Blog by Sumana Harihareswara, Changeset founder
I'm Looking Forward to Open Source Bridge & WisCon
Hi, reader. I wrote this in 2010 and it's now more than five years old. So it may be very out of date; the world, and I, have changed a lot since I wrote it! I'm keeping this up for historical archive purposes, but the me of today may 100% disagree with what I said then. I rarely edit posts after publishing them, but if I do, I usually leave a note in italics to mark the edit and the reason. If this post is particularly offensive or breaches someone's privacy, please contact me.
I'll be at the feminist science fiction convention WisCon this year, arriving Thursday the 27th and leaving Monday the 31st for Portland, Oregon. I'll be in Portland till Saturday the 5th for Open Source Bridge. I found out while planning my tickets that at least two other women are also going straight from one conference to the other, so we get to fly together (although they will probably shout down my "matching outfits" idea).
As I mentioned to Julia,
This year, I'm of course interested in several panels, like "Facebook and Its Discontents," "Fighting Imposter Syndrome," the "Once Upon A Time" game-playing panel, and panels on small presses, worldbuilding, supportive artists' SOs, forgotten women writers, and fanfic. I hope I get to participate on a panel or two. I look forward to seeing friends I saw last year. I'll be seeing college pal Shweta Narayan again for the first time in years, and I'll get to meet Alexandra Erin, whose Tales of MU I've been reading for years. And Mary Anne Mohanraj, whose "Jump Space" appears in Thoughtcrime Experiments, is a WisCon Guest Of Honor, so I shall puff out my chest and bask in reflected glory.
Open Source Bridge received 197 proposals, of which three are mine:
- "Thoughtcrime Experiments": CC/FLOSS Lessons From A DIY Sci-Fi Anthology: Last year, two FLOSS enthusiasts edited a Creative Commons-licensed anthology of original fantasy and science fiction stories and art. We did it to give back, to give readers more choices, and because documenting and sharing are in our blood. Here's how we published a great anthology, why, and how you can do it too. (Culture track)
- Blocker Talk: confessional-meets-Scrum: What are the three highest priorities for your FLOSS project, what's blocking you, and can we help? A guided discussion. (Cooking track)
- The Second Step: HOWTO encourage open source work at for-profits: Even at pro-FLOSS businesses, logistical obstacles and incentive problems get in the way of giving back. I show you how to fix that. (Business track)
Three isn't that many, as you can see if you look at Josh Berkus's seven proposals. You can check out my incomplete list of proposals that look neat, like Melissa Hollingsworth on SQL vs. NoSQL and Liz Henry & Danny O'Brien on "Applying OpenStreetMap to the High Seas".
