I continue to be impressed and excited by the Open Source Bridge conference. It’s easy, because the conference organizers have been a poster child for how to create a first-class grass-roots conference.
I’m doing my small bit to publicize the conference here in Seattle, and did some outreach at PyCon 2009. I’m hoping that John Cook will cover it in TechFlash, at least in an article, or (better) with an article + also covering the conference sessions. [Some of TechFlash’s news choices have been very odd lately, but that’s a post for another day.]
My interest exists at several levels:
- It’s a conference focused on open-source technologies
- It’s community- and volunteer-driven and organized
- Its accessibility, both from being local, and reasonable fees
- It fills a void left by OSCON’s departure. It also fills voids that existed even when OSCON was here, given OSCON’s straight-ahead technology focus
- It’s new
- Note the correct usage of “its” vs. “it’s”
- I’m unemployed, so what the hell else have I got to do during the day?
Today’s big news is, some talks have been accepted. They are:
RubySpec: What does my Ruby do?, Brian Ford
Drizzle, Rethinking MySQL for the Web, Brian Aker
Advanced Git tutorial: Not your average VCS., Sarah Sharp
Remember Tcl/ Tk? Grandpa might be old, but he can still kick your ass!, Webb Sprague
Open Source Library Software: Empowering Libraries – Creating Opportunities, Lori Ayre
The Linux Kernel Development model, Greg Kroah-Hartman
Configuration Management Panel, Moderated by James Turnbull
My Grand Experiment: A Portland Women-focused Tech Group., Gabrielle Roth
Is the Web Down: a Practical Tutorial on How the Web Works, Michael Schwern, Joshua Keroes
HOWTO earn an open source living without taking on investors or selling your soul, Brian Jamison
Drop ACID and think about data, Bob Ippolito
Organizing a Volunteer-Driven Open Source Community Project, Sarah Beecroft, molly vogt, Joaquin Lippincott, Melissa Anderson
See the announcement blog post for more detail.
If you’re working with/in OSS, this will be an event you won’t want to miss. Sign up today!
Seek Nuance 
By the way, you can comment on each proposal via OpenID. Comments will help us break any ties and bubble up the talks the community really wants to hear.