Proposal
From MelbLCAWiki
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Very Melbourne with a Wurundjeri Welcome
Executive Summary
In 1999, Australia saw its first Linux users conference in Melbourne. Since that time, the Linux and Open Source community has flourished in Victoria, thanks in part to the unique leadership of this country's largest Linux users' group and government-funded initiatives such as OSV. In 2008 we hope to host linux.conf.au. We will actively encourage the participation of a more diverse range of speakers to help bring greater breadth to the conference. Drawing on Melbourne's vibrant linux community and the culinary and cultural diversity of the city, we intend to deliver a magnificent experience.
Press releases leading up to the conference will help build delegates' excitement about our program and ensure we get maximum exposure for our sponsors. As a technical linux conference we'll invite speakers to submit abstracts on all areas of Linux and open source software use and development. We'll seek papers on the kernel & system, networking, server, desktop, development methods and tools, userspace and Open Source culture. The program will include 'back room' technologies such as networking and servers. It will also reach forward into the 'user space' of the desktop and specialist applications. Tutorials and certifications will give attendees a chance to gain leading Linux and Open Source skills and knowledge, as well as add recognised training and qualifications to their resumes.
A dedicated team of experienced volunteers is leading the planning and implementation of LCA in 2008. Our approach is inclusive, collaborative and open, and we will encourage active community engagement to help us stage this conference. The committee will work in partnership with other key events such as LinuxWorld, OSDC, and the SAGE-AU IT symposium.
Our venue, the University of Melbourne, provides a range of suitable meeting spaces. It is easily accessible by public transport and is surrounded by cafes, restaurants, pubs and bars. Its location, close to Melbourne's central business district, will leave everyone spoilt for choice with things to see and do.
In short, linux.conf.au in Melbourne 2008 will build on the success of its predecessors, add new innovations and aim to be the most engaging and rewarding conference possible for delegates and speakers. Once Melbourne 2008 has made its mark on the LCA conference experience, the volunteer committee will help to ensure that subsequent conference bid teams and organisers will benefit from our journey. We acknowledge and welcome the awesome responsibility of putting on the world's greatest technical linux conference. We are ready.
Bringing It Home
This is where it all began. Back in 1999, thanks to Rusty Russell and his American Express card, a Conference for Australian Linux Users was born. Now, a team of Melbourne Linux users has banded together to do what needs to be done to bring linux.conf.au home. This is a great city, it has so much to offer; we will be really careful about choosing our events and products, and we'll be asking the question "Is it really Melbourne?" as a guiding factor for our choices.
More Internationals
We will endeavour to secure more international speakers, especially those that may never have spoken at LCA before, particularly in regards to new content that hasn't been covered previously, or speakers that have proven themselves at other Open Source Conferences. We will seek speaker sponsorship to cover their airfares and accommodation.
More Women
As the first LCA bid team with a woman at the helm, we'll be making an effort to attract more women to speak and attend.
More Gastronomic Goodness
Melbourne is Australia's culinary capital, and boasts some of the world's greatest fresh produce, restaurants and eateries. Food at LCA will be fresh and diverse, and reflect the multicultural wealth of the city. We'll attempt to cater for vegans, coeliacs, the lactose intolerant, diabetic, kosher, halal and allergy prone in ways never before seen at a geek conference. No vegetarian will go hungry at MEL8. There will be real coffee for the caffeine junkies.
Dates
- Jan 28 - Feb 2 - This is the only option for the University of Melbourne
- Jan 21 - 26
- Jan 14 - 19
Content
Content is King. It is the reason people attend. As one of the world's premier technical conferences for Linux and Free and Open Source Software we'll be focusing on attracting the world's best speakers from Australia and around the world. We'll have some peer reviewed papers for academic recognition, and we intend to schedule a mix of High-Profile and first time speakers.
Areas
We'll call for and consider papers on the following topics:
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Program
We intend to organise the conference around the established LCA program, and add some new twists. As has become traditional, we will have MiniConfs on Monday and Tuesday, followed by four days of the main conference, complete with an evening program.
The program will start on Sunday afternoon with Early Registration from 3pm, followed by an optional and informal Pre-Conference event starting at 6pm. Monday and Tuesday will see the MiniConfs and the Hackfest. The main conference will run from Wednesday morning to Saturday afternoon. On Wednesday there will be tutorials and Thursday and Friday will have multiple-track paper and poster presentations. BOF sessions will be a equally ranked member of the program and partnerships with LPI and others will offer opportunity for training and certification.
The Speakers' Dinner will be on Tuesday night, the eve of the main conference, with alternative events for delegates. On Thursday we'll hold the Professional Networking session and again partner it with an inexpensive option for hobbiests and students. On Friday night we will hold the Penguin Dinner with the mandatory presentation of awards and prizes.
The program will conclude on Saturday with an "Innovate and Inspire" keynote in the morning and a closing ceremony in the afternoon to finish proceedings.
