Flock

Flock - Fedora Contributor Conference

Dates: August 9, 2013 - August 13, 2013
Location: Charleston, SC, USA
Main Website: flocktofedora.com

Overview

For 8 years, Fedora users and developers have gathered at an event named for them, the Fedora Users and Developers conference (FUDCon). Flock is a brand new conference for Fedora contributors to come together, discuss new ideas, work to make those ideas a reality, and continue to promote the core values of the Fedora Community: Freedom, Friends, Features, and First.

It replaces FUDCon in the North America (NA) and Europe/Middle East (EMEA) regions (but not in LATAM or APAC).

Format

Flock will have four days of scheduled content, one social outing day, and two optional days at the end for open hacking. Interested presenters will submit a title, abstract, and categorization for talks, hackfests, sprints, or workshops. There will also be a block of time for lightning talks, which will not require scheduling before Flock.

Presentation Categories

Ambassadors ARM Cloud Community Design Desktop Fonts Games Hardware Infrastructure Marketing QA Security SIG Other

We will also have slots for "Hackfest (2hr)", "Sprint (2hr)", "Workshop (2hr)".

Schedule Framework

Option A (as-is now)

Day 0: Arrival in afternoon-evening for most people. Setup with early bird volunteers.
Day 1: FPL Keynote, scheduled talks, LUNCH, workshops/sprints/mini-hackfests (scheduled), then evening fun event (dinner, movies, games, bowling, something fun)
Day 2: Scheduled talks, LUNCH, workshops/sprints/mini-hackfests (scheduled), then evening fun event (dinner, movies, games, bowling, something fun)
Day 3: Scheduled talks, LUNCH, workshops/sprints/mini-hackfests (scheduled), then evening fun event (dinner, movies, games, bowling, something fun)
Day 4: Optional open hackfests

Option B (if we get extra day)

Day 0: Arrival in afternoon-evening for most people. Setup with early bird volunteers.
Day 1: FPL Keynote, scheduled talks, LUNCH, workshops/sprints/mini-hackfests (scheduled), then evening fun event (dinner, movies, games, bowling, something fun)
Day 2: Scheduled talks, LUNCH, workshops/sprints/mini-hackfests (scheduled), then evening fun event (dinner, movies, games, bowling, something fun)
Day 3: Social Outing Day
Day 4: Scheduled talks, LUNCH, workshops/sprints/mini-hackfests (scheduled), then evening fun event (dinner, movies, games, bowling, something fun)
Day 5: Optional open hackfests

There will be a block for Lightning Talks, I'm thinking maybe at the beginning of Day 4. Seems like running from 10 - 6 is ideal, but we could run longer.

External Participation

Every session should be video streamed, or at the least recorded. If we can stream, we should have someone dedicated to the room running IRC for questions. We should test this in advance of the actual event to ensure it works well. There should also be a “proctor” per room, that announces the speaker and watches the time.

Sponsors

See Flock:Sponsors

Logistics

Venue

The College of Charleston (South Carolina, USA).

College of Charleston

2 buildings available for reservation. There are three auditorium type rooms available, one with about 500 seats, one with 300 seats and another with about 200. The classrooms would seat around 30 to 40 people and have modern projection systems. http://www.cofc.edu/ http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&q=66+George+Street+Charleston,+SC+29424

Catering

We have to use the College of Charleston Catering.

• Carafe of Regular Coffee with Half and Half, Flavored Creamers, Sugars and Sweeteners (Serves 10) - $12.00 (cups included)

• Assorted Wrap Buffet $11.00 Per Person

Choice of three of the following: Grilled Chicken Caesar, Turkey Club, Steak, and Vegetarian Wraps Includes choice of two Sides, choice of Dessert, Ice Water and Sweet Tea.

• All American Grill $11.50 Per Person

Hot Dogs and Hamburgers with Buns Choice of 2 Sides Cheese Tray Platter with Lettuce, Tomato, Onion and Pickle Condiments Choice of Cookies, Brownies or Lemon Stickies Choice of Sweet Iced Tea OR Lemonade Veggie Burgers available upon request

more meal options: https://cofccatering.catertrax.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?categoryID=15&cat=Picnics%2C+Cookouts%2C+Casual+Meals&intOrderID=&intCustomerID=

Lodging

TBD

Social Day

Initial idea: scavenger hunt/amazing race event day

May not happen this year. :/

Transportation

Air

Charleston International Airport (CHS) is South Carolina's busiest airport. It is serviced by:

• American Airlines: https://www.aa.com/
• Delta: https://www.delta.com/
• JetBlue (from JFK and BOS): https://www.jetblue.com/
• Southwest: https://www.southwest.com
• United Airlines: http://www.united.com/
• US Airways: http://www.usairways.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charleston_International_Airport

Bus

It may be possible to have a chartered bus in a major nearby city (Atlanta, Raleigh, Charlotte) to pick up international arrivals and bring them to Charleston.

