FOSS4G2007 Workshops

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Introduction

The FOSS4G2007 Workshop Committee is responsible for the organization of both Workshops and Labs. Workshops are 3-hour classroom sessions, and Labs are 90-minute classes. The committee reports to the FOSS4G2007 Conference Committee.

FOSS4G Workshop Committee Members

• Aaron Racicot
• Dave Patton (chair)
• David Percy
• Jason Birch
• Jeff McKenna
• Jody Garnett
• Perry Nacionales

Next Committee Meeting

The date/time for the next meeting is tentative

• date: 2007/09/05
  
• time: 10:00AM PDT
  
• meeting will be via Conference Call
• Agenda:

Previous Committee Meetings

2007/08/28

• no IRC log, as the meeting was via conference call
• Agenda:

1. Select chair for this meeting
2. Confirm who will be at the conference, and when, and potential roles
3. Set date/time for next meeting
4. Status updates:
   1. Instructor updates to list of Application & Utility Software (deadline was 24th)
   2. Instructor uploads of README files with notes about software install/config (deadline was 24th)
   3. Instructor uploads of data (deadline was 27th)
   4. LiveCD/DVD images for testing (deadline is 31st)
   5. VMs for testing (deadline is 31st)
   6. master PCs
      • physical
      • software install/config
      • remote access by Workshop Committee
      • remote access by Instructors
5. Evaluations
6. PC setup checklist for volunteers
7. review 'timetable' spreadsheet
8. review Computer Information document

2007/08/07

• no IRC log, as the meeting was via conference call
• Agenda:

1. Select chair for this meeting
2. Set date/time for next meeting
3. Instructor Data
   • status of delivery mechanism
   • (tentative) deadline for delivery is August 24th
4. Instructor LiveCD/DVD
   • status of delivery mechanism
   • (tentative) deadline for delivery is August 31st
   1. LiveCD
      • unconfirmed(mentioned in submission):
        • Workshops 02 and 10
        • Labs 03(?) and 12
      • confirmed:
        • none
        • should we get confirmations?
   2. LiveDVD
      • deadline for letting us know was August 6th
      • confirmed: Workshop-11
5. Instructor Virtual Machine
   • status of delivery mechanism
   • (tentative) deadline for delivery is August 24th
   • deadline for letting us know was August 6th
   • confirmed: Workshop-12 and Lab-16
   • Lab-14 is likely, depending on our answers to recent questions
6. Instructor Printed Materials
   • status of delivery mechanism
   • deadline for delivery is Sept 7th
7. Instructor-provided "backup server"
   • deadline for letting us know was August 6th
   • only one request: Workshop-03(2 notebooks)
8. In-conference communications
   • walkie-talkies
   • how many do we need?
9. Assignments for committee members
   • who will be able to help, when, and what tasks
10. Committee members vacation schedule
11. Workshop/Lab Evaluations
    • discuss prototype evaluation form emailed on Aug 3rd
12. PCs
    • discuss "Computer Information" document emailed Aug 6th

2007/07/31

• no IRC log, as the meeting was via conference call
• Agenda:

