I volunteer to help with organization. I think it is logical, if we do the isntallfest as Sakia, that I arrange it with them. I did so last year, and they have gotten used to me in this role. I have already mentioned the idea to them, and they are very enthusiastic.

I think the 1st of May is good for 2 reasons: 1. It is a public holiday 2. It will mean we're making a tradition. Newcomer, however, had reason to suggest the beginning of April. I can't remember why; Newcomer, remind me.

We're going to need more solid demonstrations. Alaa's zero-to-LAMP was pretty popular, so maybe we need a couple of other people doing that. I'll be holding focus groups, I think; that worked pretty well last year. Just a group of 10 or 12 sitting in a circle discussing. We want demos on everything from simple (how to use x-chat and other common apps) to complex (how to stop katoob from crashing thin clients, Asterisk, etc.) Come on people, VOLUNTEER. Do it NOW so you have time to practise and so we know who's going to do what.

Companies: Which ones? I propose that we get IBM sgsin; they have seen now what we can do after last InstallFest and I think they will be more respectful this year. If we can agree on this, I know the relevant people there and can begin contacting them. Also, I work now for an open source consultancy; we can probably arrange something in terms of demos, etc. Last year, we were weak at addressing enterprise-class visitors. I and my people can handle that this year.

The usual CD shortage ill be solved with a distributed effort. We decide which distro, and we all burn at home and have our copies ready THE WEEK BEFORE. It would be nice to allow everyone to make copies of their favorite distro, but this is not practical. We will distribute linux copies, and we will be handling technical support for these new users afterwards. This should affect our choice of distro. My inclination is to go for Mandrake, and let's also have phaeronix available (Islam, get your butt in gear and tell us what you need to get your baby up, polished, and ready for n00bs).

These are my initial thoughts.

-- Panem et *burp* circenses