EVENT NEWS: OPEN SOURCE IN THE VOLUNTARY/NGO SECTOR, 15 SEPTEMBER, UPDATE No.2, 7.9.04

Welcome to the second update for the Voluntary & Community Sector Open Source Event taking place in just over a week's time on Wednesday 15 September at City Temple Conference Centre, London.

The day promises to be an interesting one for all who attend, and we're pleased to be able to publish the proposed timetable and list of talks and demonstrations on EventProgramme.

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
There are 8 sessions timetabled during the day, covering topics such as:

• What Open Source has to offer the Voluntary & Community Sector
• Moving organisations towards Open Source
• Open Source tools to use under Windows

We've got a wide variety of speakers from within the sector, the support community, and a number of international delegates, including Michelle Murrain, who has experience of the US "Penguin Days". It will be possible to catch up with them all in the dedicated discussion time or in the open demonstration space where there will also be hands-on opportunities to experience:

• Open Source Content Management
• a mixed Linux/Windows network
• Open Office - one of the Open Source office productivity suites

CDs containing some of the most popular Open Source software will be available on the day.

ATTENDANCE FEES
Fees for the day, which should be paid on arrival, and will be receipted on-the-spot, are:

• Non-affiliated individuals & self-employed: £5
• Those attending from organisations: £25, +£5 for each extra organisation member

Cheques should be made payable to "LASA Ltd".

VENUE LOCATION Full instructions of how to reach the venue can be found on FindingUs.

INTERESTED IN ATTENDING?
If you are intending to come along, we could very much appreciate an email to opensource@lasa.org.uk in order to judge final numbers for the day and to arrange refreshments. If you'd like to appear on the delegate list for the day, which will be sent out after the event, please include:

• your name
• job & organisation if relevant
• whether you would like:

- your email address included with your entry - to be subscribed to an open discussion list of those who have shown interest in the event.

NEED MORE INFORMATION? Check out the rest of this wiki or email us at: opensource@lasa.org.uk

Please feel free to forward news of the event to colleagues!

EVENT NEWS: OPEN SOURCE IN THE VOLUNTARY/NGO SECTOR, 15 SEPTEMBER, UPDATE No.1, 27.8.04

Welcome to the first update relating to the forthcoming Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS)/NGO Open Source Event taking place in London on 15 September.

This update sets out some more detail relating to the proposed programme and arrangements for the day, and gives further background about those putting the event together:

EVENT AIMS
This event represents one of the first efforts to both publicise some of the exciting projects taking place in the Voluntary and Community Sector involving Open Source, and to bring together organisations from the wider VCS who may have heard of Open Source, but have no direct experience of it, and those keen to support its implementation in the sector.

As such we hope that the event will provide useful and interesting discussion, and be a learning experience for all those who attend.

EVENT PROGRAMME
We're currently finalising the programme, but are proposing to structure the day under four main themes:

1. Open Source in the Organisation

• Open Source in the office environment
• Terminal services/thin clients

2. Open Source Toolsets

• Content Management, web applications
• Open Source in a Windows environment

3. Support

• What is the support model, who is providing support...

4. Open Source methodologies & attitudes

• How & why could Open Source help you to achieve your organisation's aims more effectively
• Understanding the philosophy and debunking the myths

There will also be a number of speakers in attendance with significant experience in the following areas:

• Wireless networking
• Use of Open Source in an international context - we are particularly pleased to be able to welcome Michelle Murrain of the Non-Profit Open Source Initiative (NOSI) who will be speaking at the event
• Disabilities and Accessibility issues

All of the themes will be supported by talks from participants with experience implementing Open Source solutions, and through demonstrations.

There will also be the chance for discussion and to feed back your experiences and opinions of the day, and requests for what you'd like to see happen next.

We would very much welcome further feedback and input regarding content for the day in the run up to the event:

• Is there something you'd like to hear that we've missed?
• Can you contribute extra content?

Please get in touch via opensource@lasa.org.uk

ATTENDING THE EVENT
We're currently aiming to make the event as low-cost as possible for attendees: The entrance fee will be £5 for individuals, and £25 for those attending on behalf or organisations. Registration will take place on the day, with fees receipted on the spot. If you feel this level of fee will be a problem for your organisation, please get in touch before the event!

EVENT ORGANISERS
Here's some more detail regarding the event's organisers, and why we've chosen to put the event together at this point:

The event is being put together by a group of six core volunteers all working in the Voluntary and Community Sector in London, who have had experience of Open Source solutions and methodologies.

There is currently significant work and debate taking place regarding ICT with the sector generally, and so we've felt it important to include Open Source within these activities. Coupled with Open Source's growing mainstream acceptance, as well as its potentially strong ethical match with the sector's aims and methods, it seemed a favourable time to put the topic on the map.

Through organising this event, we're hoping to bring together existing projects and those who have Open Source experience with attendees willing to find out more and "dip their toes in", all taking place in a friendly, practical environment in which will facilitate the exchange of views and experience and channel the debate further.

The organisers are:

• Dr Dan McQuillan, Senior Consultant, London Advice Services Alliance(http://www.lasa.org.uk)
• Ryan Cartwright, IT Manager, Contact a Family (http://www.cafamily.org.uk)
• Paula Graham, VCS ICT Consultant, Alt-Synergy ((http://www.alt-synergy.co.uk)
• Peter Chauncy (http://www.ecostar.org.uk)
• Hugh Barnard, VCS ICT Consultant (http://www.hughbarnard.org)
• Adrian De Luca, VCS Research Consultant

Thank you for expressing an interest in the event, and we look forward to hearing from you and hopefully seeing you on the day!

Thanks to LASA for hosting the wiki - this event is taking place in complement with the LASA N-TEN UK Circuit Riders Conference - details at http://www.lasa.org.uk/crconference/

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