1. Select chair for this meeting
2. Set date/time for next meeting
3. Lab-08
   • Replace or not
   • the "top 120" presentations(i.e. their titles) don't mention Chameleon, but 5 of them mention uDig - should we therefore keep Lab-08?
   • If replace, with what
4. Pre-conference setup at VCC
   1. Friday, September 21, Noon-4PM
      • this is when Vernon will deliver all their rental PCs
      • this is to be confirmed - this may take place Sunday morning instead
      • do we need to supervise this?
   2. Saturday, September 22
      • when/where/how are the Nanaimo PCs being delivered?
   3. Sunday, September 23, Noon-?
      • move the Vernon rental PCs from storage into the Workshop classrooms, and assemble/test them
      • who will be able to help with this?
      • how do we handle the Nanaimo PCs?
      • who will do the testing of the AV setup for Instructors, and how/when?
      • onsite Early Registration opens at 3PM
      • should we plan for a meeting with the "Room Monitors"(volunteers) to go over their duties?
5. During the conference:
   1. Monday, September 24, after 4PM
      • at "the end of the day", the Vernon rental PCs not being used for Labs have to be dismantled/moved
      • who will be able to help with this?
      • when will we do this? AGM is 4:30PM-6PM, and then the Reception starts at the Pub
      • where do we put the dismantled Vernon rental PCs?
      • do we keep any extra rental PCs as spares for the Labs?
   2. Tuesday, September 25, 9AM-Noon
      • this is when Vernon will pickup their rental PCs that we are not keeping for Labs
      • do we need to supervise this?
      • this is also the timeslot for the Opening Plenary
   3. Tuesday, September 25, 1PM through Thursday, September 27, Noon
      • this is the time period for Labs (and Presentations, Posters, BOFs, Reception, etc.)
      • what things can we anticipate that we will have to do during this time?
      • should we schedule short (daily?) meetings to make sure everything is on track?
   4. Thursday, September 27, 3PM-5PM
      • who can help dismantle/move Vernon rental PCs from Lab classroom(s)?
      • one classroom will have the Nanaimo PCs - how will they be handled?
      • where do we put the dismantled Vernon rental PCs?
   5. Friday, September 28, 9AM-Noon
      • this is when Vernon will pickup their remaining rental PCs that were used for Labs
      • do we need to supervise this?
6. Printed Materials for Workshops/Labs
   • deadline will be midnight on Friday September 7th
   • Refractions staff will handle making "master copies", and getting them duplicated
   • Refractions staff will deliver all the pre-printed material to the registration desk by 2PM Sep 23
7. VCC Infrastructure
   • LAN drops for Instructors(e.g. need 2 for Arnulf's notebooks)
   • Sharps will supply Y cables to drive monitor+projector, so Instructor PCs can be the same as the classroom PCs
8. PC Hardware
   • we can 'hold back' a few rental PCs that were used for the Workshops to act as 'spares' for the Labs
   • Vernon normally provides 'a few' extra rental PCs to act as spares(i.e for the Workshops) - is 5 enough?
   • do we need to see if there will be a mechanism on the rental PCs to 're-image' the hard drive during the conference?
9. PC OS
   1. Windows XP comes with the PCs
   2. LiveCD
      • the rental PCs have CDROM drives, not DVD drives
      • W-11 indicated they would use LiveDVD
      • how much time will be needed for Instructors to boot their room's PCs from the LiveCD?
   3. Virtual Machines
      • install VMWare Player on all PCs?
      • Instructors could supply VMs ahead of time, to be put onto "master PCs"
      • Instructors could load, and boot, their VM just before the Workshop/Lab, just like for a LiveCD
      • Instructor-supplied VM, with unpublished password, eases security concerns?
10. PC Software
    1. we should 'poke' the Instructors to speak up re the list of Software, and version number
    2. how do we deal with the situation where software install is part of a Workshop/Lab?
    3. Servers (e.g. Integration Showcase, Canadian Geodata)
       • do we leave things like how to connect to conference servers as part of what the Instructor teaches?
       • do we try and setup the Windows Hosts file on the master PCs?
11. Data for Workshops/Labs
    • need mechanism, dates, who
12. Master PCs
    1. who is going to install & configure the Application & Utility software?
       • 2-3 "master PCs" from Vernon are to be delivered by August 24th
       • 2-3 "master PCs" from Vernon are to be returned to them by September 12th
    2. remote access to these master PCs?
13. Instructor access to classrooms
    1. from FOSS4G2007_Information_for_Instructors
       • Workshop Instructors will have access to their classroom 30 minutes prior to the start of their Workshop. Attendees will be allowed into the classroom starting 15 minutes prior to the start of their Workshop.
       • Lab Instructors will have access to their classroom 20 minutes prior to the start of their Lab. Attendees will be allowed into the classroom starting 15 minutes prior to the start of their Lab.
       • do those timeframes seem adequate?
    2. should we try and plan "day before" classroom access?
       • Instructors could 'check the setup' on one or two PCs, to make sure prior classes haven't "mucked things up"