Train

Amtrak has service to Charleston. North Charleston, SC (CHS) http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=am%2Fam2Station%2FStation_Page&code=CHS

Perks

Goodie Bags

Money permitting, we should have goodie bags for attendees.

Event Shirt

Nice shirts too. Community designed!

Merchandise Sales

Selling Fedora SWAG? Might be possible now.

Notes and Administrivia

The Name

Does Flock stand for anything? Not sure. We thought about it as an acronym. There are obvious Fedora related items for all the letters, but we could also just go with a concept of a "flock" of birds, flying together.

Comparison Notes

DebConf

Sessions start at 10 AM, Lunch break from 1:00 - 3:00. Last session ends at 6:45 PM.

• “Hack” days are done beforehand as needed, called “Debian Camp”
• One day's sessions are targeted at users (“Debian Day”)
• Eucalyptus, ARM sponsors Debconf (Bronze)
• DebConf 2012's budget was around $150,000
• Bronze sponsors (>= $2000): Logo on web pages and in full-page thank-you ad in Linux Magazine)
• Silver sponsors (>= $5000): same as bronze + logo on tshirts and conference bags, bag filler included
• Gold sponsors (>= $12,500): same as silver + bigger and better positioned logo, logo on banner in lobby and in all video transmissions
• Platinum sponsors (>= $25,000): same as gold + logo on banner behind podiums, mention in all press releases for conference)

DebConf Arrival Day 0 (Sunday): - Tutorials - In the evening, DPL speaks DebConf Day 1 (Monday): - Welcome Talk - Presentations (pre-submitted) (Maximum of two talks per time slot, 45 min - 1 hour slots) - Cheese & Wine Party DebConf Day 2 (Tuesday) - Presentations (pre-submitted) (Maximum of two talks per time slot, 45 min - 1 hour slots) - Conference banquet DebConf Day 3 (Wednesday) - Social Day Trip outing DebConf Day 4 (Thursday) - Presentations (pre-submitted) (Maximum of two talks per time slot, 45 min - 1 hour slots) - Group Photo during lunch session (2:30 - 3:00) DebConf Day 5 (Friday) - Presentations (pre-submitted) (Maximum of two talks per time slot, 45 min - 1 hour slots) DebConf Day 6 (Saturday) - Presentations (pre-submitted) (Maximum of two talks per time slot, 45 min - 1 hour slots) - Closing ceremony (6:00 - 7:00)

OpenSuse Conference

• 4 days long (colocated with “LinuxDays in 2012”) (Friday - Monday) Expanding to five days in 2013, no schedule visibility.
• 3-4 rooms (300 person, 100 person, and 25 person)
• Runs from 10 AM to 6 PM, lunch break from 1 PM to 2:30 PM.
• Group photo at the end of lunch break at last day
• Sessions are 1 hr long
• Welcome party on Friday, big party on Saturday
• Has a traditional “Expo floor” with Booth spaces
• Bronze (1000 Euro) - Logo in workshop rooms, 4 sponsor passes
• Silver (3000 Euro) - Logo in main and secondary conf rooms, 2 min talk time at closing, bag inserts, 6 sponsor passes
• Gold (5000 Euro) - Logo on welcome banner and in rooms, 3 min talk time at closing, bag inserts, 10 sponsor passes, video display at entrance
• Can also sponsor Ice Cream, Party, Coffee/Tea
• All sponsors get booth space, job board space
• AdHoc sessions in addition to scheduled talks on last two days

Ubuntu Developer Summit (old model)

• 5 days long (Mon - Friday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM)
• 9 tracks:

- Cloud - Community - Design - Desktop - Foundations - Hardware - Other - QA - Security

• Sessions roughly an hour long
• One hour for lunch (1:00 - 2:00)
• Keynote session in the morning on day 1, and 15min plenary (sponsor) sessions from 2-3 each day (used for lightning talks on last day), closing keynote on day 5.