Hi, As you know, GNHLUG has had a booth at "Hosstraders" for a long time, and that last spring a new organization took over called "NEARFest"
http://www.near-fest.com/ This fall, NEARFest is October 12-13, 2007 at Deerfield, as it was last time. This fall they have more inside space, but I am told that the inside space is going fast. The prices this year are $50. for the space (approximately 8' long) and $16-17. for the 8' table rental. This is about the same as last spring, but is up considerably from what Hosstraders used to charge us (about $35. for 24' of space and $13. per table), and the profits were going to the Shriner's Hospitals and Burn Centers. Over the years I have been the main "organizer" (and funder) of this, with Ben Scott (and his magical CD-burning machine), Ed Lawson, Bill Sconce, Matt and Heather and others helping out. If I forgot anyone, I apologize. Besides being cold a lot of the time, I always enjoyed talking to the ham people, and the camaraderie of the other LUG members (along with the doggie bowls of french fries and the Italian sausages). However, last year we were testing the "NEARFest" waters, and it was also on Kentucky Derby weekend, so Ben and I held down the fort one day and I was by myself the second day. We had no CD burning, and about three or four people came by and lamented that we did not supply that service. I talked to one or two people about FOSS, and those were mostly people that already knew about it. In addition to the money, I spent two days of my time (more or less) at the fairground and Ben showed up for a day (thanks Ben!). I am not complaining about this, because it was a "trial", and not very much publicized, and it WAS Kentucky Derby Day! :-) GNHLUG people that wanted to sell/unload stuff did that for "price of admission" outside. Some people did "sell" outside, with what NearFest calls "tailgating" (an additional $10. for the car and a 10'x10' space, so $10. total). This fall I will be in Brazil and Canada during NEARFest days (yes, I know Brazil and Canada are very far apart, but trust me, that is where I will be...) so I can not attend. THEREFORE I think we might take the time to re-evaluate whether GNHLUG attends this event or not. Originally GNHLUG went up there to: o Demonstrate Free Ham Software to the ham radio community o Sell/Swap/Buy a few old hardware components We were successful in getting some of the word out, and Ed usually put together a display of the working Ham software. Later this changed to: o Demonstrate Free Software o Distribute CDs o Give away old hardware (since no one wanted to buy it) The question I have is whether GNHLUG should be "supporting" this event, or put the time and energy into some other event that would have a greater payback? For example, a booth/table at a state or local fair? Or find some local "PC show" to have a table? Or better support of Software Freedom Day? Help organize a summer camp for Free Software? Or cut back to supporting NEARFest once per year, and do something else the second part of the year? Or, taking another tack, should we escalate our support of the event and give short courses at NEARFest? One issue here is that the current management of NEARFest is not very "Linux Friendly" (I think mainly through ignorance), whereas the HossTrader guys were friendly, but never gave us the support necessary to put on a course. Of course we never really put forth a formal proposal. Another issue is that in order to take any "gratis" courses/events we put on, the attendees have to pay admission to NEARFest (I think it is $10.) One advantage to Deerfield is that I believe the facilities would better allow a short course to be given with an LCD projector inside, if we worked with the organizers to set something up. If we (well, really *YOU*, since I can not be there) decide to support NEARFest this fall, please contact AL SHUMAN <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or +16034136605 ASAP. I am sending it to the "org" list, since most of the people on this list are the ones that would probably organize it, but perhaps this should also be sent to the "discuss" list. Thanks, maddog -- Jon "maddog" Hall Executive Director Linux International(R) email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 80 Amherst St. Voice: +1.603.672.4557 Amherst, N.H. 03031-3032 U.S.A. WWW: http://www.li.org Board Member: Uniforum Association Board Member Emeritus: USENIX Association (2000-2006) (R)Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in several countries. (R)Linux International is a registered trademark in the USA used pursuant to a license from Linux Mark Institute, authorized licensor of Linus Torvalds, owner of the Linux trademark on a worldwide basis (R)UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the USA and other countries. _______________________________________________ gnhlug-org mailing list gnhlug-org@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-org/
