|
Event is over. See you at FOSS.IN/2008! |
Call for Participation
From FOSS.IN/2007
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
[edit] What is FOSS.IN?
FOSS.IN is a technical event focusing on development of, and contribution to, Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). Participants explore the latest developments in FOSS, and interact with each other to discover new ways to develop and contribute to FOSS.
This event, now in it's seventh year, attracts thousands of participants each year from across India, as well as from across the world, evolving into one of the primary grassroot FOSS conferences worldwide.
[edit] Where and When is FOSS.IN/2007?
FOSS.IN/2007 takes place from December 4th to 8th, 2007, at the National Science Seminar Complex, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.
December 2007
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 31
[edit] Conference Focus
In the past, the event has had topics ranging from community building to advocacy. Although this approach has achieved considerable success, FOSS.IN/2007 will be dominated by project and technology talks, in order to avoid duplicating the efforts of User Groups and other conferences that focus on user and introductory topics.
The main objective of FOSS.IN is to promote involvement in FOSS projects, so presentations about actual contribution to FOSS projects would be of primary importance.
Contribution is defined as actual coding, design, documentation, testing, etc. Our primary criteria for selection of talks (especially for the Main Conference sessions) will be whether the presenters are actually involved in the project that they are talking about - as contributors, not solely as users.
This change in orientation has been a result of continuous feedback from FOSS stalwarts who have attended the previous events.
[edit] Invitation to Participate
We invite you to submit a proposal for a technical presentation relevant to the core focus of the event.
[edit] Conference Format
The conference consists of two logical sections, Project Days and the Main Conference. Each part is equally important, and are conducted at the same venue on consecutive days.
[edit] Project Days
The first 2 days of the conference will be dedicated to selected FOSS projects. Project Days aims to increase Indian contribution to the FOSS world, one project at a time.
There will be 8 Project days in all and each Project Days session, consisting of multiple talks and workshops, will take place in one hall, for a whole day. There will be such four Project Days sessions per day.
The list of selected project days are as follows:
This CfP invites you to submit talks and workshops in accordance to the outline and description provided by each Project Days session coordinator.
For more information about Project Days and the selected projects and what kind of talks are targeted for them, please see the Project Days section on the FOSS.IN/2007 website.
[edit] Main Conference
The Main Conference happens on 6-8 December. Talks at the Main Conference will be by well recognized FOSS contributors or key individuals driving FOSS development and growth.
The following descriptions applies only to the Main Conference.
[edit] Keynotes
There will be two Keynotes at FOSS.IN/2007:
- The Opening Keynote in the morning of the 6th of December, immediately after the opening ceremony, and will be given by well known FOSS contributor, and sets the tone for the conference.
- The Closing Keynote in the evening of the 8th of December, immediately before the closing ceremony, and has traditionally been on a non-FOSS, but relevant and related topic.
The two Keynote speakers are invited by the organizers.
[edit] Main Conference Sessions
FOSS.IN/2007 does not have the concept of "tracks". Instead, it has 90 minute sessions, each deemed to be a self-contained session roughly analogous to a "track". While these sessions will still be categorized by content (e.g. "Kernel", "Network", "Applications", etc.), a session of one category could be followed by one of a completely different category.
Main Conference sessions will be on a specific FOSS topic. Each session will be of 90 minutes duration (including discussion). Of these 90 minutes, it is expected that about half the time is "talk time", while the remainder is for speaker interaction with the audience. This also gives audiences a chance to move between halls.
There will be two sessions in the pre-lunch session, and three in the post-lunch session, taking place in four halls (750, 250, 120 and 90 seater).
The two Keynotes each count as a Main conference session. No other talks will be scheduled in parallel with the Keynotes.
Therefore, there will be a total of (4 halls x 3 days x 5 sessions) - (2 keynotes * 3 closed parallel halls) = 60 - 6 = 54 Main Conference session slots (including the two Keynotes).
[edit] Collaboration Talks and Panel Discussions
There could be a single collaboration talk or panel discussion each day of the Main Conference. A collaboration talk invites developers from various different, but related, projects to meet and discuss collaboration ideas on a pre-chosen topic. This would take place in the 750 seater hall during the last slot of the day.
The topics will be chosen in consultation with speakers selected to speak at the Main Conference, but will typically revolve around how various related projects can collaborate to achieve common goals.
[edit] Workshops
Workshops are hands-on sub-events, and assume practical content that the audience can get involved with. No PCs will be provided to the audience members - to they will need to have laptops. Wireless networking will be available.
Workshops can be either 1.5 or 3 hours in length, depending on the depth and material. Only qualified people will be permitted to conduct these workshops, and quality experience of the workshop lead and of the material will decide whether the workshop actually gets selected.
Workshops count as Main Conference sessions and need formal proposal and acceptance.
Workshops can also take place in the Hack Center, however these will be more free-form, with smaller groups of people involved.
[edit] Free-schedule events (BoFs)
In addition to the above, there will be Bird of a Feather (BoF) sessions - freely scheduled talks, discussions and other events in 15-20 seater tents behind the the main auditorium. These will be available throughout the day on all 5 days of the conference.
No projectors or amplification will be available in these tents, however wireless networking and power will be available.
The length of each session will be variable, but in general will be about an hour, with 15 minutes granularity.
None of these sessions will be proposed or scheduled before the event, and will be decided on the spot - the purpose of mentioning them in this CfP is to make people aware of these sessions.
