Calling all BSD enthusiasts:

Good news! O'Reilly's Open Source Convention 
(http://conferences.ora.com/oscon2000/call.html), which will be held July 
17-20, 2000 in Monterey, California, will have a BSD track for the first 
time this year. (Last year, the tracks included Linux, Perl, Apache, 
Python, Sendmail, Tcl, and "Business" -- a catch-all for general open 
source-related topics.) Interest in the BSD-related sessions will determine 
whether the BSD track becomes a permanent part of the conference, so we 
need to make a good showing if we want to be part of this event in future 
years. I've been asked to book speakers for this year's program.

The Convention Format

The convention consists of two parts: Two days of intensive "tutorials" 
(each lasting 3 or 6 hours) and a two-day "conference" (consisting of 
shorter talks of 30, 45, 60, or 90 minutes each). There will also be "birds 
of a feather," or BOF, sessions in the evening. Here's how each part works.

The Tutorials

The first two days of the convention will be filled by classes, taught by 
experts, which last 3 or 6 hours and cover topics in great depth. We'll 
have two 3-hour slots this year (we MIGHT be able to negotiate more if we 
get lots of killer proposals). I'd like to fill with classes on topics 
which reflect the BSDs' strengths -- e.g. the TCP/IP stack, file systems, 
security, kernel architecture, etc. Now, I realize that three hours is a 
long time for some of us to talk (unless, of course, you're Kirk McKusick, 
who can easily fill several days -- and who, I hope, will be one of our 
speakers). So, I'd like to encourage experts from the BSD development teams 
to do sessions as "tag team" efforts involving two or even three people. 
Presenters of the tutorials will receive a $1500 honorarium from O'Reilly 
per 3-hour session. They'll also be reimbursed for travel, and get free 
admission to the "conference" portion of the event. (If there are two or 
more presenters, they will split the honorarium and travel funds. However, 
since the honorarium is generous, everyone's expenses should be covered.) 
Notes for the tutorials will have to be submitted to O'Reilly in advance 
for duplication. Please submit proposals to oscon00proposals@oreilly.com 
and copy me at oscon@brettglass.com. Proposal guidelines are at 
http://conferences.ora.com/oscon2000/call.html. See the section of this 
message marked "Deadlines Approaching" about deadlines.

The Conference

The final two days of the convention will be a conference with 30, 45, 60, 
and 90-minute sessions. There will be a "plenary" session each morning, 
after which the conference will split into tracks. Because this is the 
first year that there will be a BSD track, we'll only get one quarter as 
much time as Linux: 270 minutes, total, to slice up as we'd like. Let's 
fill this time with so much good and useful information that we get a full 
track next year! Presenters during these two days won't get an honorarium; 
however, there's a travel fund which may be able to provide assistance to 
those traveling from afar. However, presenters WILL get into the conference 
for free -- a perk worth nearly $800. Again, please submit proposals to 
oscon00proposals@oreilly.com and copy me at oscon@brettglass.com. Proposal 
guidelines are at http://conferences.ora.com/oscon2000/call.html. See the 
section of this message marked "Deadlines Approaching" about deadlines.

The BOFs

In addition to the tutorials and conference sessions, we'll have a chance 
to do one or more BSD-related "birds of a feather," or BOF, sessions. If 
the BSD BOF at LinuxWorld (which completely overflowed the space reserved 
for it) was any indication, we can do some killer BOFs which both promote 
the BSDs and help to create closer ties among those within the BSD 
community. The contact for information about BOFs is Vee McMillen at 
O'Reilly; her e-mail is vee@oreilly.com.

The Expo

O'Reilly's Open Source Convention isn't a "trade show." The current venue, 
in Monterey, CA, doesn't really have space for a big show floor like the 
one you'd find at, say, LinuxWorld or COMDEX. However, there will be a 
small exhibit area for vendor booths, and non-profit organizations such as 
user groups and open source development teams will be offered space there 
for free. (Groups such as BAFUG take note!) The BSDs should be well 
represented in this space. The contact for exhibit hall reservations is 
Sadonna Cody at O'Reilly; her e-mail is sadonna@oreilly.com.

Vendor Participation

Vendors of commercial products -- for example, BSDI and Applix -- are 
welcome and in fact encouraged to help with presentations at the 
convention. However, since the attendees of this convention tend to have a 
low tolerance for vendor-specific material and sales pitches, a 
presentation should NOT relate exclusively to single commercial product or 
describe only one implementation of a particular feature or function.

Deadlines Approaching

O'Reilly wants to get at least a preliminary schedule for the convention 
together by March 1st so that they can print programs. The original 
deadline for submission of proposals was February 18th, but since I only 
got approval to do the track about a week ago I'm sure we can stretch this 
a little. If you're interested in speaking, contact me IMMEDIATELY at the 
e-mail address oscon@brettglass.com (and copy oscon00proposals@oreilly.com) 
even if you don't have a formal proposal fleshed out yet. That way, we'll 
know a proposal is coming. I'll work with O'Reilly on reasonable deadlines 
for the submission of outlines and notes.

Please Participate!

This is a fantastic opportunity to advocate and promote the fantastic 
technology that's part and parcel of all of the BSDs; let's not lose our 
chance! If you'd like to contribute, please contact me ASAP at the address 
oscon@brettglass.com. Hope to see you at the convention!

--Brett Glass, BSD Advocate and All-Around Rabble Rouser ;-)