[FOSDEM] Conflict with LCA [was Re: Dates for FOSDEM 2013: 2 & 3 February]

[Larry Cafiero]

If it's of any help to the discussion, the Southern California Linux
Expo (SCALE 10X) was held the weekend after LCA this year (LCA, it
should be noted, is a weeklong event, and SCALE started on the Friday
when LCA was wrapping up).

Many -- me included -- were concerned that having more than one Linux
event in the world at one time might dilute attendance and
participation for both events. I can't speak for  LCA, but SCALE set
an attendance record in 2012 despite its being scheduled so close to
LCA.

What we found is this: Linux and FOSS are big enough to have more than
one event on one continent at one time. SCALE did not suffer from a
lack of exhibitors, speakers or presentations because of LCA, and the
only ones seemingly annoyed by the schedule change were those in the
tech press who had to choose to go to one or the other event :-)

Incidentally, we are back to our old schedule -- SCALE will be on the
third weekend of February in 2013, to coincide with a US holiday on
Monday after the weekend.

I hope this helps.

Larry Cafiero / Publicity chairperson / Southern California Linux Expo


On Mon, Aug 13, 2012 at 9:13 AM, Philip Paeps <philip at fosdem.org> wrote:
> On 2012-08-13 10:32:43 (-0500), Tom Marble <tmarble at info9.net> wrote:
>> On 08/07/2012 10:44 AM, Philip Paeps wrote:
>> > All, we have recently agreed with our venue that FOSDEM 2013 will take
>> > place on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 February 2013.  It is safe to assume that
>> > there will also be a beer event as usual, on Friday 1 February 2013.
>> >
>> > Looking forward to seeing everyone there.
>>
>> There is a small community of people would are hoping to attend
>> both Linux Conf Australia (LCA) [0] and FOSDEM next year.
>
> That is unfortunate.
>
>> I fully appreciate how complex it is to select dates and
>> organize FOSDEM (thank you for such an awesome conference)!
>>
>> Are the dates with ULB "written in stone"?
>
> Yes.  They're carved in concrete.  We are completely dependent on our venue
> for dates.  The first weekend of February is the only one that does not in
> some way conflict with their academic calendar.
>
> Unfortunately, it's pretty much impossible to organize anything anywhere
> without conflicting in some way with something else.
>
>  - Philip
>
>
> --
> Philip Paeps
> Senior Reality Engineer
> Ministry of Information
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