2007/07/03

• IRC Log
• Agenda:

1. Select chair for this meeting
2. Set date/time for next meeting
3. Establish checklist and timetable for preparations for Workshops and Labs

2007/03/26

• IRC Log
• Agenda: this is an "informal meeting"

2007/03/12

• IRC Log
• Agenda:

1. Select chair for this meeting
2. Set date/time for next meeting
3. Criteria selection
   1. Discuss the criteria to be used for the workshop submissions review process
   2. Vote on the suggested criteria, to establish the criteria list for use by the workshop committee
4. Criteria importance
   1. Discuss whether all criteria should have equal 'weight', or whether some need a 'multiplier' to add/subtract their effect
   2. Vote on any suggestions for 'criteria weightings'
5. Scoring
   1. How to 'score' a workshop submission based on the selected criteria
6. Format of recommendations
   1. list of workshop submissions that are not recommended
   2. issue of limitations on the number of workshops
   3. ranked list of workshop submissions
7. Timetable
   1. Half-day workshops
   2. 90-minute workshops

2007/03/06

• IRC Log
• Agenda:

1. Select chair for this meeting
2. Set date/time for next meeting
3. Process for reviewing the workshop submissions
   1. How to do the review process
      1. private vs public
      2. who will be involved in the review
      3. collaboration methods (e.g. IRC, mailing list)
      4. A possible approach for the Workshop Committee to use when reviewing the workshop submissions
   2. Plans for dealing with 'late submissions'
      1. will submissions not already received be considered for the review?
      2. workshop submissions for key topics that aren't covered ("filling in the holes")
   3. Dates
      1. deadline for finishing review process is March 20th (due to organizing committee meeting March 22nd)
      2. if clarification of a workshop submission's details is needed, how long to wait for a response - March 11th?
      3. timetable for review process
         1. March 6 - March 11:
            1. committee members review submissions
            2. discussion amongst committee members about submissions
            3. committee members assign 'scores'
         2. March 12: 'scores' are tabulated
         3. March 13:
            1. committee meets to review/adjust 'ranked lists'
            2. 'ranked lists' of the workshop submissions are made available to the public (e.g. locked wiki page)
         4. March 14 - March 19: public can use mailing lists and IRC to comment on 'ranked lists'
         5. March 20:
            1. committee meets to review/adjust 'ranked lists'
            2. committee forwards final 'ranked lists' to the conference organizing committee
   4. Results of review process
      1. separate recommendations for half-day vs 90-minute workshops?
      2. what does the review produce:
         • two lists - recommended & not recommended?
         • an explanation for each submission that wasn't recommended?
         • one list, with a 'ranking' or 'score' for each submission?
4. Workshop review criteria
   1. Decisions
      1. workshop committee to make recommendations
      2. final decisions made by conference organizing committee
   2. Objective criteria
      1. does the submission clearly not fall within the conference mandate
      2. can submission's technical requirements be met by the conference facilities?
      3. has the same workshop been presented at prior FOSS4G conferences? (this could be a plus or a minus)
   3. Subjective criteria
      1. expected level of interest in the workshop topic
      2. expertise of the workshop presenter in the workshop subject matter
      3. ability of the workshop presenter to present a 'good' workshop
      4. is there 'too much' overlap between multiple submissions
      5. geographical representation
      6. any relevant input from workshop evaluations collect by FOSS4G2006
      7. the "free" debate

2007/03/02

• IRC Log
• Action Items arising from meeting:
  • action: dave to phone Paul re making workshop selection process public, and deadline for finishing workshop submission review process
• Agenda:

