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Our Blogs Open Sauce - A GNU perspective linux.conf.au: The house full sign is up
Our Blogs Open Sauce - A GNU perspective linux.conf.au: The house full sign is up | linux.conf.au: The house full sign is up |
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| by Sam Varghese | |
| Sunday, 23 December 2007 | |
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Chief conference organiser Donna Benjamin said a full house meant 600 people - 500 delegates, leaving space for speakers, mini-conf organisers and media. The last ticket was snapped up on Friday, December 21. Ms Benjamin said putting up the house-full sign had both a good and bad side. "To sell out 5 weeks before we open is evidence of how well regarded the conference is. We get a lot of repeat business. It means our budget estimates are secure. We're not having to operate worrying about whether enough people are going to come to share the big ticket fixed costs around," she said. "But it's also bad, because some people will miss out. We have already started getting email from some of those who have been disappointed. When we closed registrations, there were still 80 people registered who had not yet paid, and therefore have not secured a place. "The executive team is meeting today (Sunday) to discuss where and how we can squeeze more people in. We're looking at questions like 'should (we) create a sub class of ticket - that doesn't grant access to the keynote sessions?' because that's our crunch point. The keynote venue only holds 600 people, and even then, it will be tight." Melbourne University is playing host to the conference this year, the second time the event has been held in this city; the inaugural conference in 1999 was hosted at Monash University. Asked how this filling up of places compared with earlier conferences, Ms Benjamin said the 2005 conference, held in the nation's capital, also sold out before the conference, although she was not sure how early. "Jon Oxer (the chairman of Linux Australia) told me on Friday he believed this (selling out more than a month in advance) was a record," she said. "Dunedin and Sydney did not sell out, although Dunedin got very close, despite the fact it was in New Zealand. Sydney had a very high ceiling and could have accommodated close to 1000 people. I believe they had around 850-900 people at the conference. "While I never doubted we would have a full house, I'm surprised we sold out before Christmas. So we'll be shifting our promotional efforts towards Open Day on February 2 - because that is free, and open to the public. It would be great to have lots of people come to that to view Open Source technologies and meet representatives of the community." Ms Benjamin said this would not affect the people who volunteer to help at the conference. "Volunteers are extra, and we hope to have a large team to help with the conference. We need 15-20 people just to handle the audio-visual recording for each session, we'll also need people to be at the registration desk throughout the conference, as well as positioned around the venue to help people with directions, and accessibility guidance for those who need it."
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