[Ambassadors] Some words about FOSDEM (was: fosdem 2012)

[Max Spevack]

For whatever it's worth, I'd like to support what Christoph said.

FOSDEM is always the best event of the year -- and of the 4 Fedora 
foundations, it is always the one that makes me think of Friends and 
Features, because it's a great time for many of the contributors to 
spend together, and it always has an excellent technical focus.

Some of the Fedora traditions worth remembering:

* Eating at the Drug Opera (http://www.drugopera.be/index.php?lang=en)

* Watching the Super Bowl at Fat Boys (http://www.fatboys-be.com/).  I 
know this was something I organized the last few years, but someone else 
could easily do it.  Just remember to make the reservation in advance, 
and to get enough seats!  They get angry if you bring more people than 
your reservation.

I won't be able to attend FOSDEM in 2012, but I will be thinking about 
all my Fedora friends in EMEA.

--Max

On Sat, 19 Nov 2011, Christoph Wickert wrote:

> Hi there,
>
> some words about FOSDEM for those of you planning to go to Brussels,
> from somebody, who has been attending the event several times:
>
>      * FOSDEM stands for "Free and Open Source Software Developers'
>        European Meeting" and it's really a developer's meeting. It's
>        the most geekish event I know and the talks target a very
>        advanced audience.
>      * Nobody comes for FOSDEM for the exhibition but just for the
>        talks. The stands are located on a narrow hallway. It is
>        overcrowded and the air is really bad.
>      * Given that it's a developer meeting and nobody really cares
>        about the exhibition anyway, I'm not sure if it makes sense to
>        have a booth. I doubt we will be able to recruit new
>        contributors because whoever is there already uses Linux for a
>        while and most have settled with their favorite distribution
>        ages ago.
>        Nevertheless I think Fedora should be there and have a booth,
>        just because other projects like Debian and OpenSUSE have one,
>        too. But I suggest to not put too much effort into it for the
>        reasons I just outlined.
>      * The food at FOSDEM is awful but it helps to survive.
>
> So much for the negative side. On the positive side we have:
>
>      * FOSDEM is a place to meet other developers. All the rockstars of
>        FOSS are there.
>      * The social event is called "Beer event" and it takes place at a
>        pub called "Delirium". These names say it all.
>      * FOSDEM is the only event I know where people drink beer during
>        lectures.
>      * FOSDEM is fun. It is badly organized, loud, overcrowded and you
>        have a hangover. Yet though - or for this very reasons - it's
>        quite a lot of fun!
>
> Last but not least: There was an unwritten rule, at least for the EMEA
> or European ambassadors: If you go to FOSDEM, it's your own decision but
> not an official Fedora event. You will have to pay for yourself and not
> receive funding.
> This rule has changed recently, I know we sponsored some people and IIRC
> I have been sponsored my hotel room once (in four years, everything else
> was paid from my own pocket).
>
> If we are to sponsor contributors, I'd prefer people with a strong
> technical background. This doesn't mean we'll not sponsor any
> ambassadors, but IHMO it should be ambassadors who are involved in other
> groups of Fedora, too and/or have clear agenda of things they want to do
> or achieve at FOSDEM.
>
> If you think you meet these criteria and you should be at FOSDEM, please
> follow the usual process for funding. For details refer to
> http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Sponsoring_event_attendees
>
> Regards,
> Christoph
>
>
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