FSFE summit 2016

September 2nd to 4th

BCC Berlin

Germany

Navigation:

The idea of the summit
The setting and the venue
Attendance and community
Agenda and program
Spread the word
Become a volunteer

Imagine a European Union that builds its IT infrastructure on Free Software. Imagine European Member States that exchange information in Open Standards and share their software. Imagine municipalities and city councils that benefit from decentralized and collaborative software under free licenses. Imagine no European is any longer forced to use non-Free Software.

This is what we are seeking. And although this vision feels like a long road to go, we know that we are taking major steps along it today. To help unlock our full potential on this road, FSFE offers cross-border collaboration and in 2016 its first European summit. Join us and our movement.

The idea of the summit

The FSFE summit is the main event to bring together FSFE members and supporters from all over Europe. In a conference style, we offer rooms and slots during the days for our community to present their ideas and interests. These community sessions again are embedded in an environment of talks and presentations by external speakers and professionals. Expect inspiring inputs in and out our diverse community with a mix between prominent speakers and newcomers, both from various countries over Europe. The talks are non-technical and each summit day, we have another major theme to focus on:

On Friday, September 2nd, talks are dedicated to business with or around Free Software.
On Saturday, September 3rd, talks cover various aspects of Free Software policies and lobbying as well as community building. Also, there will be our 15 years of FSFE celebration in the evening.
On Sunday, September 4th, we go one step ahead and offer talks and input about universal access beyond code.

By and for the community

This is an event for the FSFE community. Hence, if you are a Fellow, a supporter or a friend of the FSFE, this event is for you! However, we believe that our community is not defined by membership only. More than that, the FSFE is a European association whose idea is to represent and channel the voice of all European Free Software communities. Means, even if you are part of another Free Software community but you can align with FSFE and our mission, this event is for you. We like the Free Software movement to grow and stand together. Therefore, there will be a dedicated session during the summit, in that we invite national Free Software organisations to represent themselves, their work and their goals. Together we are strong and we can make a difference. If you like to represent your organisation, please get in contact so we can plan accordingly.

The setting and the venue

The first FSFE summit is organised as a subconference of the QtCon that takes place in the Berlin Congress Center (BCC). Together with Qt Contributors, VideoLAN, KDAB and KDE, this event brings together five Free Software communities and projects under one roof. Although this comes with some mutual limitations, it comes with so much more benefits and synergy effects that we are more than happy for this opportunity. After all, it gives us the freedom to invest more of our energy into the actual content for the first FSFE summit instead of into the logistics. And a key benefit for our participants is that you have access to any talk from all involved communities and their subconferences.

Attendance and community

Because the FSFE summit is part of the QtCon, entrance to the FSFE summit includes entrance to the conferences of Qt Contributors, VideoLAN, KDAB and KDE as well. Also included is catering during the three conference days as well as entrance to the Friday night and our "15 years of FSFE" Saturday night event. Read more about the details on our attendance-page.

Public entrance fee to the QtCon is 350 Euro but it is important for us to enable our community to attend the FSFE summit for no cost. Still, we have to cover organisational costs. This leads us into the situation in that entrance is possible for free, but we ask you to consider donating. In any case, when you register and you are a Fellow of the FSFE, please mark that you are member of our community. This will help us for our internal evaluation and improvements for a possible next summit.

Register here for the FSFE summit

(find help)

Agenda and program

You find the full summit program, including the program of our co-organising friends, with detailed descriptions at qtcon.org. In the following you only find a broad overview to see the FSFE summit at a glance.

Friday, September 2nd: Let's talk business

On the first day of the FSFE summit we cover various aspects of business models and business experiences with or on top of Free Software. Our speakers and topics in alphabetical order are:

Saturday, September 3rd: Community and Politics

On Saturday we like to connect and organise. The second day of the FSFE summit is dedicated to Free Software policies and how to influence them - and to our communities and how to organise them. Also, there will be our "15 years of FSFE" birthday celebration on Saturday evening. Our speakers and topics in alphabetical order are:

For and by the community:

Special: 15 years of FSFE with afterparty in c-base

Sunday, September 4th: Beyond Code

On Sunday we like to shed light on projects that use Free Software as a mean to access other freedoms or benefits. Philosophy, universal access, human rights ... and basically everything beyond code. Our speakers and topics in alphabetical order are:

For and by the community:

Special: Show Europe - organisations that care about Free Software in Europe

Spread the word

Are you looking forward to the FSFE summit? Are you a speaker, a participant, a volunteer, or would you just like to let other people know about it?

Short-URL: https://fsfe.org/summit16
Hashtag: #FSFEsummit
Logo: PNG / SVG
Banner: JPG

Become a volunteer

The FSFE Summit 2016 is looking for motivated volunteers: volunteer and make your mark! You will be an integral part of the summit and help to create a friendly and memorable conference experience for hundreds of participants from all over Europe.

Volunteer tasks available:

Moderation: You will be part of the team that moderates or facilitates panel discussions and talks. Tasks include opening and closing talks, moderating questions and answers, and introducing speakers.
Technology: You will be part of the team that makes sure that the technology in your room runs well. Tasks include setting up the speaker's presentation, making sure that microphones and projectors are running and being able to offer quick help in case something is not working as expected.
Awareness and information: You will be the part of the team that helps participants to orient themselves and get information, as well as reacting and offering help to notes or signals of misbehaviour and harassment.
Backbone: You will be part of the team that takes care of the organisers information flow and spontaneous but necessary activities or reactions. Tasks include "running" from one person to another, being reachable by phone, and guaranteeing that necessary actions are taken.
Booth: The FSFE will run a booth with merchandise and promotional material that we need friendly and motivated volunteers for.

To become a volunteer, you should offer at least one day or two half-days of your time (8 hours / 2 x 4 hours). If you are interested in becoming a volunteer please write to summit2016@fsfe.org and use the tag [volunteer] in your subject. Accepted volunteers will get free entrance if they like. Of course, all positions are limited. If you have a special preference in which tasks you'd like to do, please state so in your email. However, we cannot guarantee that your preferred position will still be available.