On Fri, 2005-02-25 at 10:43 +1300, Graham Lauder wrote: > Jonathon Coombes wrote: > > >On Thu, 2005-02-24 at 18:39 +0000, Ian Lynch wrote: > > > > > >>On Thu, 2005-02-24 at 18:02, Jean Hollis Weber wrote: > >> > >> > >>>Jacqueline wrote: > >>> > >>> > >>>>Jean Hollis Weber wrote: > >>>> > >>>> > >>>>>I'm assuming we'll have an OOo booth at the main LCA 2005 conference all > >>>>>week, in addition to a 2-day programme, similar to San Diego. Is this > >>>>>correct? > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>[snip] > >>>> > >>>>LCA (http://www.linux.conf.au/) is very unlike DLS. > >>>> > >>>>There are no booths at LCA. Some sponsors may have a presence, but this > >>>>is > >>>>very low key. Usually spponsors support part of the programme, e.g. > >>>>dinner, or items in the delegates bag etc. > >>>> > >>>> > >>>Thanks for the clarification. That's very disappointing for me, because I > >>>like being a booth babe. If I had know there would be no booth, I probably > >>>would not have signed up to attend. Oh well, I've paid my entry fee and > >>>made my plane reservations, and been accepted as a speaker, so I'll be > >>>there. Let me know if there's anything you want me to do. > >>> > >>> > >>I'm about to book air tickets. I am a little worried about travelling > >>the distance if there are no points of focus apart from lectures and > >>talks. Anyone like to reassure me that it will be worthwhile? > >> > >> > > > >Hi Ian, > > > >Let me just say that I understand Jean's fear of not having booths > >at the LCA, but rest assured, it is well worth it. As someone who > >has been to over half of the LCA's in the past, including the first, > >I can say there is no other conference like it, certainly down under. > > > >LCA is rated among the top 3 conferences of its type in the world. > >Although there are limited booths for LCA, the people and the sponsors > >that you meet there are well worth every dollar spent. > > > > > >There is a problem with LCA currently getting too many participants > >which detracts from the atmosphere of previous conferences. They are > >talking about seperating LCA into a developer focused LCA, and the > >option of a user conference. This user conference, if successful, will > >eventually be the place to do OOo type presentations and will probably > >be much more along the lines of the events you are used to in USA. > > > >Again, even if you come along just for the OOo Miniconf, there are > >people there to meet with and dicuss OOo face to face. Some of these > >people are very knowledgable and would find it useful to put a face > >to other names on the list. :) > > > >Regards > >Jonathon > > > > > Hi Jonathon, > > Define the value. I must admit I'm a little concerned myself. > Right now I'm a poor student trying to wrangle cash to get to the > conference. > Not having a OOo/INGOTs focus point would be a bit of a problem. > Would you say then that this is pretty much a developers only conference.
Ok. Let me try and clarify how this event works. This is the largest Linux-based event in Australia/NZ and most of the surrounding region, if not more. It is based on one main conference, the LCA, which is fairly developer focused. Apart from this, you have a number of smaller 1-2 day conferences which are focused around various interest topics such as OOo, gnome, audio etc. These can all be seen on the LCA2005 website at http://lca2005.linux.org.au. The main MiniConfs of interest to OOo people and speakers on this list would be OOoMiniconf :), the Open Computing in Government which is for a lot of government dept people etc, and the Education MiniConf for all the schools etc. Along with the LCA, there are a select number of stalls usually from the sponsors of the events. I am sure that Jacqueline and other people involved in the organising of the OOoMiniconf will try and make it so that promotions or "advertising" can be done to the largest possible extent, but limitations are imposed currently as it is part of the LCA larger event. If it seperates off in the future, then it is up to the organisers to determine the marketing. As for the worth of coming to the event, apart from the range of things listed above, there are people at this event that you are unlikely to meet at any other time of year or any place. Yes, some of them will be developer type people, others are lawyers, educators, government depts and everyday users. Having this diversity of events held together brings a greater mix of people to the overall event. Apart from that, it would be great to put some faces to the names that I have seen. :-) Regards Jonathon -- OOo Tips (RSS) - http://mindmeld.cybersite.com.au/tips.rss OOo Knowledgebase - http://mindmeld.cybersite.com.au/ Cybersite Consulting - http://www.cybersite.com.au/ Training4Linux - http://www.training4linux.com