1. Select chair for this meeting
2. Committee membership
   1. invite David Percy to the committee
   2. status of Olivier?
3. Set date/time for next meeting
4. Review goals for number of workshops
   1. For "Workshops Day" (Monday September 24)
   2. Concurrent with presentations (Tuesday PM, Wednesday AM/PM, Thursday AM)
5. Workshop Submissions - process summary
   1. have there been any comments on, or issues with, the submission process?
   2. are we aware of any submissions that are 'in the works', but which haven't been received?
   3. clarify "workshop" vs "lab" (e.g. half-day vs 90-minutes? Monday vs Tuesday-Thursday?)
   4. should 'workshops' that have no requirements for computers be considered "presentations"?
   5. Current status (as of 1:00PM Friday, 30 minutes before this meeting: total of 45 submissions)
      1. Number of submissions for half-day workshops = 28 (Beginner=9, Intermediate=2, Advanced=5, Developer=12)
      2. Number of submissions for 90-minute workshops = 17 (Beginner=7, Advanced=3, Developer=7)
      3. Number of half-day submissions that indicated they could be shortened to 90 minutes = 2
      4. Number of 90-minute submissions that indicated no need for computers = 5
      5. Technical Requirements:
         1. Provided Windows XP workstations = 21
         2. Multiple options, or ambiguous = 8
         3. Participants bring their own Laptop = 5
         4. Provided Linux VMWare machine = 5
         5. Instructor-provided LiveCD = 4
         6. None = 2
6. Workshop selection process
   1. How to do the selection process - who, collaboration methods, etc.
   2. Plans re "filling in the holes" - how to get workshop submissions for key topics that aren't covered so far
   3. Dates
      1. Confirm current submission deadline(March 2), or select new deadline
      2. deadline for finishing review process
7. Workshop selection criteria
   1. Decisions
      1. workshop committee to make recommendations
      2. final decisions made by conference organizing committee
   2. Objective criteria
      1. can submission's technical requirements be met by the conference facilities?
   3. Subjective criteria
      1. expected level of interest in the workshop topic
      2. expertise of the workshop presenter in the workshop subject matter
      3. ability of the workshop presenter to present a 'good' workshop

2007/02/23

• IRC Log
• Action Items arising from meeting:
  • action: dave - send out reminder later today about next week's meeting
  • DONE: Dave to email Frank a reminder announcement for the workshop submission deadline
  • action: dave to start wiki page re guidelines for workshops
• Agenda:

1. Select chair for this meeting
2. Set date/time for next meeting
3. review Action Items from 2007/02/09 meeting:
   1. ACTION: Aaron: talk to David Percy before next meeting
   2. OBSOLETE: Dave: need to find out from Olivier re use of INDICO
   3. ACTION: Jason to follow up with Jody
   4. ACTION: Dave to start developing the list of local print shops
   5. DONE: Dave to make agenda for next meeting
4. review committee membership
   1. Jeff McKenna resigned from the committee due to work commitments, but will hopefully be able to help 'later on'
   2. Olivier Ertz hasn't been on IRC for about 3 weeks - anyone know his status?
   3. do we need more committee members?
   4. nominate and confirm new committee chair
5. video of conference - confirm that this has been ruled out?
6. Workshops
   1. Status of workshop submissions
   2. workshop materials
      1. who pays, and for what
      2. guidelines for workshop presenters:
         1. make a guideline based on the "top 5/10 rated workshops" from the prior conference( s )?
         2. guidelines for what? Format of workshop handouts? Size/length of handouts? Type of presentation?
         3. when accepting workshops, provide the presenters with the guidelines
         4. where/when to indicate to workshop presenters (or for workshop proposals?) to check with project steering committees?
7. New Business
   1. estimated maximum bandwidth demand for a single workshop
   2. review of workshop evaluations from FOSS4G2007

2007/02/09

• IRC Log
• Action Items arising from meeting:
  • ACTION: Aaron: talk to David Percy before next meeting
  • ACTION: Dave: need to find out from Olivier re use of INDICO
  • ACTION: Jason to follow up with Jody
  • ACTION: Dave to start developing the list of local print shops
  • ACTION: Dave to make agenda for next meeting
• Agenda:

