[wsfii-discuss] a clear public outline for the 1-2 weekend

Fri Aug 26 23:42:19 UTC 2005

hello,

I had a very interesting talk with Laura Forlano of nycwireless over
lunch. Of all the points that came up, this one is the most pressing:
There needs to be a clear, public outline of what sessions are
happening over the weekend; otherwise, potential registrants won't
understand what the 'main conference' experience will look like or how
they can relate to it. I started to make:

http://okfn.org/wsfii/wiki/WsfiiWeekend

I gleaned this from:
http://okfn.org/wsfii/wiki/WsfiiSchedule  
http://okfn.org/wsfii/wiki/WsfiiProposedStreams

This states now: 6 streams, two of which (freenetworks, geodata) get
two sessions each. I *don't* mean this to be a definitive or
prescriptive statement; it just reflects what is on the wiki now.

If you think the balance is wrong, or something you really think
should be represented during the weekend that is not listed on 
http://okfn.org/wsfii/wiki/WsfiiWeekend , please change the page and
talk about those changes on this list.

I wanted to guzzle two sessions for geodata, because there are two
'streams' within the topic; 

1/ creating free-of-copyright maps and wiki-nature spatial information
2/ gaining access to state-collected geodata and what is to be done with it
   once it is open

The second topic meshes closely with the CivicInformation stream;
so much so, that when thinking of prospective presentists, i found
that Rufus had already asked two of the three people i first thought of. 
But i really want to offer a platform to all the people now on that list.
There are a good few TBC slots; and 3*20 can easily fit into 4*15 where
appropriate. 

Reflections that all this prompts:

- There's a lot of 'blur' between the streams. Where there isn't
  visible blur, it might be appropriate to encourage more.

- The outline i have made at http://okfn.org/wsfii/wiki/WsfiiWeekend 
  is Wrong in this context; it emphasises 'clean' topics rather than
  people and contexts.

- One session can and ideally should flow topically into the next

- No arbitrary 'geek'/'non-geek' divisions that encourage people to
  think, "oh, the morning/afternoon doesn't look pertinent to me, i'll
  skip it" which are the bane of my conference-attending life.

-jo