The Linux Foundation produces more than 15 events a year. They range from the Linux Kernel Summit to CloudOpen to Automotive and Embedded Linux Conferences. If you have attended our events over the last few years you would likely have run into many luminaries from the world of Linux, open source and open cloud. We are fortunate to work every day with experts from the developer communities and with many of the largest open source projects and companies in the world. It’s a great talent pool to choose from.
But we don’t want only “known” or “known to us” experts to apply to speak at our events. We are anxious and motivated to reach out to new people: new developers, new users, new communities. I feel fresh perspectives are crucial for our attendees to stay connected to the cutting edge and the most advanced technical topics. It’s also the right thing to do.
This is why we’re calling on new speakers to submit a proposal to speak at one of our Linux events. (And if you’ve spoken before you are welcome, too!) Coming up we have LinuxCon and CloudOpen in North America September 16-18 in New Orleans. The CFP for both LinuxCon and CloudOpen closes on June 20th so please get them in now:CFP for LinuxCon North America; CFP for CloudOpen North America.
Shortly after that we’ll be hosting LinuxCon Europe, CloudOpen Europe, Embedded Linux Conference Europe and Automotive Linux Summit in Edinburgh in October. You have until July 21 to submit your talks for LinuxCon Europe and CloudOpen Europe.
If you’ve never spoken at one of our events or any event for that matter, we invite you to make this the year you do. Open source is only as strong as the people sharing and exchanging code and information, and we need your contributions. If you’ve been intimidated or hesitant about public speaking, this is your opportunity to try it out in a community with a shared sense of purpose and support.
We’ve even asked veteran speaker Josh Berkus of PostgreSQL Experts to host a workshop on Sunday night before LinuxCon and CloudOpen North America begin to help prepare first-time speakers. You can also watch a video here with Josh sharing tips for speakers. We’ll also be sharing details soon about a first-time attendee reception, a Women in Open Source luncheon and more, so there will be many opportunities to network and be supported.
A new perspective is one of the most important ingredients for advancing technology and creating innovation. Please bring yours to New Orleans and Edinburgh.