FOSS4G 2009 Press Release 26

_DRAFT_

= Sign up for FOSS4G bonus activities =

Sydney, Australia. 14 August 2009. http://2009.foss4g.org

The FOSS4G conference is famous for its community driven, extra-curricular activities and wiki pages are now open for community members to define these activities for 2009. So if you want to get more out of FOSS4G than just listening, if you have a topic you want to discuss, a message you want to share, a product you want to show off, or you want to network with like minded people, then please consider adding your name to one of the following activities.

Birds of a Feather
Semi-organised meetings between people with specific shared interests. If you have a discussion topic or project in mind and want to coordinate a BoF session, please add it to our working list. http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_2009_BirdsOfAFeather

OSGeo AGM
OSGeo's Annual General Meeting which will hear reports from Local Chapters and OSGeo Committees. http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Annual_General_Meeting_2009

Installfest
At the start of the conference, community members will be helping delegates install a wide variety of FOSS software on delegates laptops. Add the name of your project and yourself to the wiki if you will be attending. See also the Live DVD. http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_2009_InstallFest

Posters
Limited poster boards will be on hand for the duration of the conference. Add your proposed project and contact details to the wiki so we can determine how big posters should be, and how many we can accept. Monitor poster discussion on the foss4g email list. http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_2009_Posters

Demo Theater
Ten minute product presentation slots will be running during morning tea and lunch breaks. These presentations are being offered first to sponsors, then to community members. Contact the coordinators if you wish to be involved. http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_2009_Demonstration_Theatre

Live DVD
A Linux based Live DVD, with windows installers, will be provided to all delegates. This disk will further be available for use at conferences and marketing events around the world long after FOSS4G. This is a huge marketing opportunity, but is currently under-resourced; there is a chance we will be left using the same DVD produced for the 2008 conference. If you are a good community organisor, or a wiz technical geek, please help out with this activity. http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_2009_Live_DVD

Code Sprint
Saturday after FOSS4G: Passionate programmers + pizza + caffeine + whiteboards + wireless = great software advancements. Add a project you wish to work on, a coordinator, and goals for your code sprint. http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_2009_Code_Sprint

The Climate Change Integration Plugfest (CCIP)
A demonstration of standards based interoperability between Open Source and Proprietary geospatial applications based on a Climate Change Scenario, being coordinated by the OGC. Contact Raj Singh if interested. http://external.opengis.org/twiki_public/bin/view/ClimateChallenge2009/WebHome

Volunteers
Want to help out with all the extra little jobs, or need volunteers for specific activities? http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_2009_Volunteers

=About FOSS4G= The Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) conference, coming to Sydney, Australia, 20-23 October 2009, attracts presentations from the world's best Developers, Policy Makers, Sponsors and Geospatial Professionals in the area of geospatial applications, standards, government programs, business processes and case studies. Topics include mobile platforms, location based applications, crowd sourcing, cloud computing, development, spatial standards, integration of cross-agency data, Spatial Data Infrastructures, Sensor Webs, Web Processing Services, Integration of Open Source and Proprietary Software and more.

http://2009.foss4g.org

Upcoming milestones

 * 14 Sep 2009, Completed program available
 * 20 Oct 2009, FOSS4G Workshop
 * 21-23 Oct 2009, FOSS4G Presentations and Tutorials
 * 24 Oct 2009, FOSS4G Code Sprint

Media Sponsors

 * Position Magazine: http://www.positionmag.com.au/
 * Asian Surveying and Mapping Newsletter: http://www.asmmag.com
 * Geoconnexions Magazine: http://www.geoconnexion.com/
 * Directions Magazine: http://directionsmag.com/
 * GIS Development: http://gisdevelopment.net/
 * Baliz Media: http://www.BALIZ-MEDIA.com/

For more information or to keep informed from the FOSS4G Organising Committee, join our email list or twitter feed at: http://2009.foss4g.org/contacts/

or contact:

Cameron Shorter, Chair of the FOSS4G Organising Committee and Geospatial Systems Architect at LISAsoft

tel +61-2-8570-5050

c a m e r o n. s h o r t e r @ l i s a s o f t. c o m