Hello This is a thank you to all those people and organisations that positively contributed to the Linux Conference Australia (LCA) (www.linux.conf.au) and LCA OpenOffice.org Miniconference (http://openoffice.org.nz/miniconf/index.php) held in Dunedin, New Zealand. Particularly our hosts, the LCA and miniconf organisers and committee who really did make us all feel welcome.
My message and thank yous are somewhat belated as we had a holiday travelling around the South Island after the conference finished. When I came back I needed to follow-up promptly those messages that arrived while I was on holiday as a result of my attendance at the conference. Nearer to the commencement date, I let the LCA miniconf organisers know that we had not received the interest that I had anticipated from people wishing to present at the OpenOffice.org Miniconf, and that perhaps we ought to withdraw, have only one day, or a BOF instead. LCA also had a wiki (http://wiki.lca2006.linux.org.au/) for attendees so I encouraged all those attending to suggest a session that they would be able to present, or if not a presentation to make suggestions as to what they want from the OpenOffice.org Miniconf on the wiki (http://wiki.lca2006.linux.org.au/OpenOffice.orgMiniconf). The LCA miniconf organisers expressed disappointment that we were considering down-sizing or withdrawing. Also, Glynn Foster reminded me (http://lists.ethernal.org/oldarchives/cantlug-0511/msg00061.html) that LCA miniconfs come together on the day, which is exactly what happened. So with renewed optimism I set out for New Zealand. Programme included: DAY 1 0900 Welcome and Q & A Session - Ian Laurenson and Jacqueline McNally 1100 OpenOffice.org Calc - Jim Watson 1200 --lunch-- 1300 Introduction to Macros - Ian Laurenson 1400 Q & A Session: FixIT Session - Ian Laurenson 1500 XForms in OpenOffice.org - Jonathon Coombes DAY 2 0900 BASE - A Mobile Database Solution - Jonathon Coombes 1000 Creating Presentations with OpenOffice.org - Graham Lauder 1100 Building and Porting OpenOffice.org - Jim Watson 1200 --lunch-- 1300 The '.org' in OpenOffice.org - Jacqueline McNally 1400 OpenOffice.org Who's Who in Development - Jim Watson 1500 Q & A Session: Use and Development Questions Welcome - Panel of Presenters 1600 Building and Porting OpenOffice.org - Jim Watson We were slow to start as the room was difficult to find for most of the potential attendees. Some dropping into other miniconfs as our venue was the furtherest away with access from the back and outside of the building. The OpenOffice.org Miniconf was attended by a select few, 10 - 20 :) While 58 indicated that they were attending (based on registrations two weeks prior), the subscription process allows you to select none or all and I know I selected some miniconfs of which I attended nil as I was at the OpenOffice.org Miniconf full-time. But of those that came to one or both days, those that I spoke to stated that they were very pleased that they attended for a number of different reasons: * specific issues resoloved, worked around or submitted to OpenOffice.org's IssueTracker * finding out more about the development and use of OpenOffice.org * finding out more about the OpenOffice.org Project, e.g. how to submit issues, both bugs and request for enhancements * how to contribute to OpenOffice.org I would especially like to thank all that facilitated and formally presented a topic at the OpenOffice.org Miniconference. Especially Jonathon Coombes for formally responding to our call for papers and submitting topics from which it was difficult to choose between and then getting to present on most of them anyway. Ian Laurenson for sharing his skills and experience with regard to OpenOffice.org Calc and Writer in particular OpenOffice.org macros, guiding us through some awkward moments, and generally setting the pace and making it a friendly and fun filled two days. And no, Ian did not get us up to run up and down the stairs this time :) And Jim Watson for doggedly building OpenOffice.org with limited resources and equipment, and leading us through the journey of obtaining, building, problem solving, and porting OpenOffice.org. For those that did not stay on Tuesday. The build was completed! Jim has since documented how he does it, and you can see it here: http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/GNULinuxSparcPorting Jim has since updated this page to include "Building with GCC 4.1", see: http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/GNULinuxSparcPorting#Building_with_GCC_4.1 Note: Jim demonstrated on an Intel based box using Linux. Graham Lauder brought computers so that people without laptops could participate in the sessions and apply what they were learning as they go. There was much swapping of CDROMs and USB keys to get some of the computers loaded and running some programmes, but the presenters guided participants and themselves with aplomb around any hurdles when they occurred. Chris Maffey was unable to attend at the last minute, but courieried to my hotel a quantity of beautifully prepared OpenOffice.org CDROMs. Some in DVD cases and some in printed card sleeves. You can see pictures of them here: http://www.openoffice.org.nz/shop.php?PHPSESSID=2af2b5c6d804330f74a1b57663bb370b. They arrived during the second day of the OpenOffice.org Miniconference, but I forgot to go back to my accommodation on the day to check that they were there as I was caught up with talking to people that wished to catch up with me during the breaks. Fortunately, I was able to provide CDROMs during the rest of the conference week to all that asked, and the few that were left over I gave to John Jenkins of the Dunedin LUG for further distribution. The CDROMs that Chris generously provided included both Windows and Linux versions of OpenOffice.org as well as a collection of other free and open-source software. This was very useful as a couple of people had not quite made the switch to Linux or had someone that they wished to introduce OpenOffice.org that were currently using Windows. Also, as I was to find out in other sessions, there are a good many people in New Zealand that do not have a fast and reliable internet connection, so the CDROMs are an invaluable way of obtaining OpenOffice.org. I heard from colleagues that attended other miniconferences that a good number of the presenters used OpenOffice.org for their presentations, which is great. OpenOffice.org was often discussed by attendees - and not always in a good light. For this reason, I would like to recommend that people involved in the development of OpenOffice.org attend conferences instead of or in addition to people that say, are only involved in marketing. Why? Because many of the comments that I heard were related to the development methods and process, and I know that I personally don't have enough knowledge to refute or contribute to these types of discussions as I am not involved in the development. All the keynote speakers touched on or made special mention of interaction and open-source community issues. If these talks come available, I strongly recommend that you listen and or view the presentations given by David Miller [1], Damian Conway [2], and Mark Shuttleworth [3]. There is a lot that OpenOffice.org is getting right and it is our task to ensure that a lot more people know about it. Thanks again to those people who positively supported and contributed to the LCA OpenOffice.org Miniconf. [1] http://lca2006.linux.org.au/abstract.php?id=470 [2] http://lca2006.linux.org.au/abstract.php?id=462 [3] http://lca2006.linux.org.au/abstract.php?id=463 Regards Jacqueline McNally Lead, OpenOffice.org Marketing Project OOoCon2006 in Lyon (http://marketing.openoffice.org/conference/) Are you a computer angel? 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