[Announce] Proposal: LinuxChix miniconf at linux.conf.au

[Mary Gardiner]

Hi all,

I am calling for interest in a LinuxChix miniconf at linux.conf.au 2007.
I am willing to propose and organise this miniconf if I can get
sufficient interest in having speakers and people listening at the
event. Your part is to offer to be a speaker or attendee at the
miniconf.

What's linux.conf.au 2007?
--------------------------

linux.conf.au is a week-long grassroots Linux and Free Software
conference held in Australia or New Zealand once a year.

linux.conf.au 2007 will be held in Sydney Australia at the University of
New South Wales on January 15th-20th, 2007.

What's a miniconf?
------------------

It's a one or two day series of talks, generally only a single stream,
held before the main conference. Generally these are organised by and
are about projects, such as Debian, or GNOME. Sometimes they're about
special interests, such as wireless networking.

'Miniconf' is, I think, l.c.a. specific terminology. At academic
conferences, they'd be called 'workshops'.

What would the LinuxChix one be about?
--------------------------------------

At present I am envisaging one day of talks. It would be split into two
sections:

 - the morning section would be a series of 45 minute talks on both
   women's groups and women's issues in Free Software. For example,
   talks might be on:
   - the history of LinuxChix [or Debian Women, or...]
   - what LinuxChix [or Debian Women, or ...] does
   - general initatives or findings about women and Free Software (eg
     the FLOSSPOLS survey)

 - the afternoon section would be a series of 30 minute talks given by
   women about their own work in Free Software or associated projects

If interest was overwhelming, I would propose a two day miniconf.

What do I need from you?
------------------------

I need expressions of interest. Please email me if you would like to be
either a speaker or attendee at this event. I am not willing to propose
the event formally to the l.c.a. committee without knowing that there's
some interest out there. For what it's worth, here's roughly the numbers
I am looking for:

 - at least 2 people willing to speak in the morning (I'm willing to
   speak too, so that would make 3)
 - at least 3 women willing to speak in the afternoon
 - at least 10 people (men or women) who would attend (speakers
   included)

Please let me know by July 31 2006 so that I can get a proposal together
in time for the deadline.

What would this mean for me?
----------------------------

I do not have sponsorship or funding for this event. Unless someone else
volunteers to organise such, if you want to come either as an attendee
or speaker, you would need to:

 - be in or come to Sydney for the day it is held, self-funded
 - stay in Sydney, self-funded
 - pay admission to the conference (unless you have a separate talk at
   the main conference, in which case they would admit you free)

-Mary