LCA2009: the leader of the band

Sam Varghese
Friday, 02 January 2009 05:05

Opinion and Analysis

Apart from her professional involvement in technology, Leah also answers calls on the local ABC radio tech help segment. She says the number of calls about Linux and open source have increased since she got involved.

"The awareness and level of interest in FOSS is rising dramatically and I like to think I've played at least a small part in that," she says. "We publicise Software Freedom Day each year and give away OpenCDs to callers who ring in on that day. The response is always overwhelming, in terms of both calls on the day and attendance at the events. It's getting to the stage where some of the calls are getting so technical that it's really pushing my knowledge of Linux and open source too!

"But although still more than 50 percent of the calls are about Windows, it's unusual not to get at least a few calls about alternatives to Windows and proprietary software, and that's really heartening, to know the message is getting out there."

Organising a conference like LCA takes nearly a year and time management is crucial. Leah has started a new job in the past three months, hence she has that extra bit on her plate.

"It's all pretty tightly scripted right now - answering conference emails in the morning over breakfast, work until lunch, conference phone calls and meetings over lunch, work until 5:30 or so, then anything else that needs dealing with - emails, document processing and writing, phone calls, emails and chat to the other conference organisers in the evenings," is how she describes an average day.

"I usually try to call it quits by 9pm, but it doesn't always work out that way - there's been a few 2am mornings when there's been deadlines, and the occasional night when you just need a break!"

She often tries to take a day off on the weekends to get her personal life in order and goes bushwalking at times. "There's nothing like standing on top of a mountain or at the base of a waterfall after a week of being desk bound and just enjoying the world," she says. "And the beauty of living in Tassie is, places like these are less than half an hour's drive from my house. It really is one of the best places in the world to live and work."

Planning for the conference has gone fairly smoothly, with the occasional hiccup. "Nothing ever goes entirely to plan; there's always problems with timing, availability, and budget, and when you're dealing with a volunteer run conference and not professional conference organisers, there's always going to be a few hiccups," says Leah. "But you've just got to go with the flow and plan for all contingencies. Amazingly, we've had very few problems so far."

The global economic crisis has caused some headaches. "Flight costs have increased, and everyone is tightening their belts because of the economic uncertainties. This has meant that we've needed to tighten our belts a little also, but Garry Harradence, our treasurer, has been fantastic keeping our budget in check and on target," she says.

For her a successful conference would mean everyone has a great time and goes away from the conference feeling they've had an incredible experience. "Providing an opportunity to forge strong relationships with others in the open source community and to rub shoulders with many influential personalities involved in the creation of open source software for our delegates and speakers is also important," she says.

"LCA is a celebration of all the great things the community achieves and to further the development of the projects that make it great, and if we can help facilitate that and provide a number of opportunities for everyone to celebrate the fantastic achievements of the past year, then I'll be happy that we've achieved our goal."