My first OSCON was in 2000 in Monterey, CA. It was the one where Sun released OpenOffice.org as open source (and pledged to hand it over to a Foundation, something they forgot later despite many reminders) and I had only been a Sun employee for a very short time. I have attended most of them since then as a speaker, and have delivered “keynotes” (OSCON has a chat-show format for plenaries so talks are short) several times as well. I’m still on the Program Committee.
That’s all good, except OSCON is held in America and I live in the UK. I’ve always had a sponsor of some kind to pay for the travel, but this is the first year that travel will have to come out of my pocket money. I get a free ticket as a Program Committee member, and have friends I can stay with, so it’s only the flight I need to cover.
If you’d like me to attend this year in Austin, TX, and if you are intending to buy a ticket for yourself (or others), here’s an idea. O’Reilly have offered me a finder’s fee for each attendee who quotes my referral code on an OSCON conference ticket purchase. To make it good for you too, O’Reilly are offering a 30% discount on all passes except exhibit-hall-only when you use my referral code.
To make this all work, quote “REFERSP” when you book and they’ll give you a 30% discount and me a contribution to my travel fund. They’ll not tell me your name, but if you feel able to tell me you booked with my code I’ll be able to thank you and watch out for you in Austin!
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