1. Select chair for this meeting
2. Set date/time for next meeting
3. Old Business
   1. review Action Items from 2007/02/02 meeting:
      1. DONE: Jason: send meeting reminders 1 day and 1 hour before meetings
      2. ACTION: Aaron: talk to David Percy before next meeting
      3. DONE: Jason: send out message to re-review the call and requirements by noon tomorrow PST
      4. ACTION: Dave: need to find out from Olivier re use of INDICO
      5. DONE: Dave: email Lorenzo re attending next week's meeting to discuss use of LiveCD
      6. DONE: Dave: review action items from earlier in the meeting
      7. DONE: Dave: prepare agenda for next week's meeting
   2. Status of help from Jody
   3. need a way to track the submissions like last year's INDICO system
   4. possibility of some sort of "facility" at the conference where workshop presenters can arrive and get help (financially and technically) getting copies, CD's, etc
   5. video of conference - is there an 'external resource' that could be used to manage this?
   6. Ominiverdi LiveCD: mailing list email from Lorenzo
4. New Business
   1. nominate and confirm new committee chair
   2. review committee membership
   3. Status of workshop call, announcements, and feedback so far
   4. Policies & Procedures for workshop materials:
      1. who pays for workshop materials
      2. financial support by conference for workshop materials preparation
      3. guidelines for workshop materials (format, length, etc)
   5. Guidelines for types of workshop:
      from #osgeo, 2007/02/06
      

      12:54:38 jgarnett:  aside: #geoserver meeting trying to come up with workshop topics   12:54:59 jgarnett:  how "advanced" should workshops go?

   6. Specs for rental computers
   7. Other New Business

2007/02/02

• IRC Log
• Action Items arising from meeting:
  • ACTION: Jason: send meeting reminders 1 day and 1 hour before meetings
  • ACTION: Aaron: talk to David Percy before next meeting
  • ACTION: Jason: send out message to re-review the call and requirements by noon tomorrow PST
  • ACTION: -----: need to find out from Olivier re use of INDICO
  • ACTION: Dave: email Lorenzo re attending next week's meeting to discuss use of LiveCD
  • ACTION: Dave: review action items from earlier in the meeting
  • ACTION: Dave: prepare agenda for next week's meeting
• Agenda:

1. Select Meeting chair
2. Set date/time for next meeting
3. Old Business (based on Log from 2007/01/26 meeting)
   1. Jason: did you get in contact with Jody (jgarnett)?
   2. who will send out meeting reminders, and when
   3. Aaron: did you get in contact with David Percy?
   4. do we have a "set of questions/needs for the full committee to answer"?
   5. theme rooms, and creating tracks after workshop submissions received
   6. in 2006, workshops were 3.5 hours, including 30 minute break
   7. What about podcast/video of the workshops and presentations
   8. workshop details needed before call for abstracts (room sizes, number of machines, etc.)
   9. need a way to track the submissions like last year's INDICO system
   10. Olivier: did you contact the 2006 local committee re setting up an instance of INDICO for use for 2007 (for workshop submission tracking)?
   11. possibilities re adding more workshop time at the start/end of the conference?
4. New Business
   1. for any "to do" items that come up in meetings, use "ACTION: name" on IRC to flag who is to take care of that item
   2. review Call For Workshops Content:
      1. Hyperbole
      2. Submission Requirements
   3. Ominiverdi LiveCD: mailing list email from Lorenzo
   4. date when call for workshops will be ready for announcement
   5. rooms for workshops - establish minimum allocations Workshop Rooms
   6. computer resources - current availability, and desired target Computers

2007/01/26

• IRC Log
• Agenda: There was no set agenda

List of workshop submissions

FOSS4G2007_Workshop_Submissions

Criteria used by the workshop committee to review workshop submissions

1. meets conference mandate:
   1. matches with the themes of the conference
   2. makes use of software that is both "free" and "open source"
2. submission's technical requirements can be met by the conference facilities
3. likelyhood of a quality workshop:
   1. successful workshop presented at prior FOSS4G conference
   2. expertise of the workshop presenter in the workshop subject matter
   3. any relevant input from workshop evaluations collected by FOSS4G2006, or personal experience of workshops presented by the presenter(s) at other conferences
   4. demonstrates practical applications
4. expected level of interest in the workshop topic

