GNOME and Ohio Linux Fest 2006

[Patrick Wagstrom <wagspat iit edu>]

The Ohio Linux Fest[1] is coming up on September 30, 2006 in Columbus,
Ohio.  This is a general sorta Linux event that features an interesting
mix of professionals and hobbyists who come together for a day of talks,
food, and drinking in Columbus, Ohio.  Last year there were somewhere
around 700 people who attended the conference -- which is free to attend
(although one can pay $65 for the all-access rock star pass).  The
conference has been been doubling in each year for the past few years -
so expect over 1000 people this year.

Unfortunately, last year GNOME was almost no where to be seen.  KDE had
a table showing off their wares, but there wasn't a GNOME booth.  If I
recall correctly there was a quick GNOME talk by Sean Harshbarger that
was added late and didn't make the printed programs for the conference.

Anyway, I've got two major questions related to this.

1. I've been looking at the responses for speakers, and I haven't seen
anyone propose a GNOME talk yet.  The call for speakers closes on July
10th.  Is there someone who could give a 30-90 minute talk (in past
years, most were 45 minutes or so) on GNOME?  I could probably do a
talk, however I'm not heavily involved in GNOME aside from advocating
its use, a few patches and bugs, and researching it for my thesis.
Perhaps someone more official would be better.

2. Is it possible to do a GNOME table at the Ohio Linux Fest?  Are there
supplies that the foundation has for this sort of thing?  In the past I
remember messages from Murray Cumming about a conference box for
Europeans, do we have anything for those of us in North America?  Are
there rules about making it an official GNOME booth or something like
that?

I think this is a great opportunity to bring in new folks.  Last year
there was certainly a desire among attendees for more community based
stuff (too many talks from HP/Novell/etc about blue sky technologies) -
a prime opportunity to recruit volunteers.  Also, many attendees don't
use Linux on the desktop, so this could be a great opportunity to share
the state of the GNOME desktop with them.

Thanks!

Patrick Wagstrom

[1] http://www.ohiolinux.org/