[seul-edu] A quick report on LinuxWorld Expo.....

[Bill Ries-Knight <brk@slip.net>]

0 ye of wavering faith...

If ever thou wondered if Linux was a viable solution for thy schools,
fear thee not, for the knights of TUX are plentiful and prepared to
defend the faith in open source till thy childrens children are
educated...

The expo was quite an experience.  I went to a major expo dealing with
food some 10 years ago, and the difference was amazing.  At that show,
the exhibitors were concerned with making sales, as they were here, but
there were no "we will help the needy" types.  I caught a few vendors
that are willing to forgo or seriously reduce the fees involved in the
solution IF A SCHOOL IS THE RECIPIENT.  Two vendors stick in my mind,
out of the hundreds there.  Sleepycat Software <<http://sleepycat.com>>
admitted to thier educational support on BerkleyDB stuff.  Fax2Send
<<http://www.fax2send.com/f2sindex.html>>  was also distributig a fax
package that is free or reduced to the educational market.

We had quite a few people stop by and admit they knew of SEUL and some
of the projects under the SEUL hat.  We had many more that have not.  I
forgot the flyers on the first day of the expo, but Sherri came to the
rescue and brought them by.  We had a couple of hundred flyers picked up
by the passers-by, and left a bunch more with Mr Z.  (Jeff Arruda at VA
Linux.)

SEUL has been invited for a return engagement in NYC in January.  I have
suggested that Doug Loss should handle the contact for that show, I
think he is a bit closer than I and a better coordinator.

In all, there were four of us there.  Jeff Knox flew down from Portland,
Aaron Turner walked over from his nearby domicile, Collete McNiell drove
in from Los Gatos all three days, and I came over on a train.

Eugene Clement was quite helpful in providing us with computers to show
off the websites and a few programs to catch attention.  He also was
gracious in coordinating a very appreciated hotel room.

A couple of things to keep in mind if you want to check out the NY
version of the expo, the big boys like to throw parties, and you should
count on a place to crash.  The parties are a fine place to catch food
and beverages, but are better as places to connect and network, if you
are lucky and a smooth talker.

If we could get a perspective from the others, I am sure they would say
thing differently.  I am sorry I did not catch up with Milano, I was
looking forward to promoting his class.  There were a number of people
looking for solutions, and it is only now it runs through my head to
send them to you.