Earlier last year I announced last year that I was partnering up with the Linux Foundation to create the Open Community Conference as part of their Open Source Summit events in North America and Europe.

Well, the events happened, and it was (in my humble opinion) an enormous success. We had 120+ papers submitted to the North American event and 85+ papers submitted to the European event. From there I whittled it down to around 40 sessions for each event which resulted in some fantastic content and incredible discussions/networking.

Not only was I delighted with the eagerness of people to speak, but we also had a tremendously diverse range of people submitting from a range of genders, backgrounds, cultures, experience levels, and beyond. I was proud to see this, and I am similarly proud to see the fantastically diverse attendees we have at the Community Leadership Summit each year (note: CFP is open there too). So, thanks to everyone who submitted, and sorry we couldn’t squeeze you all in to speak.

A Name Change: Open Collaboration Conference

I am delighted to announce we are doing it all again, with one small change: the name.

As the event has evolved, I have wanted it to incorporate as many elements focused on people collaborating together. While one component of this is certainly people building communities, other elements such as governance, remote working, innersource, cultural development, and more fit under the banner of “collaboration”, but don’t necessarily fit under the traditional banner of “community”.

As such, we decided to change the name of the conference to the Open Collaboration Conference. I am confident this will then provide both a home to the community strategy and tactics content, as well as these other related areas. This way the entire event services as a comprehensive capsule for collaboration in technology.

Call For Papers

So, I wanted to let you all know the key details right now of how to get involved in the events. Firstly, when the events are (as part of the Open Source Summit):

• North America in Vancouver from 29th – 31st August 2018 – CFP link
• Europe in Edinburgh from 22nd – 24th October 2018 – CFP link

As usual, there is a deadline for the call for papers and they are:

• North America – 29th April 2018
• Europe – 1st July 2018

In terms of topics, I encourage you all submit papers that relate to:

• Open Source Metrics
• Incentivization and Engagement
• Software Development Methodologies and Platforms
• Building Internal Innersource Communities
• Remote Team Management and Methods
• Bug/Issue Management and Triage
• Communication Platforms and Methods
• Open Source Governance and Models
• Mentoring and Training
• Event Strategy
• Content Management and Social Media
• DevOps Culture
• Community Management
• Advocacy and Evangelism
• Government and Compliance

I look forward to seeing you submissions and seeing you there!