strange symphonies

FOSS.my 2008

43 days

That was our timeline. We had only 43 days to run a conference.

Not just any conference, a conference I could be proud of, a conference I could be happy to say, “this was our awesome“.

This is Our Awesome

There were doubt’s surrounding the rather tight deadline, and day by day we had a growing TODO list. But, we thought we could do this. Pull this off, make it something to remember.

Luckily, some of us are familiar with conferences. Not the boring lame ass ones. But the cool ones. The ones that make psyche you up, and leave you wanting for more. But none of us were prepared for this.

Having attended the remarkable foss.in 2007, I wanted this here, in Malaysia. But how do I bring this experience here? How do I achieve the same awesomness that was foss.in?

Having been involved in the FOSS scene for years, I had initial doubt when the conference was proposed.

• What sort of numbers were we expecting?
• Where is it going to be?
• Who is going to make this happen?
• How many days?
• How many tracks?
• How many speakers?
• Who is going to speak?
• Who is going to sponsor?
• Who is going to hold the money?
• What kind of food should we get?
• How many volunteers?
• Who would volunteer?
• How do we attract people?
• How many people can we actually get?

To be honest, the last question was the one that I was worried the most about. 100, 150? I thought, lets aim big. Let’s make this happen.

150 People

That was our goal. But who would make this happen?

Meet the team:

• Ang Chin Han
• Colin Charles
• Ditesh Kumar
• Ezwan Aizat Bin Abdullah Faiz
• Firdaus Bin Aziz
• Gurdip Singh
• Izhar Firdaus
• Khairil Yusof
• Muhammad Shahriman Samsudin
• Suanie T
• Syamsul Anuar
• Yoon Kit Yong

Even with a remarkable line up, I thought that the number was being overly generous. But no one knew what to expect.

sleeping at APIIT is nothing like sleeping at Westin

The last few days leading up to foss.my, the numbers in our registration started going through the roof.

Not good, definitely not good. We weren’t prepared for this.

Makkal Sakti (The People’s Power)

Sure we ran into hiccups here and there, but this was our inaugural conference. Done at low cost. No event companies. No third parties. No hotel. To be run at no profit.

Why?

Because we wanted you. This event wasn’t for me. I am already aware of the benefits of FOSS. I’ve felt the energy seen elsewhere. I wanted to inspire you. This had to be open to everyone, to the students, to the teachers, to the disabled, to the housewives, to the working, to the government, and to the businesses.

This was for you.

Nonetheless, the people have shown you what could be done. What has been done.

Sadly I didn’t attend any talks, except for the closing key note by Jaya Kumar on Makkal Sakti (The People’s Power). Which I honestly believed, closed the conference off really well.

Thank You

Who really made this possible?

• The Sponsors
• The Speakers
• The Volunteers
• The Organizers
• Yourselves

Without the fantastic response, this awesome conference simply wouldn’t be possible, and next year’s conference may just be an after thought.

Thank these people, email, identi.ca, twitter, wall post, or super poke them!

Just a simple advice, next year. Please do register early. It makes life so much more easier for us.

So whats next?

We’ve got plans. Big plans. Stay tuned.

Well lets see. What if we had 365 days to plan a conference? At 300+ people in 43 days, that equates to 7 people a day. Therefore 365 times 7 = 2,555 people next year. Whoa, we ain’t ready for this just yet!

We want to make this bigger. We want to make this better. We want to get 2,555 people next year.

But how can we do that? Help us, help you, by giving us feedback. Don’t be afraid to be harsh, or critical. We hear you!

Ok, maybe more realistic numbers. But all of you surprised us!

etc

• Organizing team photos taken by Colin Charles
• Various photos were taken by Ow Mun Heng
• Audience shot taken by Eavay Javay Barnad
• White board shot taken by James Morris
• T Shirt photo by Sumardi Shukor
• For more photos visit the foss.my gallery
• Get your foss.my buzz fix here

Oh yeah, the following day after FOSS.my, I happened to be walking around in Borders with my FOSS.my T-Shirt, which on the back says “The World is Just Awesome”. Some stranger comes up to me and starts singing “boom de yadah”.

Free Software is about Freedom. Think Free Speech, not free Teh Tarik.

The World is Just Awesome