OSGeo at Where PressEvent

The Press Event will be:

• Wednesday, June 14
• Time: During Lunchtime - we are investigating getting lunch catered.
• Location: TBD
• Participants: 4-6 developers. Members of the press will be invited. Room capacity is 20 people.

This will follow the keynotes on Wednesday morning so this is nice timing. There is nothing going on during this lunch hour and there is no exhibit hall during this time.

Michael Gerlek is coordinating this event, but will not be able to attend. We are looking for an on-site volunteer to help host and execute this event.

Kirsten Davidson (kirsten.davidson@autodesk.com) is the Autodesk coordinator for this.

Need to a one-page handout for the press with names spelled properly, critical URLs, key messages, etc.

Suggested agenda:

• moderator introduces 4 panel members

• moderator introduces theme
  • I'm thinking of something readily consumable by the press and suitable for sound-bites along the lines of "What is Driving Open Source Adoption in GIS Today?" (alternatives welcome)
  • I'm inclined to not make it too technical, as in addition to the usual GIS media there may well be mainstream tech press there from Big Media like San Jose Merc, WSJ, or NYT

• each panel member gives a 1-2 minute (no more!) opening

• <much active discussion ensues>
  • this is where the press gets to ask questions
  • moderator gently aids in keeping discussion alive, as needed
  • moderator may interject preplanned, leading questions like
    • "So just how many copies of MapServer were downloaded last year?"
    • "Is it true that both ESRI and Google Earth wouldn't exist today without GDAL?" (tee-hee)

• at the end of the session, each panel member gets a 1 minute wrap-up

Possible Participants:

• Moderator
  • Rich Gibson - (title?)
  • (confirmed)

• Dave McIlhagga - President & CEO of DM Solutions
  • voice for: corporate provider of open source solutions (small team division)
  • (confirmed)

• Frank Warmerdam - President of OSGeo and GDAL Lead
  • voice for: OSGeo Foundation
  • voice for: developer community
  • (confirmed)

• SUGGESTION: Gary Lang - Vice President of Engineering at Autodesk
  • voice for: corporate provider of open source solutions (large team division), corporate acceptance and transition)
  • voice for: mainstream/close-source corporate acceptance of and transition to open source
  • (being confirmed)

• Schuyler Erle - (title)
  • voice for: developer community, open data, etc
  • (confirmed)