SMOFCon 28 Programming Manager Tom Whitmore mentioned in the Program discussions that “…we’re considering doing a “boot camp” similar to the one that was done last year on budgeting.” A “SMOFCon Boot Camp” is an intensive seminar-like event (as opposed to a relatively short discussion panel) that would be held on the Friday afternoon of SMOFCon, with limited attendance and advance sign-up. Last year’s SMOFCon in Austin held a four-hour Budget Boot Camp that was well-received and praised by the participants. As Tom said, in the spirit of Open Space programming, we are soliciting ideas for what you might want to see in such a focused function and how you’d like to see us “help folks boot up.” Post any suggestions or thoughts here or on the Program Page.

One of the key parts of any SMOFCon is the convention programming. This year, SMOFCon is going to take an innovative member-driven approach to developing the convention programming using the ideas of Open Space Technology. The convention’s program for Saturday and Sunday will be developed by the members themselves during the Friday Night Social. For a more detailed description of how this will work, see our newly-updated Program Page.

This afternoon at 2:00pm (Texas time) there will be a panel at SMOFcon 27 where our committee will field suggestions from the audience on the subject of “What do you want to see at future SMOFcons?” We would also be happy to see suggestions from those of you who can’t be in Austin. Obviously we can’t guarantee to implement them all, but we’ll try to respond to them. You can comment here, or on our Facebook event page, or we are SMOFcon28 on Twitter.