,
> time
> >     permitting, give a talk as well.
> >
> >     cheers
> >
> >     On 05/06/15 01:15 PM, Paul Nijjar wrote:
> >     >
> >     >
> >     > In addition to the below advice: find some other people who are as
> >     > committed (and will work as hard) as you. Organizing events is not
> a
> >     > one-person job.
> >     >
> >     > I think it would be excellent for you to organize something. As
> hinted
> >     > at below, there are some other events that have been running for a
> >     > while, so joining forces with one of them may be an option.
> >     >
> >     > - Paul
> >     >
> >     > On Thu, Jun 04, 2015 at 02:58:50PM -0400, Khalid Baheyeldin wrote:
> >     >> I did not organize an event myself, but was interacting closely
> >     with those
> >     >> who do, be that in Linux events, or Drupal events.
> >     >>
> >     >> The following recurring themes may help:
> >     >>
> >     >> - Try to fix the venue and the date(s) as early as possible, so
> >     people have
> >     >> time to plan.
> >     >>
> >     >> - The venue will be the biggest expense, unless it is provided
> >     for free.
> >     >>
> >     >> - Have projectors ready for people to present.
> >     >>
> >     >> - Ask for sessions as soon as have the venue and dates available.
> >     >>
> >     >> - If the event is sponsored, then try to line up sponsors in 3 or
> >     so tiers,
> >     >> based on your expected costs (venue, lunch, audio/visual, ...etc,
> >     not all
> >     >> that will apply for all events).
> >     >>
> >     >> - If the event is paid for by the attendees, make it as simple as
> >     possible
> >     >> to pay (e.g. Paypal).
> >     >>
> >     >> - Have a marketing plan ready, including social media and
> >     local/regional
> >     >> media (e.g. newspaper, computer clubs, Communitech, user groups,
> >     ...etc.)
> >     >>
> >     >> - Try to balance the needs of advanced and beginners needs
> >     depending on the
> >     >> audience you expect. Split them in different (possibly parallel)
> >     tracks if
> >     >> you do have many sessions and more than one room.
> >     >>
> >     >> And finally, organizing an event is always hard work and time
> >     consuming for
> >     >> the organizers.
> >     >>
> >     >> Hope that helps.
> >     >>
> >     >> On Thu, Jun 4, 2015 at 2:17 PM, Colin Mills
> >     <colin.j.mills96 at gmail.com <mailto:colin.j.mills96 at gmail.com>>
> >     >> wrote:
> >     >>
> >     >>> Thanks for the input everyone!
> >     >>>
> >     >>>
> >     >>>
> >
>  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >     >>> Colin J. Mills (cjm)
> >     >>> FOSS
> >     <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open-source_software>
> Advocate
> >     >>>
> >     >>> Software Engineering Technology
> >     >>> Second Year
> >     >>> Conestoga College
> >     >>> Canada
> >     >>>
> >     >>> "makepkg, not war"
> >     >>>
> >     >>>
> >
>  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >     >>>
> >     >>> On Thu, Jun 4, 2015 at 1:11 PM, <john at vanostrand.com
> >     <mailto:john at vanostrand.com>> wrote:
> >     >>>
> >     >>>> ‎I was one of the organizers of the ontario Linux fest. I'm a
> >     little
> >     >>>> surprised the onlinux.ca <http://onlinux.ca> domain is still
> >     active.
> >     >>>>
> >     >>>>
> >     >>>> Sent from my BlackBerry 12 neural implant.
> >     >>>>   Original Message
> >     >>>> From: B. S.
> >     >>>> Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2015 12:00 PM
> >     >>>> To: KWLUG discussion
> >     >>>> Reply To: KWLUG discussion
> >     >>>> Subject: Re: [kwlug-disc] Linux Conference
> >     >>>>
> >     >>>> There are also UoW people on this list whom will have seen your
> >     message.
> >     >>>>
> >     >>>>
> >     >>>> No doubt there is both academic and non-academic community
> >     interest,
> >     >>>> likely just a matter of people showing the interest and putting
> >     in the time
> >     >>>> to organize and execute. Whether there is sufficient community
> >     interest is
> >     >>>> probably hard to gauge. Paul / Software Freedom Day would also
> >     bring some
> >     >>>> expertise in these senses to your party. Same with those doing
> >     Ubuntu hour
> >     >>>> / release parties, Drupal group, and so on and so forth.
> >     There's a Waterloo
> >     >>>> events calendar (Lori?) around somewhere. Seeing how well, or
> >     not, such
> >     >>>> events are attended may be helpful to you.
> >     >>>>
> >     >>>> I don't know how in/formal your day would have to be to be
> >     successful,
> >     >>>> let alone the definition of success. These groups and the
> OnLinux
> >     >>>> organizations may be helpful in those respects. Time of year
> >     will also
> >     >>>> matter. AFAIK kwlug is less attended in summer, and except for
> >     co-op,
> >     >>>> students not in town for classes aren't present to attend
> anything.
> >     >>>>
> >     >>>> One of the things that have been problematic is the apparent
> >     divergent
> >     >>>> interests of the academics vs the wider user community. e.g.
> >     Sufficient
> >     >>>> interest in Languages / kernel vs application use such as gimp
> >     or Libre
> >     >>>> Office. Presumably manageable by collecting 'common' topics in
> >     time blocks.
> >     >>>> Presumably 'running your small business on Linux' (be it
> accounting
> >     >>>> software, VoIP, or marketing / web) will always have some low
> >     level of
> >     >>>> interest in the area.
