[guadec-list] GUADEC 2008 - Just start Rocking

[Baris Cicek <baris teamforce name tr>]

Hi List; 

This is my first mail about GUADEC 2008, in past organization details
were rough and discussed on our local list and with private
communication, but since now we have more stuff to share and time to
start processing with whole community, rest of the discussion will move
on guadec-list and guadec-local in where Turkish language will be used
and local issues will be discussed. 

Let me first summarize what we have done and current situation: 

* After board's approval we started official talk with the ITU where
they pledged venue support. Our connection there is IT Club of the
University.

* We pre-booked venue for GUADEC date and give our official request
letter to University Administration. We were awaiting for approval so
fix the date. 

* Some emergency thing for us happened. The university student club is
closed by the University due to something unrelated with us. Their
pledge for support still valid, but without a body in that University it
would be a risk of further communication. 

* So, we started looking for another venue which we had been asked about
before we've sent proposal for help. And started communicating with
them. 

* First door we knocked was Bahcesehir University[1]. It's a private
university in Istanbul. It is better than our first venue in some ways:
	- Since it's smaller in size, its rooms and departments are closer so
we're not limited with one conference building, instead we can use
classes etc. with conference rooms of the university.
	- Transportation will be easier. Even though previous venue can be
counted as central point (well since Istanbul is big enough where's
central is hard to say), this one is easier to arrive. Known locations
of Istanbul like Taksim, Beyoglu, Besiktas is fairly close (even by
walk). With previous venue participants would need to change
transportation (ie. they should leave metro and get in to the bus). With
this venue they can use one vehicle either it's metro or bus from almost
all around the Istanbul.
	- It reflects beauty of the Istanbul even more. Since it's close to the
historical places, and moreover just near the Boshphorus, it would be
hard to get bored in the conference rooms. 
	- It's a private university, they are easy to work with when it comes
to bureaucracy, but they are more eager to question how to benefit from
conference. That's two edged sword and that's one of the things we need
to tackle during organization, but Pros mostly outnumber Cons in that
sense. 

* Bahcesehir University has Student Club called CEIT. I've contacted
with chair of them Ali Sukru, and he discussed the thing with his
university and club, early feedback is very positive. 

* And finally, next week we'll have a meeting with the responsible
bodies of Bahcesehir University to make process faster, also CEIT will
give official letter to book necessary space at the University. After
our discussion with the university we can set the official date for
GUADEC 2008 and conference location. 


That's what we have up to now, and I'll list briefly we can do while
these things are ongoing:

* Looking for keynote speakers (We need conference date to be fixed,
else speakers can't decide if GUADEC fit into their agenda. Dave Neary
already pledged his support, and I hope some other people will also help
so we can have good keynote speakers for the conference)

* Web Page
	Our web page on guadec.org should be updated. We need better
infrastructure for call for papers. Someone can lead effort, checking
open source applications and how we can get benefit of them. 
	On artistic front, we can keep using drupal, and update the theme if
necessary, someone with artistic skills can also help which would make
the face of the conference. 
	
* Sponsorship brochure
	We have a brochure from last year to get updated for this year. However
we need master copy of it to change it, else we need to make it from
over. Anyone have it? Or should we start from over using some text and
idea from it? 

We'll have more task to be accomplished, but currently these need most
love. Anyone would like to help can jump in. 

I'd also add that, in Turkey we started fostering GNOME Community, doing
talks in Universities. We did first one at ODTU. We'll keep doing more
in other universities. 

Various ideas emerge in these talks. Asking for people to participate is
easy but keeping the interest high can only be possible by keeping
communication open, and this list is best place to do this. You can ask
people to join guedec-list on your talks or such meetings and tell them
to send a welcome e-mail and contribute on ongoing tasks. That way they
can start engaging with the GNOME. 

Best Regards,
Baris Cicek

[1] http://www.bahcesehir.edu.tr/index.php?lang=EN