Make it so, SCALE

A little history: Mimi Cafiero (yes, that’s my girl) and Malakai Wade, two teenage girls who are helping to organize SCALE 10X’s young people’s conference, staunchly proclaimed that, “We are not kids.” So the title of SCALE 10X Kids Conference was in peril from the start.

Yet in discussion on the mailing list on the name that shortly followed, Jenn Waterman had the perfect solution in a one-line e-mail:

“I would like to suggest ‘SCaLE: The Next Generation’ “

So after a little more discussion, the organizers for the event made it so. The SCALE Kids Conference became SCALE: The Next Generation.

Yesterday, the Southern California Linux Expo officially announced their conference for the next generation of free and open source (FOSS) community enthusiasts. SCALE: The Next Generation will be held Saturday, January 21, 2012, at the Hilton Los Angeles Airport hotel.

In their announcement, they invite the youth of the FOSS community to share their enthusiasm and excitement about FOSS projects with the other young people.

Talk submissions are reviewed by a committee of youths, parents, and volunteers planning the conference and evaluated solely on their merits. SCALE requests that submission dates be strictly honored in order to provide the committee enough time to choose the best set of proposals.

Presenters will have the opportunity to give a 20- or 45-minute presentation, and the desired time slot be mentioned in the submission.

The goal of both SCALE and SCALE: The Next Generation is to educate and encourage excitement about FOSS. Because of this, all presentations should be submitted in a free and open format, such as OpenDocument Presentation (ODP) or PDF formats.

Additionally the conference will also provide space where the next generation FOSS enthusiasts can see FOSS program and hardware projects in action. SCALE encourages those youths interested in showcasing a project that they themselves are involved in or simply excited about, to submit a one paragraph description about the project and what attendees can hope to see.

Submissions for both presentations and demonstrations should be emailed to gareth@socallinuxexpo.org

Important dates to keep in mind: Invitation for Participation Opens on Nov. 29 (yesterday); Invitation for Participation Closes on Dec. 19; and SCALE: The Next Generation takes place on Jan. 21, 2012.

Come on, kids . . . er, I mean, next-generationers — get those talks in and be a part of this historic conference.

(Larry Cafiero is one of the founders of the Lindependence Project and has just started developing software in his new home office. Watch this space.)