[bsdcan-announce] A few notes before the conference

[Dan Langille]

Hello,

BSDCan 2012 is next week.  I'm sure you're excited to be attending.  I know we're
excited about the collection of talk and tutorials.

If you have any questions regarding these items, please ask them in the forum:

  http://www.bsdcan.org/phorum/list.php?f=13

In this email:

1 - The Venue
2 - The Schedule
3 - Yoga
4 - Futsal
5 - Cycling
6 - Sponsors


1- The Venue

This year BSDCan is not in the same building as previous years.  The University of Ottawa
is undertaking some renovation and construction projects.  We are also competing
with a mini enrichment program for 4000 high school students,  The result: the main
talks are in MRT, and the tutorials are in MRT and DMS.  Thus, because most
of you will be unfamiliar with these buildings, please allow additional time to become
familiar with the routes.  Hopefully, nobody gets lost on their way to the building.

For the tutorials, one day is in DMS, the other is in MRT.  However, for the main days
(Friday and Saturday), all the talks in MRT (Morisset).

This map shows you all the buildings, and can be found on the Maps page on the website.

  http://g.co/maps/dzx9b

This page has photographs of the buildings you need to know. Please review them before
arriving. It will save you time and frustration.

  http://www.bsdcan.org/2012/venue/


2 - The Schedule

The schedule has been updated.  Of note, the opening session will start at  9:30.  This is 30
minutes before the first talk.  As incentive to get your there, we will have give-aways, door prizes,
and a special guest appearance.  Sorry, but we're not telling anyone who is it   Not even the 
program committee knows who this person will be.


3 - Yoga

If you are interested in yoga, we are looking at having a yoga session on Friday morning, before
the opening session.  If you wish to attend, please email activities at bsdcan.org with the 
subject: Yoga


4 - Futsal

An attendee is organizing a futsal session.  What is futsal?  Indoor football.  Or if you prefer, 
indoor soccer.   See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futsal

We don't know when, but it will probably be an evening, and not on the weekend.  If interested,
please email activities at bsdcan.org with the subject: Futsal


5 - Cycling

BSDCan is famous for the talks and tutorials.  We are also well known for our social activities 
(see above for other examples).  Our tourist day on Sunday is well attended with a range of 
diverse activities, all organized by the attendees.  I will be leading one such group cycling.  
We may break into smaller groups depending on the participants.  If you want to rent a bike, 
we recommend RentABike Vélocation (http://www.rentabike.ca).  I suggest you select your 
bike and get everything ready first thing on Sunday morning.  They open at 9am and we 
plan to be riding by about 9:30am.

You are responsible for obtaining the bike gear you need.  Helmet required.  If interested, 
please email activities at bsdcan.org with the subject: Cycling

6 - Our sponsors

BSDCan could not exist in its current form without the generous support of our sponsors.
They really are the ones that allow BSDCan to happen.  If you are speaking with any of them
during the conference, I urge you to extend your gratitude for their contributions. 

EMC                    - http://www.emc.com/
Google                 - http://code.google.com/opensource/
NetApp                 - http://www.netapp.com/
The FreeBSD Foundation - http://www.freebsdfoundation.org/
iXsystems              - http://www.ixsystems.com/
USENIX                 - http://www.usenix.org/
Panasas                - http://www.panasas.com/
Dyn                    - http://dyn.com/
Tarsnap                - http://www.tarsnap.com/
BSD Perimeter          - http://www.bsdperimeter.com/
Spectra                - http://www.spectralogic.com/
BSD Magazine           - http://bsdmag.org/

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-- 
Dan Langille - http://langille.org