MEETING INTRODUCTION
The media keeps publishing articles about the pros and cons of Open Source in the enterprise. Those of us who have been using Open Source for many years, certainly do know and understand its many benefits. Nevertheless, it can still remain a challenge to convince others to allow its use in the enterprise. Unigroup's May 2005 meeting on "Getting Your Manager to Approve the use of Open Source" will attempt to directly address this challenge. In her professional work, Maria Winslow, has been directly addressing the use of Open Source in the Commercial Enterprise in recent years, and she will share her insights with us at this month's Unigroup meeting.
SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: --------------------- While RSVPs will NOT be required for this location, please RSVP if you know you are attending, or if there is a high probability that you will be attending. This will help us determine the correct amount of food and refreshments. Please RSVP by two days prior to the meeting day (the food must be ordered in advance). To REGISTER for this event, please RSVP by using the Unigroup Registration Page. This will allow us to have some automation in the registration process. Please continue to check the Unigroup web site and THIS page, for any last minute updates concerning this meeting. If you registered for this meeting, please check your email for any last minute announcements as the meeting approaches.
DIRECTIONS
Alliance for Downtown NY Conference Facility 104 Washington Street Wall Street Area Downtown, New York City
This building is located on the West side of the street. Cross Streets: Between Rector (South) and Carlisle (North) Streets.
Our meeting location is in the Lower West Corner of Downtown, North of the Battery Tunnel, South of the Downtown Hotel, East of West Street, and West of Greenwich Street. Walking West on Rector Street from Broadway, you pass Church, Greenwich then Washington Streets.
There are multiple blocks of parking lots right there, between Washington and Greenwich Streets, starting at the Battery Tunnel and extending North for a number of blocks.
Nearest mass transit stations, in order, are the '1/9' (Rector Street), 'R/W' (Rector Street) and the '4/5' (Wall Street).
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
The grass roots efforts of system administrators have brought Linux and other open source software into the enterprise, frequently under the radar. But to take the next step in open source advocacy at work, you need to speak the language of management and convince them from their point of view. We will discuss the right and wrong ways to present your case, why your audience makes all the difference (technical manager versus non-technical business owner), how to really hook them with proof of cost savings, and two secret weapons in your quest to promote open source.
Web Resources
The Practical Manager's Guide to Open Source
http://windows-linux.com/practicalOpenSource
Maria Winslow Linux World Articles
http://winslow.linuxworld.com
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY
As an open source business analyst, Maria Winslow assists clients in understanding the technical and budgetary impact open source software will have on their computing environments. Her recent book, "The Practical Manager's Guide to Open Source", guides IT directors and system administrators through the process of finding practical uses for open source that will integrate seamlessly into existing infrastructures, as well as understanding the costs and savings. Maria is a frequent speaker on the budgetary impact of open source, and is a contributing editor at LinuxWorld Magazine.
COMPANY BIOGRAPHY
Maria is representing herself.
GIVEAWAYS
O'Reilly has been kind enough to provide us with some of their books, which we will continue to raffle off as giveaways at our meetings.
Addison-Wesley Professional/Prentice Hall PTR has been kind enough to provide us with some of their books, which we will continue to raffle off as giveaways at our meetings. Addison-Wesley also has a new end-user discount, available through their User Group program. We will be announcing the details at our next meeting!
Unigroup would like to thank both companies for the support provided by their User Group programs.
Note: The chances tend to be about 1 in 5, that any attendee of our meeting will walk away with a fairly valuable giveaway (ie. many of these books are valued between $30 and $60)!
** We also received a pile of Sun Solaris 10 DVDs from our friends at the NYC Sun Office. First dibs will go to attendees of our Solaris 10 meeting who did not receive one directly from Sun. We gave out a pile of these DVDs at last month's meeting.
** Maria will also be bringing a copy of her book to raffle off.
FEE SCHEDULE
Yearly Membership (includes all meetings): $ 50.00
* Non-Member Single Meeting: $ 20.00
Student Yearly Membership: $ 20.00
Non-Member Student Single Meeting (with ID): $ 5.00
Cash, Check, American Express.
FOOD AND REFRESHMENTS
Complimentary Food and Refreshments will be served. This includes "wraps" such as turkey, roast beef, chicken, tuna and grilled vegetables as well as assorted salads (potato, tossed, pasta, etc), cookies, bottled water and assorted beverages.
Please join us for this meeting, you won't want to miss it!
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