FOSS4G 2011 Denver Dates

=Dates=

The Denver LOC is exploring a few different dates. In our proposal for FOSS4G 2010, we were interested in early December dates for a few good reasons. First, December is a low period for conferences resulting in significant savings over high-season dates. Second, the ski resorts would be open providing a chance for conference attendees to enjoy post-conference getaway packages. The specific week we chose for 2010 fit nicely between the Autodesk University and American Geophysical Union’s fall meeting. Unfortunately, those two events are back-to-back in 2011 following the US Thanksgiving holiday. 11-16 December 2011 dates are available and would result in similar benefits described in the 2010 proposal.

After consideration of conflicting events, the only other feasible dates are the weeks of 11-17 September 2011 and 18 – 24 September 2011. These dates are more similar to past FOSS4G conference dates and would allow attendees to enjoy fantastic weather as well as the fantastic Fall colors of the famous Colorado aspen trees. Biggest drawback is increased costs. It is estimated that venue expenses and hotel room rates will be 10%-15% higher in September than December. An advantage of September date is that it is at the end of the fiscal year for the US Federal Government. Surplus government funds need to be spent during the fiscal year. The choice of dates may increase participation.

If selected to host FOSS4G 2011, the first order of business would be to finalize the conference dates. This would be a collaborative effort among the OSgeo board members, the Denver LOC and GITA.

Competitive Conferences
Following is a list of Geospatial and FOSS related conferences both international and regional. By selecting our dates early, other conference organizers will be able to schedule around FOSS4G 2011. Further, we concluded that FOSS4G 2011 would be better served by using other regional conferences as marketing opportunities, rather than by attempting to combine with one or more of them.

Professional Geospatial Conferences:

 * GITA Geospatial Solutions, Dallas, TX
 * Where 2.0 - May
 * GeoWeb – July, Vancouver, BC
 * InterGEO – 27-29 September 2011
 * Web 2.0 Summit – November
 * GITA GIS for Oil & Gas Conference 24 – 27 October 2011, Houston, TX
 * Autodesk University: 29 November – 1 December 2011, Las Vegas

Significant Academic Conferences:

 * AAG – 12 – 16 April 2011, Seattle, WA
 * ASPRS – 13 - 15 April 2011, Milwaukee, WI
 * ICC 2011 – 3 – 8 July 2011, Paris, France
 * GeoComputation – 16 – 19 July 2011, London, UK
 * AGU (American Geophysical Union) – 5 – 9 December 2011, San Francisco, CA
 * IGU/UGI – 14 – 18 November 2011, Santiago, Chile

Regional Conferences:

 * GIS in the Rockies 2011 – 14-15 September 2011
 * AAG Great Plains/Rocky Mountain Division – September/October
 * ESRI SWUG (Southwest Users Group) - September/October

Open Source Conferences:

 * OSCon - July
 * OpenSource World (formerly LinuxWorld) - August