OPEN SOURCE BRIDGE
This was a new conference for developers working with open source technologies and for people interested in learning about open source. It is not a typical technical conference. For instance:
- It was entirely volunteer-run, by developers, for developers.
- Session tracks were technology agnostic, based instead around shared community experiences and focused on similarities between projects, not differences.
- The geekery didn’t end with the sessions. There was also 24-hour hacker lounge for code sprints, bug bashes, session deep dives, bouncing ideas, starting new projects or just mingling and taking in the vibe.
Live Keynote Video
Session speakers included Ward Cunningham, Mayor Sam Adams, Amber Case, and Kurt von Finck. The keynote speech was streamed live and audience members tweeted the address to friends and co-workers. The online discussions were lively and full of praise from folks who could not make the event. One office even placed a projector in a conference room so that co-workers could watch together.
People are busy, but want to participate
Recorded Sessions
In addition to the live streamed keynote sessions, Blaze Streaming Media recorded all the sessions taking place in the keynote room. Ten diverse sessions were released online in the following year, building interest for the future year’s event. These sessions will fill up email boxes, blogs, and twitter streams long after the event is over.
photo credit: Igal Koshevoy
Open Source Bridge included topics on projects that have a world wide following and use. The community for open source software is large but spread out geographically. Providing a live stream and recorded content shines a light on the conference as the source of community.
It has been a pleasure to work with the volunteer run conference and I appreciate their vision in embracing new tools and technology.