[CREATE] Libre Graphics workshops, BoFs, et.c. sessions at DesktopSummit 2011

[Jon Cruz]

On Jun 23, 2011, at 7:34 PM, Nathan Willis wrote:

> 
> 
> On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 3:32 AM, Jon Nordby <jononor at gmail.com> wrote:
> The call for participation for Workshop & BoFs for the DesktopSummit
> 2011 (which is in Berlin between August 6th and 12th) has just been
> published. Info here: http://desktopsummit.org/program/workshops-bofs
> 
> 
> This would be very cool -- potentially a great opportunity to reach people who aren't able to come to (or don't know of) LGM.  Was it Linuxconf.au that has done the "Libre Graphics Day" concept before? [I just forget] Has anybody who went to that got a second to tell how it went, what happened, etc?

Yes.

The first Libre Graphics Day was done as a miniconf for linux.conf.au. I had started it and submitted a proposal when it came up that Donna Benjamin (@KatteKrab) had independently come up with the same idea. We worked on it together then switched her over to the prime organizer (somewhat for attendance issues, but more since she was getting more of the on-the-ground organizing done).

The goal was to have a chance for developers and artists who were not near to other LGM locations to be able to get a taste of what LGM is about. it turns out that if you drew a line from the then current LGM in Belgium through the center of the globe to the exact far side, you would come out in the ocean with New Zealand (the site of that years linux.conf.au) being the closest land.

I had tried to keep the program to a good mix of artistic and technical, so as to mirror the feel of a full LGM. The room we were in ended up staying quite full, and we had quite a few good talks. There was the usual stress, including both Carl Worth and then Jon Philips coming in literally at the last minute (or three) for their respective talks, but in all things went well.

Compressing things down to one day was a little tricky, but I think it worked out. We had a lot of comments from both developers and artists, and noticed several ongoing conversations over the next few days that would indicate the collaboration across boundaries was enhanced.


One key point to focus on would be the involvement of the artistic types. Getting enough presentations submitted to have a good pool to draw from probably just needs a little focused effort. Beyond that, however, the main issue would most likely be gaining enough attendance of non-programmers. Various art teams of the different projects are a good place to start, but a lot can be gained by drawing from art and design schools, perhaps in the area.