Scoring

The range of scores to be used is 0 through 5:

 0 = does not meet any of the criteria
 1 = barely meets some of the criteria, and doesn't meet some of the criteria
 3 = average
 5 = meets or exceeds all of the criteria

The goal is to end up with a score in the range of 0-5 for the workshop. Two ways to do the scoring:

1. Use the provided spreadsheet, which allows for a score for each criterion. Divide the "Total Score" by 4 to get the 'score for the workshop'. Doing it this way makes it easy to see any workshops that received a zero for any criterion. Despite the 'total score', workshops that have a zero score for any criterion deserve further examination as to their suitability for the conference.
2. Use the provided spreadsheet, but just assign an overall score of 0-5 for the workshop. If, as part of doing this, you think a workshop would score zero on any criterion, make a note, and bring it up in the discussions, because workshops that have a zero score for any criterion deserve further examination as to their suitability for the conference.

Timetable for workshop submissions review process

A private mailing list ("the list") was setup March 7, 2007 for use by the workshop committee.

1. March 7 to 11
   • on the list, discussions about the review process
   • all committee members review the documents and get familiar with the workshop submissions
2. March 12
   • IRC meeting to finalize review criteria and the 'scoring' system
   • committee members start 'scoring' the workshops listed in the "FOSS4G2007 Workshop Submissions-Half Day" spreadsheet
3. March 15, midnight PDT
   • deadline for committee members to provide their 'score' for each of the half-day workshops
4. March 16
   • committee chair creates a summary spreadsheet of the half-day workshop submissions showing each committee member's score for each workshop, and a cumulative 'total score', with the worksheet sorted by 'total score', and make that spreadsheet available to the committee members via Google Docs
   • committee members start 'scoring' the workshops in the "FOSS4G2007 Workshop Submissions-90-Minute" spreadsheet
   • start discussions, if needed, to adjust the ranked list of half-day workshops
5. March 18, midnight PDT
   • deadline for committee members to provide their 'score' for each of the 90-minute workshops
6. March 19
   • committee chair creates a summary spreadsheet of the 90-minute workshop submissions showing each committee member's score for each workshop, and a cumulative 'total score', with the worksheet sorted by 'total score', and make that spreadsheet available to the committee members via Google Docs
   • start discussions, if needed, to adjust the ranked list of 90-minute workshops
7. March 20, noon PDT
   • final deadline for any 'tweaking' of the ranked lists of the half-day and 90-minute workshop submissions
   • committee chair prepares the final versions of the relevant documents/spreadsheets, which will be forwarded to the conference organizing committee so they have time to review before their meeting on March 22nd

Workshops Notes

Note: Some of the information below is out of date.

Workshop Duration and Scheduling

http://www.foss4g2007.org/program_overview.html

Hardware

• 40 computers in the rental budget
• another 20 slated as loaners from Nanaimo
• other options? (bring-your-own etc.)

Room Availability

?

Software Installation

• LiveCD for Linux
• MS4W installer for Windows
• other?
• attendees come with laptops and software installed?

Other

• local person to deal with venue's tech staff?

Questions for Organising Committee

• Number and dimension of rooms, tables (how many PCs /people can we fit in a room)

Feedback from Past Conferences (things to note)

• overcrowded workshops are bad
• registrants could possibly list their "top 4" workshop selections
• LiveCD for linux workshops very successful
• grouping workshops by room "theme" successful (MapServer room, GRASS room, ...)
• foss4g2006 workshops wiki : http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/Foss4g2006_wks
• foss4g2006 workshops rooms : http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/FOSS4G2006#Rooms
• foss4g2006 number of attendees per workshop : http://www.foss4g2006.org/site/pdf/WksNbOfAttendees.pdf