FOSS Meetups Shivamogga - 2024

[shashank257]

Shivamogga FOSS Meetup – Exploring Open Source Together!

We are thrilled to invite you to the Shivamogga FOSS Meetup, a vibrant gathering organized by TechForge Club at Jawaharlal Nehru New College of Engineering, Shivamogga, Karnataka. This gathering is made possible by the generous sponsorship of Foss United, a dedicated supporter of open-source initiatives.

Event Details:

Date: 29/01/2024
Time: 2:30 PM to 5:15 PM
Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru New College of Engineering, Shivamogga, Karnataka.

Featured Sessions:

• Keynote Address: Open Source Unveiled
  Shashank R R
  Club Lead, TechForge

• Web Scrapping with Open Source
  Dr. Chetan K R,
  Professor and Head,
  Dept. of AIML, JNNCE

• Ethical hacking with open source tools
  Dr. Manjula G R,
  Professor,
  Dept. of CSE, JNNCE

• 1D and 2D barcode
  Mr. Pradeep H K,
  Associate Professor,
  Dept. of ISE, JNNCE

• Natural Language Processing
  Mrs. Shaziya Banu S
  Assistant Professor,
  Dept. of AIML, JNNCE

• Open source contribution
  Workshop by TechForge Club,
  JNNCE

Here Is How You Can Participate:

Register: https://forms.gle/Jm64vBSoYnaFTDab9
Spread the Word: Share this invitation with your network.

[shashank257]

Post Event Report

The good

• We successfully organized the first FOSS meetup in our city, with the support of JNNCE, Foss United and TechForge club as the venue, sponsor, and community partners respectively.

• We had more than 130 RSVP for the meetup, and 90+ people showed up. We had a balanced representation of men and women in our attendees, who were mostly students and professors from JNNCE and other colleges, as well as some Alumni, Entrepreneurs. This showed the interest and diversity of our FOSS community.

• The meetup started with a keynote address on open source, followed by an inspirational speech from the Dean of Academics and the Principal of JNNCE for the students, which motivated them to learn more about open source and technology. Then there was an introduction to FOSS “Open Source Unveiled”, but it had to be shortened due to time constraints, so that other professors could get enough time to speak.

• We had four speakers who covered various topics related to open source, such as Ethical Hacking tools, Barcode, Web Scraping & Selenium, and Natural Language Processing & NLTK. Some of the talks were interactive, practical, and showed live demos.

• We had an open mic session before the closing note, where the attendees gave their feedback on the meetup. They expressed their gratitude, appreciation, and suggestions for the organizers and the speakers. They also shared their learnings, insights, and expectations for the future meetups. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and encouraging.

• The organizers shared a feedback form with the participants and the speakers with a closing note, and also sent it to their emails, to collect their suggestions and opinions for future meetups. Response sheet

• We had a networking session with snacks arranged, where the attendees and the speakers mingled and exchanged their ideas and experiences on open source and technology. This was a great opportunity for building connections and collaborations among the FOSS enthusiasts in our city.

• We did a great job with the catering, we communicated with the caterer well in advance and told them that we would confirm the number of plates when the event started. We ordered 90 plates of snacks, which consisted of two delicious masala dumplings and tea for each person. We were mindful of the food wastage and the cost. And distributed the rest of the extra snacks with our college staff.

• The organizers are looking forward to organizing the next meetup and officially inaugurating the FOSS United Shivamogga Chapter, which will be a platform for promoting and supporting FOSS activities and initiatives in the city.

The bad

• We faced some challenges in gaining attendees as FOSS was a new concept for most people in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.
• We had difficulty in finding speakers who were well-versed in open source and willing to share their expertise.
• We had to postpone the meetup by two days from Saturday 27th Jan to Monday 29th Jan due to linking holidays, which affected the availability of some professionals and entrepreneurs who were invited.
• We could not conduct the workshop on open source contribution planned by TechForge club members due to shortage of time, though it was expected beforehand and no one complained about it.

[ansh]

Nice! Let’s get on a call this week to plan this further.

[shashank257]

We are excited to announce the 2nd FOSS Meetup of Shivamogga.

Join us on 12th July to learn about Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and network with the fellow FOSS enthusiasts.

• Dates: 12th July, 2024
• Time: 10.30am - 1.30pm
• Venue: MBA Auditorium, Jawaharlal Nehru New College of Engineering, Shivamogga.
• Register Now: RSVP Form Submission

And if you are confused about what/how to contribute for FOSS HACK 2024?? Then this Meetup is FOR YOU!

Level up your Open-Source Journey! 

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Got a cool idea to share? Hit up the talk proposal [CFP] and become a speaker!
Join our Telegram group: Telegram: Contact @fossunitedsmg
…
Venue Partner: JNNCE
Community Partner: TechForge

[shashank257]

Post Event Report

The Good:

• High Interest in FOSS: More than 400 attendees participated, demonstrating a strong interest in open source technologies in Shivamogga.
• Adaptability: Despite a technical glitch leading to unexpected attendance, volunteers effectively managed the situation. Additional auditoriums, live streaming, and a second session ensured most attendees received the information.
• Positive Attendee Experience: Those attending the in-person interactive session found it valuable and informative, thanks to the insightful presentation by Mr. Karthik C M. Hence, half way through the first talk, we decided to announce the second session which could give the opportunity for additional audience who were in the live stream session to have an in-person interactive session.
• Second Session: Second Session gave all the attendees a great experience which they lacked in live stream session. And for 2nd session we were able to get a larger auditorium (which wasn’t available in the beginning).
• Volunteer Dedication: The volunteers’ dedication ensured a positive experience for a large and unexpected number of attendees.
• Scalable Food Arrangements: Food arrangements were successfully scaled up to accommodate the larger crowd of 400+.
• Bus Arrangements: Extra buses were arranged for attendees of 2nd session.

The Bad:

• Registration Error: A technical glitch on the event page reset the RSVP limit, leading to a higher-than-anticipated number of attendees. We expected less number of attendees than the RSVP count which was the case in our first meetup. But this time we received participants who hadn’t registered for the meetup.
• Accommodation Challenges: The initial venue (150 capacity) and another venue (120 capacity) with live stream setup arranged prior to meetup could not accommodate the unexpected crowd. So we had to request for more auditoriums for live streaming and then a classroom at the end. Some attendees who arrived early had a better experience than those who arrived later.
• Live Streaming Experience: The attendee experience for the live-streamed sessions was lacking interaction with the speaker which in turn made few attendees leave the venue before we could even announce the second session.
• Hands-on Session Missed: Due to high attendance and limited time, the planned hands-on practice session for contributions/commits to be done by the participants couldn’t be conducted.

Next Steps:

• Registration Controls: Registration controls should be managed according to the capacity for future meetups.
• Speaker Selection: This time we approached the speaker with the talk title for the present needs, but moving further we will be following call for proposals approach which would identify more FOSS topics to be explored.
• Live Streaming: Though we did this backup plan the night before the meetup, it was good at one venue for some time but then the interaction was necessary, so we prefer to have in-person sessions only.

Thank You:

• A huge thanks to FOSS United for unwavering support!
• Gratitude to JNNCE for their invaluable support with the venue, food, and transportation arrangements. Their contribution was instrumental in ensuring a smooth and successful event.
• Appreciation to Mr. Karthik C M for his thought-provoking presentation as the event speaker.
• Gratitude to all the volunteers and supporting members whose dedication ensured a positive experience for everyone.

Gallery: