DebConf feed

DebConf10 call for contributions

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:29:00 UTC

The Debconf team is excited to announce that we are now accepting proposals for contributions to this year’s Debian conference! We invite you to submit proposals for how you would contribute until the deadline: May 1st, 2010, 23h59 UTC.

There are many ways you can contribute, you could present a technical paper, host a panel discussion, put on a tutorial, do a performance, an art installation, a debate, host a meeting (BoFs, or Birds of a Feather Session), or other possibilities that you devise. This year we are also accepting proposals for tracks—a thematic grouping around a particular subject, and people to coordinate those tracks. If you are looking for ideas of things that you could contribute, or have ideas for things that you would like to see happen at Debconf, have a look at the Contribution Brainstorm page.

DebConf talks will be broadcast live on the Internet where possible, unless otherwise requested. Videos of the talks will be published on the web along with the presentation slides and papers.

Step 1. Submit Proposal

Proposals should provide an overview of your proposed contribution, similar to an abstract, and be no more than 600 words. Since contributions can cover a range of issues, please describe what your proposal covers, be it political (Free Software, law, advocacy, access, etc.), technical (d-i, OpenPGP, etc.), social (Debian structures and groups). It’s okay to hit all three of these. Your proposal should also include some information on why you’re qualified to present, or coordinate this topic. For example, you can include links to posts you have made to Debian mailing lists or other material that indicates your qualifications. Proposals and their abstracts will be accepted until May 1st, 2010, 23h59 UTC.

To submit your proposal, go to http://debconf10.debconf.org/register.xhtml and register as an attendee. Once you are registered, there is a “Submit a proposal” link. You will see your proposal on the site. You can choose between different presentation types. If you are unsure what type you should use, please read our definitions first. If it’s not there for some reason, or you have questions, please contact us immediately.

Step 2. Committee Review

The review committee for this year will make its decision by May 1st, 2010. All correspondence will be done by email.

Step 3. Paper Submission

Like last year, we are asking for papers to be submitted along with the presentations. A full paper is optional, however we strongly encourage you to submit one if possible as we intend to provide written information along with transcripts of the sessions for later viewing. Having written papers in advance will allow us to get translations done to help non-native-English speakers feel more comfortable with the topics presented. Papers are due by July 1st, 2010, and should cover the topic in reasonable depth (3 pages A4 text, plus pictures and diagrams). We will use LaTeX to typeset the proceedings. Please submit your paper formatted in LaTeX. Should you be unfamiliar with LaTeX earlier submission in plain text is also fine.

Step 4. Live Presentation

Longer presentations may have a break in the middle and should include workshop items that directly involve the participants. If using slides or any other presentation, please consider that your audience will consist of people who use free software, and your choice of application to prepare and display the slides should reflect this if at all possible.

Fine Print Publication Rights

Debconf requires non-exclusive publication rights to papers, presentations, and any additional handouts or audio/visual materials used in conjunction with the presentation. The authors have the freedom to pick a DFSG-free license for the papers themselves and retain all copyrights. The presentations will be recorded, and may be broadcast over the Internet. Any copies of the presentation will be made available under a license like the MIT/X11 license.

Failure to Submit

In the event that a deadline is missed we reserve the right to revoke any offer to present.

Registration now open for DebConf10

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 03:59:00 UTC

Registration is now open for DebConf10. The dates of the conference are August 1-7, 2010, with arrivals at our group lodging permitted as of 3 PM on July 31 and departures required by 11 AM on August 8. The conference is preceded by DebCamp from July 25-31 including the arrival day. To receive announcements regarding DebConf and DebCamp, please subscribe to the debconf-announce mailing list.

In order to avoid spamming Planet Debian with a long post detailing registration procedure, travel sponsorship, DebCamp info, and cost of attendance, please instead see the DebConf10 website’s registration page to answer all your questions. As always, feel free to contact the DebConf team via email or IRC for answers not provided by the website.

DebConf10 is going to be great. We’re looking forward to seeing you in New York in August!

— the DebConf team

DebConf10 dates and venue announced

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:29:00 UTC

The DebConf10 team just sent out a press release announcing the dates and venue for DebConf10 in New York City. Most of the readers of this blog already saw it through some other list, so I’ll just put the dates here and provide the full text plus other relevant info via links.

Dates: July 25-31, 2010 will be DebCamp and August 1-7, 2010 will be DebConf.
Press release text
First press coverage in response to our announcement
Main conference website
Visa info
Email address for visa help(read the visa info page before emailing)
Yes, thanks to Valessio Brito we already have “I’m going to DebConf10” buttons.

We hope to see many of you there!

DebConf10 visa information available

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:29:00 UTC

Hello,

The DebConf10 local team would like to announce availability of visa information at http://debconf10.debconf.org/visas.xhtml

Full information is contained at that page, provided by our lawyer; however some important points are indicated below.

- The United States depends on its tens of millions of visitors annually for its economy to function. Getting approved for a visa is not a rare exception, and it is even easier given our generous free help from an immigration lawyer.

- If you are from a Visa Waiver Program country (see visa page), fill out the ESTA web form to apply for your travel authorization now. You don’t need any information about the conference itself or your means of travel.

- If you will need to apply for a visa, check the visa information page for information on what to do. Carefully check the wait times for your country’s embassy. For most countries there is no *immediate* urgency, but plan to get an appointment well in advance of May 2010.

- Make sure you will have a passport that will expire in February 2011 or later (6 months after the latest possible DebConf date). If not, apply for a new passport.

Special note to Venezuelans: Since the wait time for a visa appointment in Caracas is so long, we have been paying special attention to its visa application process. We have reports that the dates for visa appointments are moving quickly, getting later and later. If you are are applying for a visa in Caracas, you need to make an appointment immediately. You just need to make an appointment now, supporting materials can be assembled later. Also consider applying for a visa in a different US embassy such as the Quito, Ecuador one with a significantly shorter wait time. Consult with our lawyer for advice on the advantages and disadvantages of doing this.

The local team hopes that everyone interested can meet us in New York City and have a great DebConf10 experience! Feel free to email us (publicly archived list) or ask in #debconf-team or #debconf-nyc on OFTC with your questions or ideas.

- The DebConf10 Local Team

DebConf9 Feedback system

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:55:00 UTC

While DebConf9 is over, there are still things to do, we are not done yet. There is even one thing every attendee can do: Give Feedback!

Did you attend an event during DebConf9? Did you like it? Was the speaker competent? Or could they improve something? Help them by telling it. Just go to the schedule, select the event you attended and follow the link in the “Feedback” box. You can rate the speaker in 5 different ways and even leave a text comment for them. (Please note that your name will not be shown to the speaker).

Have you been a speaker? Want to see what attendees thought about your performance? Go to the submission interface, select your event and look into the “Feedback” tab.

DebCamp9 video streams

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:19:00 UTC

DebConf9 has finally begun with OpenDay today, Information about video streams is available on our wiki and now I need to stop blogging for our daily organisational meeting, which we conviniently timed at lunch time, so we have a good reason to keep it short :-)

We are still looking for volunteers for various jobs: food ticket checking, frontdesk work, videoteam work, announcing the speakers and making sure everything is fine with the talks - so if you are here and can spare a few hours once or on several days, please come to frontdesk and speak with us!

Enjoy!

DebCamp9 haz internets

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:59:00 UTC

The basic infrastructure has already been set up: we have internet at the main venue \o/ via a 20mbit symetric connection. Currently cat5 cables are being placed in the venue, the work to setup the wireless APs has begun, we have a basic frontdesk and the catering is also already providing us with food. Even the temperature is still bearable - inside and outside in the shadow ;-)

What we are lacking mostly atm are attendees and volunteers - if you can dedicate some time during DebConf or Camp, please talk to the frontdesk and look at our ToDo list.

DebConf9 schedule

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:09:00 UTC

The schedule for the upcoming DebConf9 is available. Most of it should be set already, but of course there still can be small changes until the conference starts, and honestly, until it ends :-) But we will try our best to avoid changes less then 48h in advance - and we count on you all here :-)

As usual we offer various ways to access the schedule:

Plain nice html export, available for everyone without needing a login.

The same as above but needs a login to access. This one has one extra feature above the non-login version, you can rate an event and its speaker(s) after you attended it.

An iCal file

A xCal file

A XML file

This should leave enough options for you to deal with it, have fun. :)

DebConf9 CfP will end soon

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:39:00 UTC

This blog post is mostly a test to see the engine is still working… :-)

But I don’t think it hurts to mention that the deadline for registration and for submitting talks and workshops is in 8 days, so hurry up, if you haven’t already! Of course you can also register later, but then you won’t get sponsored and maybe won’t get a timeslot for your proposal.

That’s all for now, stay tuned for more!

DebConf Talk Feedback

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 22:23:00 UTC

Like last year, we have a feedback system available again. If you attended an event during DebConf and want to give feedback on it, including free-form text to the presenter, this is your chance!

As an attendee

To give feedback please look at the schedule and select the event you want to comment on. You will notice a box saying Did you attend this event? Give Feedback, follow its link and fill out the form.

As a speaker

If you want to see what feedback your event got, please log in to the submission system and select the event you want to know more about. You will see a tab named Feedback, behind which you can find all the newly-written love letters.

DebConf Gallery

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:21:00 UTC

As in previous years we have a DebConf Gallery running.

We would like to encourage people who have taken pictures around DebCamp, DebConf and DebianDay to upload them to gallery.debconf.org.

The server is open for everyone but accounts need to be activated by admins to avoid spam. If you create an account and it isn’t confirmed within 2 hours, feel free to talk to one of the admins in person or on IRC.

DebConf 8 website: a call for help

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:15:00 UTC

DebConf 8 is approaching and our website is clearly not what we’d like it to be. It turns out that compiling all the useful stuff that travellers might need is not easy, so we kindly ask you —dear lazyweb—, to lend us a hand.

The most important thing we need, is to recognise missing data. When you’re a local, is difficult to know what foreigners might need to know. So, even if you don’t know the country, your different point of view could help.

The second thing is to actually get articles written, some stuff ought to be written by locals, but the majority can be researched from the web (as we already did!). Proof-reading and checking translation is also appreciated.

Send us your patches, comments and suggestions to the website queue at the RT system, or contact Tincho@OFTC. Don’t sweat over formatting: plain text is OK, if you want to provide markup, please use very spartan XHTML Strict.

Talks for DebianDay wanted

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:24:00 UTC

This year, DebianDay will take place in Buenos Aires, on Monday August 18th, the day after DebConf ends. We are still in need of talks for DebianDay, so, if you are coming to DebConf and you’ll be staying a few more days in Argentina after the conference, you are invited to give a talk on whatever you want as long as it’s Debian related.

Some suggestions for talk subjects for DebianDay:

Debian in Latin America
Internationalization in Debian
How to help Debian
Debian Live
Making a Debian derivative distribution
Packaging for Debian
… And anything else you feel might be interesting to people who are not DDs, but are interested in Debian.

We are planning on having two tracks, one for newbies and one for advanced talks; talks in Spanish are welcome, but don’t worry if you don’t speak the language, for talks in English, we will probably have a translator.

To submit a talk, just log in to your DebConf account and click in the “New event/Paper” link.

Reconfirmation deadline approaching

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:14:00 UTC

June 15th is the last day to reconfirm your attendance to DebConf8. If you are certain that you are coming, please reconfirm by setting the ‘Reconfirm Attendance’ box in your PentaBarf’s account.

If you have decided not to come to DebConf8, we are truly sorry about it, but we ask you to please state this by unchecking the ‘I want to attend this conference box’.

Currently, 397 people have registered for DebConf8, 340 plan to attend, but only 122 have reconfirmed (live stats).

DebConf8 Travel Sponsorship

Mon, 26 May 2008 23:49:00 UTC

I finally sent out a flood of mails to those people that applied for Travel Sponsorship for this years Debian Conference in Argentina. We have 58 people who got a position in our sponsorship queue, asking for nearly 60.000 USD in total. We are not yet sure if we are able to reimburse all of them, but we will at least try to.

We also have 24 people rejected from this queue and possibly some people haven’t been able to fill out their settings in our conference management system correctly/in time. While we are sorry for them, we can’t do much here.