This is one of probably several threads that will come out in the very near future revolving around the upcoming openSUSE 2011 Conference planning. This thread specifically focuses on discussion of the theme and program offered during the conference. Discussions beyond this topic should run in a separate thread or we'll end up with crazy threading. :-) Background: openSUSE Project will host its third annual openSUSE Conference at a site and date that has not been selected yet. The first conference, in September of 2009 focused on project discussions and addressing various aspects of governance. It was a more "internal" conference, but did have several good sessions as well. The second conference, held October 2010, came with an official theme "Collaboration Across Borders" and was much more session-oriented with 1 hour sessions on each topic. We extended beyond our internal community and invited others to join and collaborate on topics of mutual interest. Both were very good events in their own unique focus. Theme: What should be the theme of this year's conference? In yesterday's Project meeting on IRC it was expressed that we've already succeeded in using the collaboration theme and we should look beyond that for this coming event. Focus: In conjunction with the theme, how should the conference be structured? 2009 had a blend of sessions (not that many) and unconference where people created topics on-site and we had meetings that were set in 2-hour blocks. 2010 focused more on sessions (I believe we had 70?) and were pretty much pre-established before arriving on site. Though there was some flexibility to change a few things as needed. As we are time-constricted in getting everything properly prepared, I will create a deadline for ideas on Theme and Focus. Set for April 15. At that point, the CFP Team will evaluate the recommendations we all give here and apply it to the Call for Papers. Call for Papers: While date of conference/theme/focus greatly impact our CFP, we should nevertheless move forward and begin planning on the CFP call itself. CFP announcement should go out no later than April 27th with a probable deadline of mid-to-late July. We need volunteers to join the CFP Committee. If you are interested, please visit http://en.opensuse.org/openSUSE:Conference_Planning_2011#Teams and add your name to the Program Committee. Thanks all! Bryen M Yunashko -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-project+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-project+help@opensuse.org