pages tagged conferenceFeeding the Cloudhttps://feeding.cloud.geek.nz/tags/conference/Feeding the Cloudikiwiki2021-06-11T20:43:57ZFISL for foreigners HOWTOhttps://feeding.cloud.geek.nz/posts/fisl-for-foreigners-howto/
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2021-06-11T20:43:57Z2013-07-28T08:40:00Z
<p><a href="http://fisl.softwarelivre.org/">FISL</a> (pronounced <em>FIZZ lay</em> by the locals)
is a large Free and Open Source software gathering in
<a href="http://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Porto_Alegre">Porto Alegre, Brazil</a>. While
the primary audience of that conference is the Latin America "libre
software" community, a number of overseas speakers also participate in that
conference. This is my contribution to them: a short guide for international
guests visiting the <em>Fórum Internacional do Software Livre</em>.</p>
<h1 id="Planning">Planning</h1>
<p>Before you fly out, make sure you look up the
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Brazil">visa requirements</a> for
your country of citizenship. Many western countries will require a visa and
you will need to visit the local Brazillian embassy ahead of time to get
one.</p>
<p>Next, have a look at the list of
<a href="http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/brazil">recommended immunizations</a>. As
with most destinations, it is recommended that your routine
immunizations be up to date, but there are also other specialized ones such
as
<a href="http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2012/chapter-3-infectious-diseases-related-to-travel/yellow-fever-and-malaria-information-by-country/brazil#5441">Yellow Fever</a>
that are recommended by the Brazillian government. You should therefore
visit a travel clinic a few weeks ahead of time.</p>
<p>Other than that, I suggest reading up on
<a href="http://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Brazil">the country</a> and keeping an eye
<a href="http://travel.gc.ca/destinations/brazil">on</a>
<a href="http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1072.html">the</a>
<a href="https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/brazil">various</a>
<a href="http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/Brazil">travel</a>
<a href="http://www.safetravel.govt.nz/destinations/brazil.shtml">advisories</a>.</p>
<h1 id="Arrival">Arrival</h1>
<p>You will be flying at the <a href="http://www.infraero.gov.br/index.php/us/airports/rio-grande-do-sul/salgado-filho-international-airport.html">Porto Alegre airport</a>. If
you need to exchange overseas money for
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_real">Brazilian Reals</a>, you can do
that there.</p>
<p>You'll probably also want to pick up a power adapter at the airport if you
intend to charge your laptop while you're in the country <img alt=":)" src="https://feeding.cloud.geek.nz/smileys/smile.png" /> Brazil has both
127V and 220V outlets using
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets#IEC_60906-1_.28Brazilian_NBR.C2.A014136.29_.28Type_N.29">Type N sockets</a>.</p>
<p>Privacy note: using the free airport wifi will require giving your Passport
details as part of the registration process.</p>
<h1 id="Language">Language</h1>
<p>If you don't speak Portuguese, expect a few challenges since most
of the people you'll meet (including taxi drivers, many airport workers,
some hotel staff) won't speak English. I highly recommend getting a
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1740597311/">phrase book</a> before you leave and
printing paper maps of where you are planning to go (to show to
taxi drivers when you get lost).</p>
<p>Native Spanish speakers seem to get by speaking Spanish to Portuguese
speakers and understanding enough Portuguese to hold a conversation. I
wouldn't count on it unless your Spanish is quite good though.</p>
<p>Also, the official conference blog posts get eventually translated to English,
but there is a delay, so you may want to subscribe to the Portuguese feed and use
<a href="http://translate.google.com">Google Translate</a> to keep up with FISL news
before you get there.</p>
<h1 id="The_conference">The conference</h1>
<p>FISL is a large conference and it has a very "decentralized" feel to
it. From the outside, it looks like it's organized by an army of volunteers
where everyone is taking care of some portion of it without a whole lot of
top-down direction. It seems to work quite well!</p>
<p>What this means for you as a foreign speaker however is that you're unlikely
to be provided with a lot of information or help finding your way around the
conference (i.e. no "speaker liaison"). There is a separate registration
