FOSS4GV 2012

With the unfortunate cancellation of FOSS4G 2012 the community has been left with a conference hole. While there are regional conferences and FOSS4G 2013 there to fill some of the gap we're still left without a proper venue to present this year's product updates, new ideas, and research to the OSGEO community. I propose FOSS4GV, a virtual conference, in addition to the existing regional conferences.

FOSS4GV 2012 in Cyberspace

The idea is simple, a series of presentations and discussions held virtually. While this doesn't provide the socializing, workshops, code sprints, and other aspects of a full conference, it's at least a way to talk about your latest achievements and foster a real-time discussion.

How so we make it happen?

I'm willing to act as the organizer but I'll need help. I've never organized a conference (real or virtual) so I'll need help getting presenters and marketing the event. Please contact me if you are interested in helping. @retrev on twitter or tclarke at ball dot com

When will this happen?

Since FOSS4G normally occurs in the fall, I think we should plan on running the event around the same time as the original FOSS4G. (perhaps a few weeks later to give everyone more time) The event would be much shorter than a normal conference. Either a one day even or perhaps a couple of afternoons.

Where will this happen?

I'm open to suggestions but I'm leaning towards Google+ Hangouts On Air. It's free, automatically saves the talks to Youtube, and works well with a large number of viewers.

What will happen?

This will depend on who we can get to present. I'd like to see a couple of tracks running simultaneously but if there are not enough presenters, we can run a single track. I expect half hour presentation and q&a sessions will probably work out. Should there be an Ignite! session? Technically, I think this would work just fine but I'm not sure how Ignite! will work without a live audience for feedback. I'm not sure about a full academic track since we'd need peer review and publication (even virtual) for that to work well. Does anyone know how far Beijing got through the submissions? If there were already some academic papers accepted or in-process we could start with those.