Greg, I have thought of it - but as you mentioned - I've been thinking mostly about 3.0. I do love that you brought this topic to the list's attention. I've never organized a conference before, so I'm not sure what's involved, but if there is interest, maybe someone here can explain what steps we need to take - and if it's even feasible this coming year. --- Nicole C. Engard Open Source Evangelist, LibLime (888) Koha ILS (564-2457) ext. 714 nce@liblime.com AIM/Y!/Skype: nengard http://liblime.com http://blogs.liblime.com/open-sesame/ On Wed, Jul 16, 2008 at 11:52 AM, Greg Lawson <glawson@rollinghills.lib.mo.us> wrote:
Nicole or anyone:
I know that LibLime seems to be feverishly working on 3.0 and then presumably 3.2, so this may not be high on their priority list, but is anyone giving any thought to having a Koha Conference here in the US? We would love to go to Australia, but that's not in the budget this year.
Having an ILS conference promotes interaction among the users, who share information and ideas, and also serves as a stimulus for /*esprit de corps*/. Just as talking points, would anyone consider some centralized location for an initial conference, like the following:
Kansas City (MO or KS) area Wichita Tulsa Omaha Oklahoma City
All the above are close to the geographical center of the US, and so minimize travel cost and time on average for US participants. They are also relatively inexpensive vis-a-vis major convention centers like NY, LA, SF or Las Vegas, and are served by major airlines.
Unless I am in the dark here and some plans are already being made, I don't see that anything could happen this year, but maybe something modest for spring/summer 2009? Perhaps something in conjunction with a major conference (ALA/PLA/LITA)?
I'm well aware something like this would require significant planning and, if not hosted gratis (free gratis) by a library, costs for renting a meeting facility. Maybe we need to start a KUG? A KSIG? Have a bake sale to raise money? Sell t-shirts? (Somebody used to sell Koha t-shirts, right? Haven't noticed those for a while.)
Comments and suggestions welcome.
Greg
Greg Lawson Rolling Hills Consolidated Library 1912 N. Belt Highway St. Joseph, MO 64506