[KDE-India] Fwd: [foss.in] CfP Announced

Pradeepto Bhattacharya pradeeptob at gmail.com
Thu Oct 9 09:13:27 CEST 2008 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Kishore Bhargava <kishore at linkaxis.com>
Date: Thu, Oct 9, 2008 at 2:47 AM
Subject: [foss.in] CfP Announced
To: foss-in at yahoogroups.com


All:

The CfP is finally out, check the main site (http://foss.in) for
details. Text version below:


FOSS.IN/2008: Call for Participation
====================================
Much awaited and slightly delayed, we are finally ready with the CfP.
Time is short, so please read through carefully and get ready with your
proposals. The registration system will open from October 10, 2008.

Introduction
============

FOSS.IN is a contributor event, focusing on development efforts in FOSS
from India. This is a Call for Participation inviting proposals for
talks and FOSS WorkOuts at FOSS.IN/2008

Format
======

FOSS.IN/2008 will have significantly fewer talks than previous editions
of the event. The focus of FOSS.IN/2008 will be FOSS developers working
together, attempting to tackle challenges in the FOSS world. In order to
facilitate this, this year's edition of FOSS.IN will be centered around
"FOSS WorkOuts".

FOSS WorkOuts
=============

FOSS WorkOuts are developer-led sessions with a focus on tackling real
challenges in a project. Each WorkOut will occur in a single hall for 3
hours, either in the morning session, or post-lunch session. Special
requests may be made for day-long WorkOuts.

WorkOuts are to be proposed via the FOSS.IN contact system. The proposer
is expected to drive the session as the WorkOut Lead. Accepted WorkOuts
will be published as per the schedule below, following which interested
delegates may request to be part of the WorkOut using the registration
system. The WorkOut Lead will then select the participants based on the
problems at hand and the skills required to solve them. At the end of
each day, the WorkOut Lead will present a summary, and possibly a demo,
of the challenges addressed during FOSS.IN.

A proposal for a WorkOut must contain the following information:

* Purpose of the session — issue(s) being tackled
* Agenda to solve these issues. This includes:
  * What needs to be achieved before the event
  * What will be done at the event
  * Link to a planning page/mail thread
* Pre-requisites for participants, such as:
  * Code to be familiar with
  * Tools required
  * Special Hardware or Software Requirements

Remember that a well-defined agenda with very specific goals is far more
likely to be accepted than a vaguely defined or overly ambitious one.

Keynotes
========

There will be a keynote at the start of each day of FOSS.IN/2008, as
well as the end of the final day. Keynotes will be in-depth, technical
talks from well-established contributors in the FOSS world. The event
opening keynote will be by an Indian FOSS contributor and sets the tone
for the event. Only the closing keynote on the final day will be on a
non-technical, but relevant topic.

Talks
=====

Other than keynotes, FOSS.IN/2008 will have three to five talks per day,
held in the Main Auditorium. Each talk will be between 45 - 75 minutes
in length. Talks are expected to be technical in nature, and targeted
towards an audience of contributors, with an emphasis on where
contribution is required in the project, and how it may be achieved.
Speakers may submit talks via the speaker registration system. After the
deadline for talk submission, the organizers will publish the list of
accepted talks. Speakers are requested to submit slides in PDF format.
The organizers will then review the submitted slides and suggest
feedback if required. If a speaker fails to provide slides, the
organizers will select another talk to replace it. Please see below for
the various deadlines.

Talk proposals must have the following information:
 * Abstract
 * Intended audience, and prerequisites
 * Speaker's biography, including a list of contributions

While submitting a talk, speakers should ask themselves what their
audience will take away from the talk, and how it will help them
contribute to the project. Contribution is the key focus of the event
and all submissions will be judged on their relevance to increasing
contribution.

Project of the Day
==================

Every day at FOSS.IN/2008 will feature a Project of the Day. Talks
related to the Project of the Day will be held at the 250-seater SDA
Auditorium. The Project of the Day session will begin after the morning
keynote and feature a set of talks and hands-on/hacking sessions.
Talks for the Project of the Day must be submitted in the same manner as
other talks. This must be followed by a Letter of Intent from a
contributor to the project, which must be submitted via the contact
system and contain the following information:

 * Proposer's name
 * Proposer's role in the project
 * Agenda for the Project of the Day session
 * Proposed schedule of the day

As with talks and WorkOuts, Project of the Day sessions must be aimed at
getting contribution towards solving very specific problems or
challenges in the project (although they might be slightly more focused
towards newer contributors). Submissions consisting of generalised
material are not likely to be accepted.

Free-schedule events (BoFs)
===========================

In addition to the above, there will be Birds of a Feather sessions —
freely scheduled discussions in 15-20 seater tents behind the the main
auditorium. These will be available throughout the day on all days of
the conference. The length of each session will be variable, but in
general will be about an hour, with a granularity of 15 minutes. Formal
BoFs must be announced before 11:00 am of the day it is scheduled to
happen. There will be a dedicated registration desk for registering new
BoFs.

Travel Support for Speakers
===========================

Speakers and WorkOut Leads do not pay a registration fee. The travel
budget, particularly for international speakers, is severely limited
this year. We encourage speakers to seek funding from their employers or
FOSS agencies. We request all potential speakers to seek travel
sponsorship only after they have tried all other avenues. Travel
sponsorship is NOT guaranteed in any way, and will be available only in
exceptional cases.

Important Dates
===============

Talks
09-Oct-2008 | Call for Participation
10-Oct-2008 | Talk proposal registrations begin
16-Oct-2008 | End of submissions of FOSS WorkOut and Project of the Day
proposals
18-Oct-2008 | Due date for Talk abstracts (no submissions after this date)
22-Oct-2008 | List of selected talks and PotDs published
22-Oct-2008 | End of registration of WorkOut participants
25-Oct-2008 | Due date for final slides & talk materials
25-Nov-2008 | Conference begins

WorkOuts
09-Oct-2008 | Call for Participation
10-Oct-2008 | FOSS WorkOut proposal registrations begin
16-Oct-2008 | End of submissions of FOSS WorkOut proposals
18-Oct-2008 | List of accepted FOSS WorkOuts published
18-Oct-2008 | Registration of WorkOut participants starts
23-Oct-2008 | End of registration of WorkOut participants
25-Oct-2008 | Accepted WorkOut participants published
25-Nov-2008 | Conference begins

Publication Rights
==================

The conference requires non-exclusive, unrestricted publication rights
to submitted presentations including the publication of audio and video
recordings of the proceedings. Copyright is retained by the author. To
ensure this, no speaker will be allowed to present without first
clicking/signing a permission document, allowing us to use the material
(slides, video and audio recordings of the presentation, supporting
material, etc.) in a non-exclusive, unrestricted manner, preferably
under a Creative Commons License.

------------------------------------

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