Announcements for these sessions will be made in all halls and on the conference electronic notice boards, IRC channels etc. Sessions will happen on all 5 days.
[edit] The CfP Process
[edit] Step 1. Submit Proposal
Proposals are between 1000 and 1500 characters in length, and must describe, in sufficient detail, what it is you propose to present, what important areas you plan to cover, and what the take-home for the audience will be. In addition you also have to list any pre-requisites needed for the audience to benefit from your presentation.
You will also be required to submit a personal biography of about 1000 characters concurrently with your proposal. Focus on the experience relevant to your proposal topic and write in third-person. A list of references showing your affiliations and similar activity at other international conferences would help.
If you proposal is selected, the above will be published on the event website and will be linked to the event schedule. It is therefore important that you phrase your proposal and biography in a publishable manner. Clarity of the proposal will be taken into account during the selection process.
All talks must be proposed either to a relevant Project Day, or to the Main Conference. The event organizers reserve the right to transfer the talk between these categories.
To begin the process, go to https://foss.in/2007/register/speakers (this URL will be accessible on the 26th of September - see important dates below)
[edit] Step 2. Proposal Review
Each presentation proposal submitted will be reviewed by Team FOSS.IN for relevance to the event, as well as the depth of the proposed session and value to audiences. Prominent FOSS community members and contributors will be asked for their opinions (which will not be published) about proposals whose nature is beyond the scope or ability of Team FOSS.IN to evaluate.
Additionally, in the case of proposals to any of the Project Days sessions, the session proposer and qualified project members will be involved in the selection to ensure proper structuring of the Project Days session.
[edit] Step 3. Selection Notification
Selected proposals will be listed (titles only, without abstracts), on the event website (aka The First List), and proposers will be notified by email. At this stage, selected proposals can be withdrawn or modified (within limits, and without changing the intent and focus of the proposal).
After reshuffling and modification, the final list (aka The Second List) will be published and selections will be carved in stone.
[edit] Step 4. Slides Submission
Presentation slides must be submitted in screen-ready format - in PDF only. No other format will be accepted and if you require assistance you MUST request it a minimum of two weeks in advance of the submission deadline.
Final slides must be submitted in PDF and must include any and all images and illustrations required.
Failure to submit slides within the cut-off date (see Important Dates below) will result in cancellation of the talk without further notice.
[edit] Step 5. Talks
Talks will be 45 minutes in length including time for questions followed by a 15 minute break. Tutorials may occupy multiple timeslots.
A true XGA (1024x786) LCD projector will be used to display output from an on-stage computer that will have been pre-loaded with your submitted presentation slides. If you require additional AV equipment or desktops on stage for demonstrations, please specify this in your proposal.
[edit] Submission Review Guidelines
The talk selection committee would focus on the following when deciding on the talk:
- Specific Affiliation to the project: It is important for most speakers to have project affiliations. We intend to act as facilitators for these projects to involve new developers.
- Speakers involvement in the project: We need project insiders talking about the topic to make a substantial impression on the audience. So it is paramount that speakers have detailed experience in working on the project.
- Contribution is king: Every talk should publish what is the sort of contribution it wants out of the listeners. This will help match project requirements v/s listeners interest.
This does not mean that we will not consider introductory talks or talks by non-contributors. Advanced topics, especially tutorials and workshops, are acceptable even if presented by non-contributors. However, we will not consider talks that essentially present material that one can easily find on the web or in hard copy published titles.
As an example: "An introduction to Linux (or MySQL, PHP, Perl, etc.)" will not be considered, but "An introduction to secure programming practices using PHP" may be acceptable provided the treatment is not shallow or extremely basic.
From this, it should be clear that what we are looking for are talks that are of a practical nature.
[edit] Important Dates
| 24-Sep-2007 | Call for Participation |
| 26-Sep-2007 | Abstract/proposals registrations begins |
| | |
| 20-Oct-2007 | Due date for abstracts/proposals (No submissions after this date) (See CfP Restart) |
| 22-Oct-2007 | First List of selected talks published |
| 29-Oct-2007 | Due date for slides & tutorial/workshop materials (Talks/workshops/tutorials without material will be dropped) |
| 03-Nov-2007 | Final list (No more changes to abstracts after this date) |
| 14-Nov-2007 | Due date for final slides & tutorial/workshop materials |
| 04-Dec-2007 | Conference begins |
[edit] Travel Support for Speakers
Speakers should make every effort to arrange for their own travel and accommodation. They could seek sponsorship from their organisations, many of whom have budgets for employees presenting at technical conferences.
There will be limited funding available for outstation speakers from FOSS.IN. Support would be available as part funding of the travel costs and accommodation for some outstation speakers. Should there be enough funding available for travel support the quantum of the part funding will increase.
Speaker travel funding commitments will be made to speakers whose submissions have been accepted and who have requested Travel Assistance at the time of submitting talks.
We request all potential speakers to seek travel sponsorship from FOSS.IN only after they have tried all other avenues. Travel sponsorship is NOT guaranteed in any way, and if we have to make a choice between speakers, we will probably choose speakers who do not seek travel sponsorship, as FOSS.IN is not a commercial event and funds are extremely limited.
Therefore, PLEASE try to make your own arrangements first. Seek travel sponsorship from us ONLY after all else has failed.
[edit] 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, licensed under a Creative Commons or OSI-approved license.