Partners' Program
Melbourne is a big city, and has attractions similar to those in other big cities. Everything in the draft partners' program fits our "Is it really Melbourne?" criterion.
Past experience and considered appreciation of what this town has to offer is the driving force behind our Partners' Program and we'll aim to give the interstaters, internationals and locals a fantastic taste of Melbourne.
Sponsorship
Our sponsorship strategy focuses on mutual benefit for sponsors and attendees. LCA provides sponsors an excellent opportunity to engage with an enthusiastic community of technology innovators. And attendees will benefit from a larger, better resourced conference through the generous contributions of our sponsors. In all our decisions, we will seek to uphold the community feel and atmosphere of a volunteer-run conference. We believe this is one of linux.conf.au's defining characteristics.
In addition to various levels of whole-conference sponsorship, we intend to seek sponsorship for particular parts of the conference. For example:
- Sponsored keynotes
- High-profile speakers will be introduced with a special note of thanks to sponsors that may have assisted with airfares and accommodation or by providing suitable giveaways at keynotes and plenary sessions.
- Sponsored breakfasts and lunches
- Breakfast and lunch are not usually provided at LCA. If a sponsor was prepared to cover the cost of providing these meals it might be a nice 'extra' for our speakers and delegates.
- Sponsored schwag bag and lanyards
- Approach local manufacturing companies extensively using Linux and open source software for schwag
- Advertising/marketing partners
- Sponsorship for meeting facilities and equipment loans
- Federal and state funding programmes supporting women leaders, business innovation, open source and e-Research
We will seek guidance from the Ghosts of Conference Past regarding existing sponsorship policies, and look for new ways to engage with vendors and suppliers who seek to support Linux Australia and the annual conference.
Community
We are consulting with a variety of open source groups based in Melbourne and Victoria and are actively seeking their engagement and involvement in hosting linux.conf.au in 2008. We also have letters of support for our bid from Open Source Victoria, Red Hat, Squiz, DCLabs, Computerbank and Multimedia Victoria.
Conference Partners
No conference is an island; we will seek to communicate and collaborate with other relevant conferences. Together we will forge a spiffy tetrahedron of events, showcasing and strengthening the various facets of Free and Open Source in Australia.
- Open Source Developers Conference - http://www.osdc.com.au/
- LinuxWorld Conference and Expo - http://www.linuxworldexpo.com.au/
- SAGE-AU VIC IT Symposium - http://www.sage-au.org.au/conf/vic06/
Of course we'll also be in touch with The Sydney LCA2007 Team - http://lca2007.linux.org.au/ to help them and learn from them before they pass us the baton.
Venue
We hope to run the conference at the University of Melbourne with accommodation at its colleges. Located in Melbourne's inner suburbs, Melbourne Uni provides the advantage of central location, with many options for food and other accommodation within walking distance. For more distant forays, it is well-serviced by public transport. As a university, it will be able to provide the conference with an appropriate mix of theatres and other rooms.
Should Melbourne Uni turn out to be unavailable or unsuitable, we plan to choose from other options, including the following. Preliminary quotes have been obtained for these venues and they are included with the budget for reference.
- Melbourne Town Hall
- Flemington Racecourse
- Carlton Crest
- Hilton on the Park
Melbourne, host city
Melbourne is Australia's second-largest city and the capital of Victoria. With temperate weather (average maximum of 25.8°C in January) and a broad range of cultural, culinary and other attractions and facilities, Melbourne is eminently suitable as host city.
Food
Melbourne is Australia's culinary capital, and is one of the world's great foodie destinations. There will be many options for food within walking distance, and countless more a short tram-ride away. Food at LCA itself will be fresh and diverse, and reflect the multi-cultural wealth of the city, while catering for those with special requirements.
Attractions
Tall buildings and wide, leafy parks, culture, history, sport and shopping - Melbourne has attractions for everyone. Whether it's the view from the Rialto Towers or a stroll through Royal Park or along the banks of the Yarra river, you will be neither bored nor disappointed.
Getting Around Town
Melbourne has a very good public transport system in the city and the inner suburbs.
The system has a "Melbourne Delegates' Transport" Pass. We intend to include a weekly or daily zone ticket depending on budget or sponsorship - and if not possible, we'll have the option to buy one. We'll encourage the use of public transport, bicycles and walking.
Team
We are a dedicated, enthusiastic team that will see the conference through to a successful conclusion.
Decision-making approach
We prefer to work based on consensus and mutual respect; however, in some situations, these may not be sufficient to guarantee workable solutions or may be impractical.
Executive decisions will typically be made by appointed officers individually, or in some cases by a subcommittee. Currently the only executive position defined is Team Leader; other positions will be created as needed.
Voting is used as a last-resort decision-making process where consensus is unclear or to confirm consensus for grave decisions. Executive decisions may be overruled by a 2:1 majority. These rules may be varied by a 3:1 majority.
