FOSS4G2008 Call for papers
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Call for Workshops
Preliminary Version
Subject: FOSS4G 2008 Call for Workshops
The FOSS4G (Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial) conference is pleased to announce the Call for Workshops for the 2008 conference, which is being held September 29 - October 3 in Cape Town, South Africa.
FOSS4G is the premier conference for the open source geospatial community, providing a place for developers, users, and people new to open source geospatial to get a full-immersion experience in both established and leading edge geospatial technologies.
This year’s FOSS4G conference is a bit different than prior FOSS4G conferences, because it incorporates GISSA 2008, the main GIS Conference on the South African calendar. GISSA is primarily attended by people who are not yet familiar with FOSS4G. However, the South African government has made a strategic commitment to FOSS. This has created a clamour for more information about FOSS4G. The FOSS4G Organising Committee believes that immersive workshops could play a crucial role in convincing people that FOSS4G is "An Option for Developing Nations". FOSS4G offers an opportunity to experience FOSS working alongside more well known proprietary software.
Come to Cape Town to showcase your favorite application, integration solution, or other topic, and get the excitement bubbling. You will use your superior classroom skills to lead a group of attendees through your chosen topic in either a half-day Workshop or ninety minute Lab session.
No restrictions are placed on topics for workshops, but we expect interest to be high for workshops on:
- Practical Introduction to ________________
- Interoperability
- Exposure to a Software Stack
- Fitting FOSS4G into the enterprise
- Using FOSS4G to solve __________________
In addition, FOSS4G plays strongly in emerging spaces, so Workshops/Labs with NeoGeography-like themes, or on new directions, will be welcome and are likely to be fresh topics for many attendees.
Workshops and Labs are hands-on events, with participants seated in front of computers and able to follow along with the instructor, working directly with the software and applications under discussion. There will be two computer labs with close to 50 computers each, with two people per computer. So your audience will be close to 100. Depending on your input we are still flexible about operating systems and other choices, so whatever your idea, submit a proposal.
Workshops/Labs require considerable preparation. Past experience has shown that a high quality Workshop requires about three days of preparation for each hour of classroom time. As part of this preparation you will be expected to develop material for attendees to take away with them, such as handouts, a "workbook", CDROM, etc.
In recognition of this effort, Workshop/Lab Instructors will receive a reduction in the price of conference registration:
- Free registration for delivering a half-day Workshop
- Half price registration for delivering a 90-minute Lab
If your topic can be delivered in either a half-day or 90-minute format, you may want to consider submitting two versions of your topic, because the number of Workshops and Labs is limited. It is unlikely that your topic will be selected for delivery in both formats. You are welcome to submit Workshop/Lab proposals for more than one topic. There are slots available for six half day workshops and twenty Labs
Please visit the Call for Papers page on our website to receive instructions for submitting a Workshops/Lab proposal: http://conference.osgeo.org/index.php/foss4g/2008/shedConf/cfp
The deadline for Workshop/Lab proposals submission is 15 April, 2008. You will hear whether your proposal has been accepted by 30 April, after which you will be required to register for the conference to confirm your attendance, as well as subscribe to the conference workshops mailing list (http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference-workshops), which will be the forum for discussing your Workshop/Lab development, progress, and logistics with the Workshop Committee, members of the OSGeo community, and fellow Instructors.