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The International Linux System Technology Conference

Want to help?

The Linux-Kongress is mostly organized my volunteers from the Linux community. There is much to do and everybody is welcome to join in the effort. Participating in the Linux-Kongress is a great way of contributing to the community, to meet interesting people, to learn and to have a lot of fun.

Here are a few ideas, how you can help:

• Help with the Local Organization
• Submit a Paper
• Present Your Linux or Open Source Project
• Organize a Workshop, a BoF or Other Event
• Become a Sponsor
• Host a Future Linux-Kongress

Help with the Local Organization

Every year the conference takes place at a different location. In the month before the conference we need people from the local Linux community to help us with

• organizing accomodation for speakers and participants
• organizing the social event
• writing travel directions for participants
• checking out local services like restaurents and pubs
• local public relations and sponsors
• and many other things...

For the conference itself we need people to

• help with registration
• transport speakers
• pack conference bags
• moderate track
• help with setting up the exhibition and terminal room
• and many other things...

Submit a Paper

Of course we want to encourage you to present a paper at the conference. If your company can't pay for it, we will pay for your travel expenses and hotel.

Present Your Linux or Open Source Project

Groups and individuals from the Open Source community can present their project or organization in the exhibition - please contact Martin Schulte (contact@linux-kongress.org) if you are interested.

Organize a Workshop, a BoF or Other Event

Part of a lively conference are small planned or ad-hoc meetings of people who share the same interest. Birds-of-a-Feather (BoF) sessions are small gatherings of conference participants called together by somebody who thinks there is an interest in discussing some topic. This might be a particular piece of software, a new technical or non-technical development of something totally unrelated. Starting a BoF is easy, just tell the conference organisers what the topic should be and they will arrange a room for you to meet.

Of course this is not the only thing you can do. The conference organisers are open to any ideas on how to make the event more interesting. And even better than ideas are people who makes those ideas happen.

Become a Sponsor

With the Linux-Kongress we want to give Linux developers a chance to meet their peers and present their papers and work. But much of this work is done by people in their spare time and on their own budget. Many can't afford an expensive conference. That is why the Linux-Kongress is cheaper than most conferences and why we pay travel and accommodation for many participants.

To finance this effort we need sponsors. If you think ours is a worthy cause or if you are making money by using Linux, please consider giving back to the community by helping us.

Sponsoring the Linux-Kongress is also a great way of making your company known to a group of core Linux developers and tell them about your product and line of work.

If you are interested in sponsoring the Linux-Kongress please talk to Martin Schulte (contact@linux-kongress.org).

Host a Future Linux-Kongress

The Linux-Kongress takes place every year in a different city. We need people who want to host a Linux-Kongress in the future.

What does this mean for you?

Well, to be honest in the first place: A lot of work, but a lot of fun also.

To be more specific:

• The first and most important thing to do is to find an appropriate location. Appropriate here means:
  • has at least three lecture rooms, the largest with >= 500 places, the middle with >= 300 places, the smallest with >= 100 places, plus some smaller rooms
  • has some space for making a (small) exhibition
  • is not too expensive. Ideally, it will be free (universities often offer such opportunities), but a good location might be worth paying for.
  • we must have the ability to provide coffee-breaks (for an affordable price) and there and affordable oppurtunities for having lunch nearby.
  (If you have visited a former Linux-Kongress, you will certainly have an idea about what we are talking about here.) We don't have money to pay for the rooms, so they have to be free or very cheap. Good locations can generally be found at universities or similar institutions.
• Furthermore, you need to look for a hotel where the speakers can stay, a nice location for both the speakers' dinner and the social event, a frame program for the speakers on the weekend after the conference, and it would also be fine if you find some low cost locations where the visitors can stay.
• You need to provide all "local important" information for our web-pages: The route to the conference location (via car, train, tram, ...), references to the hotels, where the visitors can take their lunch, ...
• During the conference week, we need 10-15 volunteers to help in organizing the whole thing: Mark the way to the conference location, help at the registration desk, transport of speakers, packing conference bags, moderation of tracks, help setting up the exhibition, guard the Internet-Cafe, solve unexpected problems, ... Please do not underestimate this point: Experience has shown that even large Linux user groups had to work hard to get this amount of people; some are at work, some are in holidays, some are not as interested as you might have expected!
• Last, but not least, you will have to deal with all those tiny little problems that we all know will occure but have forgotten to mention...

An additional challenge might arise: In the years 2000 and 2001 2- and 3-day workshops just before the conference were funded by the German government with about 150 partipicants. We want to do this again, but whether this will happen depends on whether we will get the funding. If this is the case more rooms, transport, etc. is needed.

On the other hand, you do

• not need to care for the program (though we are happy if you or someone of your organization team would like to participate in the program chair)
• not need to care for the registration (this is handled by the GUUG)
• not need to care for public relations (though help, especially for local newspapers etc, would be greatly appreciated)
• not care for the webspace (except providing the "local" information)
• not necessarily need to look for sponsors and exhibitors (though your help would be greatly appreciated)

You can also propose a date for the conference. Keep the following point in mind:

• we don't see any need to change the traditional scheme of the last years: Start with the tutorials on Wednesday, have the conference on Thursday and Friday.
• we need to avoid overlapping with other events, both local and international, Linux and non-Linux (e.g., you will not get affordable room for the speakers and visitors in Munich during "Oktoberfest").
• it shouldn't be during Germany's summer holidays.
• there should be some time-gap after this year's Linux-Kongress.

The exact date will of course have to be discussed with the location you proposed.

If you have any questions or can imagine organizing the Linux-Kongress next year, please also mail to contact@linux-kongress.org