FOSS4G New Website Launched with Program Details

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Date: Fri, 10 Jun 2011 16:27:50 -0600
From: Peter Batty <peter@ebatty.com>
Subject: [OSGeo-Discuss] FOSS4G program published and new web site
       launched
To: OSGeo Discussions <discuss@lists.osgeo.org>, foss4g2011      <foss4g2011@lists.osgeo.org>

(Email edited for readability)

We are pleased to announce the publication of the FOSS4G 2011 program. You can view the program details here http://2011.foss4g.org/program/session-schedule. Selection was very competitive - we had almost 300 submissions for around 150 sessions. So congratulations to those who made it, and commiserations to those who didn't, but we hope to still see you in Denver for the conference! We feel we have an excellent program lined up.

We have also announced our plenary speakers<http://2011.foss4g.org/content/plenary-speakers>. They include several speakers new to FOSS4G, and several FOSS4G veterans. 

1. Michael Byrne, GIO of the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), will talk about their work on the National Broadband Map, which is based entirely on an open source software stack, and implements some innovative ideas regarding open data. 
2. Peter Ter Haar, Director of Products at the Ordnance Survey, the national mapping agency of Great Britain, will talk about their experience with open data initiatives over the past 18 months, as well as how they are using open source. 
3. Paul Ramsey will talk on "Why do you do that? An exploration of open source business models". 
4. Steve Coast, founder of OpenStreetMap, will talk about the past, present and (mainly) future of OpenStreetMap. 
5. We will have a panel on "Open x 4" discussing various aspects of openness, chaired by Matt Ball and featuring Arnulf Christl, President of OSGeo, Steve Coast, and Carl Reed, CTO of OGC. 
6. Schuyler Erle and Brian Timoney have accepted the challenge of giving us a couple of short and entertaining but also insightful presentations to close proceedings on Wednesday and Thursday. And 
7. Jeff McKenna will be leading the ever-popular web mapping performance shootout in the final session. 

Check the full list http://2011.foss4g.org/content/plenary-speakers to see all the plenary speakers.

We have also redesigned and re-implemented the web site. Nice features include a searchable program schedule. Shortly we will also have the ability to save items to build your own custom schedule. We have a few things still on our to do list, so you'll see some more improvements and additions over the next few weeks. Please let us know peter@ebatty.com?subject=FOSS4G%20web%20site%20feedback if you have any feedback on the new website, including additional content or features you'd like to see.