Red Hat Speaks

Sara Jones, Events Manager

Red Hat is gearing up for its first annual conference for open source customers, parnters, users, and advocates. Join us June 1-3 in New Orleans for visionary keynotes and hands-on, technical, and business-focused sessions. There's not much time left, so learn more about the Summit in this month's article, read our interview with Sara Jones, Events Manager about what to expect when you get there, register now, and come experience open source cajun style.

Will there be opportunities to talk one-on-one with the speakers and presenters?

The entire event is designed to be interactive. All sessions will include a Q&A section. Several birds of a feather sessions are scheduled for more casual discussions. Breaks and meals are on the agenda to allow attendees to mingle with the other attendees as well as the speakers and presenters. Special events are planned to allow everyone to interact.

Who knows, you might even stand in line next to Matthew Szulik, Havoc Pennington, or Bruce Mau waiting for beignets and coffee.

Who are the keynote speakers?

Each day of the Summit opens with three keynote speakers. The first day opens with Matthew Szulik, President and CEO of Red Hat, and continues with Martin Fink, Vice President of Linux at HP. The visionary speaker for the day is John Buckman, Founder and CEO of Magnatunes, an independent, artist-friendly online record label.

Day two begins with Michael Tiemann, Vice President of Open Source Affairs at Red Hat, followed by Irving Wladawsky-Berger, VP of Technology and Innovation, IBM, and Wil Wheaton, igrep spokesperson.

Paul Cormier, Executive Vice President, Engineering at Red Hat starts off the last day. Richard Wirt, Vice President from Intel, and designer Bruce Mau rounds off morning.

Visit the Summit site for more details about each of these speakers.

Where can I find out more about the sessions?

There are seven tracks to choose from: OS Technologies, The Future of the Desktop, Application Development (Tools, Platforms), Clustering and Virtualization, Security and Identity Management, Systems Management, and Business (Perspectives and Open Source). Go to redhat.com for a complete list of sessions, times, and abstracts.

The sessions include hands-on exercises for attendees to learn about new technologies such as SELinux and desktop administration from Red Hat experts. Birds of a feather sessions will allow for open discussions related to developing technologies such as virtualization as well as ongoing topics such as the future of the Linux desktop. The business track will allow customers and prespective customers to attend customer panel discussions as well as talk to Red Hat's Vice President of Global Client Services Kate Johnson about the value of a subscription.

What should attendees wear to the Summit?

The most important clothing advice we can give you is to wear comfortable shoes. New Orleans is a walking city. Even if your oxford loafers or that $200 pair of pink pumps looks great with your "I love Havoc Pennington" shirt, don't even think about wearing them. Seriously, don't do it.

For those who are coming from far away, New Orleans in June is hot and humid. The dress for the Summit events is casual, and some of the special events will have live music. So bring a few comfortable outfits to learn in and a few to party in.