I have been using OOo for about 2.5 years, was part of the OOoAuthors team that wrote the Migration Guide, have been active on the oooforums (iannz) and to a lesser extent on the users mail list, have a web page for my OOo work: http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/hillview/OOo/
I have been in charge of computing at two New Zealand Polytechnics, relief lectured at Lincoln University and been a computer manager for a number of years. I have installed open source systems for people including for a leader of one of our political parties. I am currently a self-directed student. I have been writing OOo macros for about a year now, and while I don't consider myself an expert I do have a level of knowledge that might be useful to other people. The purpose of this e-mail is to ask/discuss whether my skills could be useful at OOo Miniconf Downunder, and if so what form should that assistance take. I am happy to facilitate a workshop or series of workshops on writing OOo macros / components. Present a paper on OOo components that I am working on such as the Reveal Codes macro. Present a paper on having a centralised repository for OOo components. Present a paper on collaboration and OOo. I am happy to offer assistance in whatever other way that I can. For me it would be great if there were a workshop on changing OOo code - as I have found the learning curve for this very steep on my own. The LCA fees, even at hobbyist level are very steep for me. I do not have a student-id as I am not enrolled at any educational institute (I was briefly for a period last year but the quality was so bad that I left and the institute refunded my fees). Is there anyway of my attending the OOo Miniconf Downunder without attending LCA and paying such high registration fees? I confess the air tickets are enough of a struggle. Thanks, Ian Laurenson