> >     >>>>
> >     >>>> GL&HF
> >     >>>>
> >     >>>>> ________________________________
> >     >>>>> From: Colin Mills <colin.j.mills96 at gmail.com
> >     <mailto:colin.j.mills96 at gmail.com>>
> >     >>>>> To: KWLUG discussion <kwlug-disc at kwlug.org
> >     <mailto:kwlug-disc at kwlug.org>>
> >     >>>>> Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2015 12:43 PM
> >     >>>>> Subject: Re: [kwlug-disc] Linux Conference
> >     >>>>>
> >     >>>>>
> >     >>>>>
> >     >>>>> * Ok thank you, hopefully we can get something going! I am
> >     going to
> >     >>>> BSDCan in Ottawa in the next couple of weeks and it just
> >     inspired a couple
> >     >>>> of ideas.
> >     >>>>>
> >     >>>>
> >     >>>>>
> >
>  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >     >>>>>
> >     >>>>> On Thu, Jun 4, 2015 at 12:41 PM, Khalid Baheyeldin
> >     <kb at 2bits.com <mailto:kb at 2bits.com>> wrote:
> >     >>>>>
> >     >>>>>
> >     >>>>>>
> >     >>>>>>
> >     >>>>>> On Thu, Jun 4, 2015 at 12:34 PM, Colin Mills
> >     <colin.j.mills96 at gmail.com <mailto:colin.j.mills96 at gmail.com>>
> >     >>>> wrote:
> >     >>>>>>
> >     >>>>>> Hi All,
> >     >>>>>>>
> >     >>>>>>> I am looking at organizing a conference in the KW region
> >     centered
> >     >>>> around Linux in general. I feel like the area would have the
> >     biggest draw
> >     >>>> for technical users and casual users alike.
> >     >>>>>>>
> >     >>>>>>> * I found this : http://www.onlinux.ca/ does anyone know if
> >     its still
> >     >>>> active?
> >     >>>>>>>
> >     >>>>>>
> >     >>>>>>
> >     >>>>>> This is Ontario Linux Fest, which was modelled after the Ohio
> >     Linux
> >     >>>> Fest. It ran for server years in a row.
> >     >>>>>> I know two of the organizers (who happened to be from the
> >     >>>> Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge area, but organized the event in
> >     Toronto for a
> >     >>>> wider audience).
> >     >>>>>>
> >     >>>>>> I bcc'd them on this email.
> >     >>>>>>
> >     >>>>>>
> >     >>>>>> * Anyway I would love to get some ideas and thoughts around
> >     the idea
> >     >>>> and see if its even viable. Have a good one everybody. Ill be
> >     at the
> >     >>>> meeting on July 6th :).
> >     >>>>>>>
> >     >>>>>>> _______________________________________________
> >     >>>>>>> kwlug-disc mailing list
> >     >>>>>>> kwlug-disc at kwlug.org <mailto:kwlug-disc at kwlug.org>
> >     >>>>>>> http://kwlug.org/mailman/listinfo/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org
> >     >>>>>>>
> >     >>>>
> >     >>>>
> >     >>>> _______________________________________________
> >     >>>> kwlug-disc mailing list
> >     >>>> kwlug-disc at kwlug.org <mailto:kwlug-disc at kwlug.org>
> >     >>>> http://kwlug.org/mailman/listinfo/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org
> >     >>>>
> >     >>>>
> >     >>>> _______________________________________________
> >     >>>> kwlug-disc mailing list
> >     >>>> kwlug-disc at kwlug.org <mailto:kwlug-disc at kwlug.org>
> >     >>>> http://kwlug.org/mailman/listinfo/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org
> >     >>>>
> >     >>>
> >     >>>
> >     >>> _______________________________________________
> >     >>> kwlug-disc mailing list
> >     >>> kwlug-disc at kwlug.org <mailto:kwlug-disc at kwlug.org>
> >     >>> http://kwlug.org/mailman/listinfo/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org
> >     >>>
> >     >>>
> >     >>
> >     >>
> >     >> --
> >     >> Khalid M. Baheyeldin
> >     >> 2bits.com <http://2bits.com>, Inc.
> >     >> Fast Reliable Drupal
> >     >> Drupal optimization, development, customization and consulting.
> >     >> Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. --  Edsger W.Dijkstra
> >     >> Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. --   Leonardo da Vinci
> >     >> For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear,
> >     simple, and
> >     >> wrong." -- H.L. Mencken
> >     >
> >     >> _______________________________________________
> >     >> kwlug-disc mailing list
> >     >> kwlug-disc at kwlug.org <mailto:kwlug-disc at kwlug.org>
> >     >> http://kwlug.org/mailman/listinfo/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org
> >     >
> >     >
> >
> >
> >     --
> >     Digimer
> >     Papers and Projects: https://alteeve.ca/w/
> >     What if the cure for cancer is trapped in the mind of a person
> without
> >     access to education?
> >
> >
> >     _______________________________________________
> >     kwlug-disc mailing list
> >     kwlug-disc at kwlug.org <mailto:kwlug-disc at kwlug.org>
> >     http://kwlug.org/mailman/listinfo/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > kwlug-disc mailing list
> > kwlug-disc at kwlug.org
> > http://kwlug.org/mailman/listinfo/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org
> >
>
>
> --
> Digimer
> Papers and Projects: https://alteeve.ca/w/
> What if the cure for cancer is trapped in the mind of a person without
> access to education?
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> kwlug-disc mailing list
> kwlug-disc at kwlug.org
> http://kwlug.org/mailman/listinfo/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://kwlug.org/pipermail/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org/attachments/20150605/68dad4ba/attachment.htm>


More information about the kwlug-disc mailing list