We use Debian's Standard Resolution Procedure for voting. A draft resolution or amendment may be proposed by any member of the Team, but only Core Team members vote. There is no minimum discussion period; the voting period lasts for up to one week, or until the outcome is no longer in doubt. Members may change their votes. There is a quorum of two. The default option is "Further Discussion" and the Team Leader has a casting vote. When we vote whether to override an executive decision by a member or subcommittee, that member or subcommittee may not vote (except that the Team Leader in any case has the casting vote).
Members
Team Leader: Donna Benjamin
Core Team (in alphabetical order):
- Lisa Bain, Jiri Baum, Donna Benjamin, Grant Diffey, Julien Goodwin, Peter Lieverdink, Daniel Patton and Katherine Phelps.
Support Team (in alphabetical order):
- Nathan Bailey, Faye Coker, Donald Douwsma, Jason King, Kim Oldfield, Chris Samuel, Elspeth Thorne, Stewart Smith, James Turnbull and Stuart Young.
Flying Monkeys (by distance):
- Kelly Daly (Canberra), Janet Hawtin (Adelaide), Elspeth Thorne (Brisbane), Daniel Stone (Helsinki, FI).
Lead-Up
Our team has been working, in one way or another, towards this conference since October 2003. We're confident that four and a half years of planning give us a unique perspective. During this time we have made mistakes. We have had the opportunity to watch and learn from other teams. We experienced Adelaide, Canberra and Dunedin with our eyes on the prize. We're keen to experience Sydney in 2007. Our team has benefited from not winning. We want this. Now.
Budget
We'll be taking a cautious and risk averse approach to the budget. Major line items will be covered by registration income. We'll only commit to extras if we can secure appropriate sponsorship, whether in cash or in kind.
- We have a draft budget to submit to the Linux Australia committee for comment
Appendices
Appendix A: Summary of letters of support
Linux Users of Victoria
We have an expression of support for our bid from the President of LUV. Linux Users of Victoria is the original and largest Linux users group in Victoria. With a membership in excess of 1100, regular monthly meetings and several active mailing lists, LUV is an essential part of the Victorian Linux community.
Open Source Victoria
Open Source Victoria supports the bid to secure LCA for Melbourne in 2008. Open Source Victoria is an Industry Cluster consisting of over 80 Victorian firms and developers which provide services and technology related to Free and Open Source Software.
We intend to offer the local Open source business community a chance to participate in and contribute to the conference with sponsorship packages at a value pricepoint. These organisations depend on Open Source software to run their businesses and many are keen to participate or make a contribution.
SAGE-AU
SAGE-AU, the System Administrator's Guild of Australia, supports the bid to host LCA 2008 in Melbourne. SAGE-AU is the leading professional association for system administrators across a range of open and proprietary systems.
Computerbank
We are pleased to be able to provide a letter in support of the Melbourne bid to host the Linux Australia Conference in 2008. ... 9 years is a long time, it would be good for Linux people to come back and experience the country's best coffee and pizza.
Multimedia Victoria
The Victorian Government has as a major policy pillar in ICT of “Growing tomorrow’s industries today”. Your teams bid to win the 2008 annual Linux Australia Conference for Melbourne is very much in line with what the state government is trying to foster. As Manager of ICT Investment and Business Development, I can wholeheartedly endorse our support in your ongoing endeavour to land and effectively organise the event.
Local companies
Local companies and local offices of global companies (in alphabetical order).
DCLABS
DCLABS wishes to express our support to you in bringing LCA 2008 to our home town of Melbourne Australia.
Red Hat
Red Hat supports the bid to secure LCA for Melbourne in 2008.
- Red Hat believes your team have the energy and initiative to pull off a tremendous event. Furthermore we think that it is time that the region's premier Linux technical event returned to Melbourne.
Squiz
- Squiz is pleased to support the Melbourne (mel8) bid for Linux.conf.au 2008. We believe that Melbourne would be an excellent venue for the conference and that your team are capable of planning and executing it well.
Perl Training Australia
- On behalf of Perl Training Australia, I am writing in support of the MEL8OURNE 2008 bid for running linux.conf.au in Melbourne in 2008. We are certain that your team is capable of providing a fantastic conference, and we promise to help as much as we can.
Appendix B: Acknowledgements
- Strategic Data - for providing us with meeting space.
- The images "Melbourne yarra twilight" and "Yarra Panorama" are from the Wikimedia Commons, where they are published under the GFDL by the user Diliff.
- Tangram Logo design by Janet Hawtin
- Rusty Russell and family.
Appendix C: Contacts
- Primary Contact: Donna Benjamin, donna@mel8ourne.org, +61-418-310-414
- Secondary Contact: Julien Goodwin, julien@mel8ourne.org, +61-410-746-120
- Mailing List: melb-lca@lists.linux.org.au (Moderated private list)
