All:
OK, this is a dificult subject, so please forgive me if I don't quite get
this right on the first attempt:
That Linux Bangalore has now become India's largest technical conference,
and may even be one the largest in Asia, is now a fairly established fact
(numbers, my friends, numbers).
What many people fail to realise, however, is that LB is not supposed to
be a technical conference alone - it is supposed to be (and in fact is) a
community event - created by and for the community and driven by it.
Over the years, we have been trying to get Linux and FOSS user groups from
across India to use the event to draw attention to themselves. Given the
huge national and international audiences who converge at this event, this
makes a lot of sense.
Now I can understand it if larger LUGs don't feel that they need this kind
of exposure, since they are well established in their own rights. Not that
we wouldn't love having them participate - it is just that they seem to
feel that they don't need to. This probably explains why the Mumbai and
Delhi LUGs are so poorly represented every year at the event (though there
is no shortage of *speakers* from these places!).
But our focus isn't really on the big LUGs - not even on the Bangalore
Linux User Group (which, as we all know, is probably the single largest in
India) or the Chennai LUG (the oldest and best established LUG in the
country).
We would like the smaller LUGs, such as Belgaum, Goa, Coimbatore,
Trivandrum, Bijapur, Vizag, Pune, Nagpur, Mysore, {insert comprehensive
list of LUGs here} etc. etc. to be seen and highlighted.
This is made clear every year when Linux Bangalore is inaugurated not by
some big name in a tie, but by representatives from the various LUGs who
are attending the event. This is no gimmick - we have done this for three
years in succession, and will continue to do this even if $deity is a
chief guest at the event (in which case s/he will be *one* of the people
inaugurating the event).
So why this long note?
Because we need your help.
It is physically impossible for us to reach all the LUGs in India, but
using the network effect (you know a couple, and can contact them, they
know a couple each, and each contact them, and so on), it is possible to
reach a lot of people and let them know about *their* event!
It is a no-brainer getting technical people to attend, but that isn't the
sole reason for LB's existance. This is about the community as well.
As LB, we can offer LUGs some space at the expo, to tell people about
themselves and their activities (even if it is just some poster space, or
handouts), halls where they can meet with ther LUGs to discuss how they
can improve their memberships, activities, etc. and a chance to meet with
like-minded people.
These facilities have always been available to LUGs, and will be available
this year as well. All it needs is some prior planning.
What I'd like to do now is to have a discussion (and please, let's keep
the politics out of it) about how we can get the word out to the LUGs,
what is it that would keep them away, what would make them come, etc.
Over to you.
Atul
--
Linux Bangalore/2004
December 1/2/3, Bangalore, India
http://linux-bangalore.org/2004
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