[K12OSN] NELS...this summer and budgets

[David Trask]

Just a note to let you all know that we will be having another awesome
conference this June (18th - 21st....arrive p.m. of 18th) at Gould Academy
in Bethel, Maine USA.  We'll also be having one at the University of New
Hampshire as well....July 16-19.  This year there will be some really
great additions to the NELS conference at Gould (Northeast Linux
symposium).  We will be adding a "teacher" track where we'll have
classroom educators presenting about using, developing lessons, and
implementing Free and Open Source applications...etc. in the classroom. 
(this will not be JUST about Linux....as we had Apple OS X Open Source
sessions last year....and sessions that are more generic around things
like Moodle and SchoolTool..etc)  We're hoping that like last year, we'll
see more "teams" of folks from various districts.  

Matt and I are looking for presenters for this year both at Gould and
UNH....if you or someone in your district is doing something cool in or
out of the classroom with FOSS (Free Open Source) or with
Linux...etc....let me know.  

Benefits for presenters include:

paid honorarium 
free or reduced conference and room/board (I think free, but can't
remember exactly)
awesome food!  Seriously...ask anyone who has attended in the past...we
eat like royalty!
You'll learn a LOT from others!

For budgeting purposes...I expect the cost of the conference (Gould
only...UNH will be higher) to be about the same or a little more....(we're
adding a night of lodging to the total...arrive the night before the
conference...18th...so we can hit the ground running on the 19th)  Last
year was $400 (everything included)...I suspect this year will be in the
$425 to $450 range.  Plan accordingly....hope you can join us!  We're
going on our 4th year and every year keeps getting better!  Last year we
had 80+ people!  :-)

More on UNH...the UNH version of NELS (July 16-19) will be an extension of
Gould....NOT a duplicate.  It will be geared more toward the tech side of
things (more advanced) and we'll have a vendor track as well for those
vendors wanting to get into supporting schools and other orgs using Linux
and FOSS.  If you have a favorite service provider that you might want to
get on this wagon...mention it to them.  We had some last year at Gould. 
UNH will also feature sessions for school
administrators....superintendents...principals....etc.  We'll have
superintendents and principals whose schools and districts have made the
transition to using Linux and FOSS and will discuss the issues they faced
and help to alleviate some fears.  This will be a good conference for tech
and admin teams to attend....we don't have a set price yet...it will be
higher than Gould, but will also include room/board (very nice dorm...very
nice)...and conference.  Hope to see some of you there as well or instead
of Gould.  We're looking for presenters for both....so let me know  :-)



David N. Trask
Technology Teacher/Coordinator
Vassalboro Community School
dtrask at vcsvikings.org
(207)923-3100