Tips for talks on the Open Development Track for the Denver Summit

Time to harness those brainstorms: The call for presentations for the first Open Infrastructure Summit is open until January 23. OpenStack Summit veterans will notice some changes in the event beyond the name. In order to reflect the diversity of projects, use cases and software development in the ecosystem, several conference tracks have been added or renamed.

Historically, just 25 percent of submissions are chosen for the conference. In light of that fierce competition, Superuser is talking to Programming Committee members of the Tracks for the Denver Summit to help shed light on what topics, takeaways and projects they are hoping to see covered in sessions submitted to their Track.
Here we’re featuring the Open Development Track, formerly the Open Source Community Track. Thierry Carrez, VP of engineering for the OpenStack Foundation and Allison Randal, board member of the OpenStack Foundation, are tasked with leading selections for this Track. They shared these insights ahead of the submission deadline.

Open Development Track topics

The 4 Opens, the future of free and open source software, challenges of open collaboration, open development best practices and tools, open source governance models, diversity and inclusion, mentoring and outreach, community management.

Describe the content you’d like to see submitted to this Track.

Today, open source licensing is not enough, we need to define standards on how open source software should be built. Models of open development come with their benefits and challenges, and with their best practices and tools. I’d like this track to be where those open development models, those standards on how open source should be built are discussed. Beyond that, this track will cover open source governance models, the challenges of diversity and inclusion, the need for mentoring and outreach, and community management topics.

What should Summit attendees take away from sessions in this Track?

Too much of open source software development today is closed, one way or another. Its development may be done behind closed doors, or its governance may be locked down to ensure lasting control by its main sponsor. I hope that this track will expose the benefits of open collaboration and help users tell the difference between different degrees of openness. I also hope this track will explain why diversity is critical to the success of open source projects and inspire attendees to participate in mentoring and outreach.

Who’s the target audience for this track?

This Track is broadly applicable to anyone who participates in an open source project, as a designer, operator, developer,community member, or sponsor. No specialist background knowledge is required, you’ll gain value from the sessions even if you are completely new to open collaboration. Experienced community leaders will benefit from exchanging ideas and best practices across communities, while new community leaders, or anyone curious about getting involved in community leadership, will benefit from the experiences of those who have gone before them.

Tags: Open Infrastructure Summit, open source community

Author
Recent Posts

Allison Price

Director of Marketing & Community at Open Infrastructure Foundation

Allison manages Marketing Content initiatives including case study development, advertising campaigns, the Superuser online publication and OpenStack User Survey. Her past roles have specialized in social strategy and execution for both B2B and B2C global companies in the technology and consumer industries. In her spare time, she enjoys finding new hiking trails and sharing her love with Celine Dion with anyone and everyone who will listen.