I think we have to see how far interest in one goes before we talk
about regionals but as Evergreen grows anything is possible.
Quoting Wolf Halton <[email protected]>:
On Wed, Jul 11, 2012 at 2:24 PM, <[email protected]> wrote:
Proposing the 2012 Evergreen "Hack-A-Way"
As we closed out the last Evergreen conference the Oversight Committee
discussed looking at new ways to promote the common interests of the
community. As everyone knows, the Evergreen community is fairly young and
as it grows the Oversight Committee is finding it's way. The Oversight
Committee began as a way to put Evergreen's assets in the community's hands
and facilitate the local hosting of the annual conference. Today, I would
like to introduce a proposal for another task we would like to take upon
ourselves and for which I volunteer myself.
I call it the Hack-A-Way, both because the goal is to facilitate hacking
away at the code and as a pun off a getaway. In short, the goal is to
provide an opportunity, at the midway point each year between conferences,
for developers to meet in person and to continue the momentum they develop
at the conference. This goal came directly out of the developer community,
who find in person collaboration is extremely useful.
And frankly, promoting this labor benefits everyone. This can not be
under stated. I speak for the Oversight Committee when I say this is a
good idea. I speak for myself when I say this is a wonderful idea.
So, how do we make this happen?
I'm proposing a combination of use of a host's resources and soliciting
funds for this project. A working group is forming with some from the
Oversight Committee and some from the hosting site (once it's selected).
So, is this like a developer conference?
No. This will be much more low key, more motel than hotel and more take
out than fine dining. There won't be seminars or classes, unless they
spontaneously come out of the developers themselves. However, I will ask
for a local coordinator and ask for proposals from those willing to host
it. Those interested in hosting should send me an email stating their
interest and what they can provide (even meeting room space with Internet
is valuable) and who from their location can work with us. The most
qualified hosting site will be selected and we will work with them to
select dates.
How big are we talking?
We're talking fairly small at first, though the more developers who can
attend on their own dimes and the more grants we can give out will increase
it's size I'm sure. The developer community itself isn't very large.
Really, they do a lot of work relative to their size. This first year we
may be looking at anywhere from half a dozen to two dozen. Hopefully, in
future years with more time to prepare we can grow it a little bit and I'm
sure ideas will come out of the developer community to use the event to
it's fullest advantage.
Isn't this basically a hackfest?
Yes. I'm suggesting a name because as we go for sponsorships having an
identifiable name is useful and the term hackfest is used very generically.
So, what would funds go to?
Everyone able to afford their own expenses would be expected to. Ideally,
otherwise grants would be given out to help cover travel, food and lodging.
How many expenses we can cover will be determined by the number of
sponsorships we can gather and the more we have attend the more sponsors we
can probably solicit from. Any excess funds will go the community pool.
How would we qualify people?
Well, other than requiring that it be developers, we haven't figured that
out yet. But doubling up on rooms is encouraged.
What else will money be spent on?
Not much, but I do hope to supply them with copious amounts of caffiene so
assume a snacks and refreshment budget. Awake coders are productive coders.
Can non-developers attend?
This is something we really need feedback from the development community
on but the goal at this time is for this to be an event for those who
contribute code to Evergreen and perhaps others active in the technical
community, not to make it a mini conference.
So, where will this money come from?
Our goal is to seek sponorships for the event. Individual donors can
certainly give small amounts but we also hope that Evergreen related
businesses and large institutions will be willing to buy sponorships since
this work directly benefits them. The hat will get passed around. We
will provide sponsorship levels and we will be working on finding ways to
provide exposure for those willing to pay for higher level sponsorships and
thus provide an incentive for donors to dig deep.
- Rogan Hamby
Rogan,
I like this idea. Would there be any traction for regional-level
Hack-a-ways? If we didn't have to travel the budget for attending the
event would be more available.
Wolf Halton (LYRASIS)
--
This Apt Has Super Cow Powers - http://sourcefreedom.com
Open-Source Software in Libraries - http://FOSS4Lib.org
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Apache Open Office Developer [email protected]
----------------------
Rogan Hamby
Manager Rock Hill Library & Reference Services
York County Library System
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's
too dark
to read." - Groucho Marx
