Joseph,
I'm still rather unexperienced with visiting conferences but know that
the entrance fees are usually quite high and only affordable by companies
or perhaps public institutions.
Additionally, travel and accomodation have to be taken into consideration.
> Secondly, it has taken a lot of time and effort to get to the point of
> having a major national health organization provide support for this
> meeting. We have moved the meeting to accommodate several of you who have
> requested a MedInfo friendly date. Making the meeting shorter to
> accommodate other gatherings would both diminish its importance and
> definitely send the wrong signals to the NHS and other potential sponsors.
To what degree do the current sponsors "sponsor" the event?
At the www.osdem.org OpenSource Developers conference at the beginning
of February in Brussels, the entrance was all free.
Those who registered beforehand, got a a free T-Shirt at the end ;-)
Many of us were even offered free accommodation in the appartments
of local developers.
Ok, I don't think the conferences you talk about will be that hobby-like.
However, I'm sure that any support for Community (hobby) developers
would help a lot in convincing them to visit the event.
For us enthusiasts who are (possibly) not delegated by their employers or
Universities, it will not only be the costs mentioned above but also at least
one week of holiday to be taken.
> I expect we will have many new faces at this meeting as the NHS will be
> issuing a public press release shortly, plus the fact that we have much
> more advance notice for this meeting and we will be promoting it through
> other European channels.
For Germany, I recommend an announcement at www.heise.de,
the most famous news for all people working in IT.
> As far as primary care is concerned I can see that there will be some
> overlap I'm certain we can coordinate things to minimize overlap. Secondly,
> the OSHCA meeting will cover several other domains besides primary care.
> Any suggestions from the list will be most welcome.
For me it would be a surprise in the first line, the first time.
Getting to know some people personally who I talk to since long.
Concerning topics, I'd be especially interested in technical things like
architectures and solutions of various projects.
Another aspect and always existing wish of mine is to further bundle our
efforts and to set common aims by talking together.
--
Kind regards,
Christian