desk for speakers but that's about all of the attention you'll receive
before you deliver your talk. So make sure you know where to go and show up
in your assigned room early to speak with the person introducing you.</p>
<p>If your talk is in English, it will be live-transated by an
interpreter. It's therefore a good idea to speak a bit more slowly and to
pause a bit more.</p>
<p>Other than that, the organizers make an effort to schedule an English talk
in each timeslot so non-Portuguese speakers should still be able to get a
lot out of the conference.</p>
<p>FISL was a lot of fun for me and I hope that some of these tips will help
you enjoy the biggest FLOSS gathering in the southern hemisphere!</p>
List of Open Source Conference Management Systemshttps://feeding.cloud.geek.nz/posts/list-of-open-source-conference/
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2021-06-11T20:43:57Z2010-05-17T06:30:00Z
<p>Conference Management systems are web applications designed to make the lives of conference organisers easier. They usually include features such as registration, payment, paper submission and review, scheduling and publishing of announcements.</p>
<p>Since <a href="http://ubuntard.com/2010/03/wikipedia-notability-and-open-source-software/">Wikipedia</a> is apparently not a place for such a "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Conference_management_system&action=historysubmit&diff=358196284&oldid=358140273">spammy list</a>," I figured I should at least post this here:</p>
<table>
<tr><th>Name</th><th>Used by</th><th>License</th><th>Programming Language</th>
</tr>
<tr><td><a href="http://act.mongueurs.net/">A Conference Toolkit</a></td><td>YAPC::Eu</td><td><a href="http://www.perlfoundation.org/artistic_license_2_0">Artistic License</a></td><td><a href="http://www.perl.org/">Perl</a></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><a href="https://github.com/herlo/ConMan">ConMan</a></td><td><a href="http://utosc.com/">Utah Open Source Conference</a>, <a href="http://www.texaslinuxfest.org/">Texas Linux Fest</a></td><td><a href="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html">GPL</a></td><td><a href="http://www.python.org/">Python</a> (<a href="http://www.djangoproject.com/">Django</a>)</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><a href="https://frab.github.io/frab/">Frab</a></td><td><a href="http://www.froscon.org/">FrOSCon</a></td><td><a href="https://github.com/frab/frab/blob/master/LICENSE">Permissive</a></td><td><a href="http://www.rubyonrails.org/">Ruby on Rails</a></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><a href="http://pkp.sfu.ca/?q=ocs">Open Conference Systems</a></td><td>various academic conferences</td><td><a href="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html">GPL</a></td><td><a href="http://www.php.org/">PHP</a></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><a href="https://github.com/osbridge/openconferenceware">OpenConferenceWare</a></td><td><a href="http://opensourcebridge.org/">Open Source Bridge</a></td><td><a href="http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php">MIT</a></td><td><a href="http://rubyonrails.org/">Ruby on Rails</a></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><a href="http://pentabarf.org/">Pentabarf</a></td><td><a href="http://www.debconf.org/">DebConf</a>, <a href="http://www.fosdem.org/">FOSDEM</a>, <a href="http://www.ccc.de/en/">CCC</a></td><td><a href="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html">GPL</a></td><td><a href="http://rubyonrails.org/">Ruby on Rails</a></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><a href="http://code.google.com/p/scalereg/">SCALEreg</a></td><td><a href="http://www.socallinuxexpo.org/">SCALE</a></td><td><a href="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html">GPL</a></td><td><a href="http://www.python.org/">Python</a> (<a href="http://www.djangoproject.com/">Django</a>)</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><a href="https://launchpad.net/summit">Summit</a></td><td><a href="http://www.canonical.com">Canonical</a></td><td><a href="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html">AGPL</a></td><td><a href="http://www.python.org/">Python</a> (<a href="http://www.djangoproject.com">Django</a>)</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><a href="https://github.com/zookeepr/zookeepr">Zookeepr</a></td><td><a href="http://www.linux.org.au/LCA">linux.conf.au</a></td><td><a href="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html">GPL</a></td><td><a href="http://www.python.org/">Python</a> (<a href="http://pylonshq.com/">Pylons</a>)</td>
</tr></table>
<p></p>
<p>If you know of any other Open Source systems, please leave a comment!</p>