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The Mechanics of Freedom

LinuxFest Northwest attracts a wide audience ranging from Open Source beginners to experienced experts.

This year we’re looking for presentations around the theme ‘The Mechanics of Freedom’. Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things are becoming even more integrated in the lives of regular citizens. Along with these changes comes concern over the trade-offs between convenience and privacy. We would like to see talks that bring together pieces of this larger puzzle.

Session Submission Due Date: Friday, March 1st3rd, 2017 11:59PM PT
Speakers Contacted: March 10th, 2017

Tracks for 2017

  • Security
    From keeping your personal data and identity private to securing systems from intruders, we're looking for sessions of all skill levels to discuss security.
    e.g. Privacy in the age of relentless online tracking
  • Infrastructure
    Technical talks about using the latest testing, automation tools, and databases for scaling servers and systems.
    e.g. How the Internet of Things took down DNS
  • Humans
    Sessions focused on the human component of open source. This includes community building, education, licensing, legal discussions, and talks about open source culture.
    e.g. How bots can help you on-board new community members
  • Code
    Sessions explaining frameworks, content management systems, and programming languages.
    e.g. Training driverless vehicles
  • General Interest
    Have a topic not covered by the tracks above? Thats okay! Put your session in this track.
    e.g. Beginners guide to the Linux desktop

Tutorials

This year, we're expanding the tutorium to hold in depth, hands on sessions of all topics and difficulties. If you're interested in leading a tutorial, submit here.

Tutorials should be either 90 minutes or 2.5 hours in length.

Difficulty Levels

New for 2017: We've consolidated our tracks from 10 to 5 to allow for expert and newcomer sessions to run simultaneously. We aim to have every timeslot contain at least one topic from each difficulty level.

  • Newcomer
    Aimed at attendees with no prior knowledge of the topic nor any prerequisites
    e.g. Introduction to Ubuntu
  • Learner
    Aimed at those with a small amount of prior knowledge in the topic area
    e.g. Introduction to ZFS
  • Expert
    Aimed at attendees with in depth experience around the topic
    e.g. Deep dive into MongoDB sharding

Session Length

The following session lengths are available. Please specify which works best for your presentation.

  • 60 Minutes
    The majority of our sessions fit within a standard hour. Typically speakers give a 45 minute talk and leave 15 minutes for questions.
  • 90 Minutes
    There will be a few 90 minute session slots available for more in depth talks.

Additional Guidelines:

For quicker response and a greater chance of being accepted, please make sure your proposal includes the following:

  • Select the track that fits closest with subject matter
  • Write a detailed description of what the session will discuss
  • Include what the audience expects to learn from the session
  • Include links to bio(s) of the speaker(s)
  • Keep the title short and interesting (under 64 Characters)
  • Add links, if applicable, to other talks given by the speakers

Presentation Submission Process

Here is additional information and details about the Presentation submission process, including communications with the Presentations team.

  1. Follow the guidelines on this page.
  2. Propose and submit your presentation from the link below by March 3rd.
  3. Your presentation proposal will be reviewed by LinuxFest Northwest volunteers by March 10th.
  4. You will receive an email from the Presentations team about acceptance of proposals on or around March 10th.
  5. Around the end of March, the tentative schedule will be ready. You will be asked to review for any problems or last-minute updates.
  6. In the first week of April the schedule will be solidified and posted.
  7. In the weeks before the Fest, you will receive emails from the Presentation team with reminders and suggestions about the presentation preparation process.
  8. There may be additional emails about scheduling.

It's important to include a summary of your presentation and a description of your background and experience. The team cannot evaluate your proposal without adequate information.

Code of Conduct and Speaker Policies

Please read the Code of Conduct, Speaker Agreement, and Media Policy before proposing a session. You must acknowledge and accept these policies in order to submit a session.

Submit a Session