Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

I am wondering of there will ever be a maemo summit in the USA?

Perhaps a petition can be started?

How about Las Vegas, rooms are cheap, food is cheap, venue is cheap.

Lots to do when not eating/breathing/drinking maemo..


So I thought I would post a poll, would you attend Maemo summit 2010 if it was in the USA?

I know how everyone loves my polllllllllllllllllllls

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

There's been discussion of this possibility before. andrewfblack touched off one such discussion in the "Maemo Summit: registration open and free" thread. I believe it has come up on one or more of the mailing lists also.

Conversation tends to be...lively.

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

Freaky US visa policies make it kinda unlikely.

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

With all the visa and fingerprint hassle? :p

Edit: 2006 was the last time I went to a conference there, but I'm unlikely go again any time soon, even though I have some family in the country

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

I already kinda asked the question in another thread but no one answerd it yet... what all happens at a Maemo Summit:confused:

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

Maybe make it part/off-shoot of Defcon?

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

I'd attend when the War On Tourism is over, but not while they treat visitors as hardened criminals or worse. I wouldn't mind other North American locations though, it seems fair to move it around a bit to make it easier for various (geographically speaking) parts of the community to attend.

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

You're missing an option in the poll - not in the US is quite a broad choice. I'd probably not go to the US, but then I probably wouldn't go to Tokyo or Sydney, either :)

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

Personally, whether I'd travel would pretty much entirely depend on cost (and so location in the US).

Whether Nokia should pay for the summit to be in the US one year should be a purely numbers based decision based on sales volumes and likely attendee base.

Of course, there's nothing stopping someone who wants a US-based Maemo event to organise a spin-off of the "official" Maemo summit. I'm sure some money could go to that for banners etc. It'd be a US community get together; with the possibility.

Perhaps next year (and this is only the second summit, remember), if it's again Europe based there'll be enough experience & infrastructure to do live feeds to a smaller US-based satellite get together.

However, there'd have to be the interest and, AIUI, the location within the US can cause as many problems for people there as getting to the US for everyone here.

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

Please dnt take it to personal :(, the US is just up in arms after being blindsided. As a military member myself, "not speaking on behalf of anyone but myself", I'll agree It can be a bit silly coming in and out of the states but its for good reason. Although I'm in Korea now, I would love to go to a summit back home...

To see what its all about

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

One more time, to clarify: if the Summit is organized in the US then anybody living in a country lacking the "visa waiver" status with the US has only 30-70% chance of getting a visa to attend the summit. This includes many Eastern European countries (Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Serbia, etc.), Latin American countries, Turkey, etc. Two possible scenarios are (1) refusal to issue a visa based on suspicions that the applicant is going to stay in the US, and (2) delaying visa issue until it loses relevancy. This, not the cost, and not the stupid fingerprinting thing, is going to be one of the main reasons against organizing the Summit in the US.

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

How about having the Summit in Toronto, Canada, or maybe Montreal then? Are the visa restrictions for Europeans any better for getting into Canada?

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

I live in Toronto.... with SARS, swine flu, and now an endless garbage strike on, I would take it off the list as a possible host city. We want to increase the member community, not kill them off. I vote Quebec City .. we can all shack up with zerojay :)

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

How about Windsor, CA??

Canada sounds like a great idea!!

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

I would vote for India! That will give me a good reason to go home!
Not that i really need a good reason.

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

It's not practical, but I like the idea of gathering where the next wind blows.

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

Quoting from Wiki:
So, are you absolutely sure you want to gather in Nigeria? =)

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

Yes, I have some important email messages I'm needing to send.

Or I started my post with a disclaimer.

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

I'll add my vote to Canada... not just because I live here, but because it's a lot easier to travel here and organize events/etc for people from a global audience than it is in the US... plus all the people in the US can still make it without putting a lot of effort/travel costs in. Anyone know if there's an international airport in Kitchener/Waterloo, I hear that place is a huge centre for mobile development and technologies ;o)

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

Just throwing this out there but I know a lot of US people wont make it to the Summit me being one of them because of cost of traveling over seas. If people are interested I know the people who do the Florida Linux tech show, I bet I can get them to do a whole section on Maemo (they are really into linux on any mobile device right now) if people are willing to go and maybe we can get some support from Nokia. I have already been asked to go and I am going in support of Mer, but if people are interested in doing this as a kind of an unofficial mini US summit at that show. I'm willing to head things up and get it organized.

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

That works the other way round, too (even if we forego the US visa/border funk). At least until we figure out teleportation or move continents so we don't have to fly/ship over pesky oceans.

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

Never said it would be cheaper for people to come to the US I'm just suggestion a US on as well as a European one. Most groups have multiple summits or conventions a year an at multiple places.

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

Well I personally would love to attend the actual summit, and I think Canada is a awesome idea, I would be in.

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

Waterloo does have an airport, but it more likely that people would fly into Toronto and take a shuttle. About an hour's drive or so.

Waterloo is much smaller than Toronto, but you should be able to find reasonable facilites to host a conference and keep people entertained.

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

penguinbait: make sure you register and apply for sponsorship to this year's Summit. I'd love to see you in Amsterdam!

And since you're planning to run for community council, you'd better be there. After all, you'll (most likely) be representing the community by that point! :)

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

Everyone in Canada is negative about Toronto, but it really would be one of the best destinations. It has just about every type of community from around the world there, so the food is great.

Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Calgary/Banff, Vancouver (maybe not an option due to Olympics), and Halifax would be the options I would look at.

The Toronto garbage collectors strike will be over by 2010, I'm sure. They don't want to picket in the winter. (Maybe Windsors won't be over. <smile>)

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

Not sure I would ever make it out the "coffee" shop :D:D:D

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

Don't get me wrong, if it were in Toronto, I would definately go - as I doubt I could get sponsorship if it were held elsewhere. I just think if you are going to show off our great country - there are better cities to do that in. The ones you've listed are excellent choices.

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

No one is going to get invited for sponsorship, so if you think you've made some contribution to the community (and a series of excellent interviews would count there), there's no harm in applying for sponsorship if there's no possibility of you attending otherwise.

Consider it as: would you apply for a device programme?

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

Thanks for that Jaffa. I'll look into applying for sponsorship.

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

Thanks Jaffa, basically my words. Visa and travel expenses are a problem for many people. Solution: think of an event for those that won't have such problem, mainly US and Canadian folks.

The Maemo Summit is not the only reference of a community gathering we have. Remember the Danish Weekend or LinuxTag'08. Finding the appropriate formula we can have a gathering somewhere in North America, most likely with some budget and help. It's a matter to see how this event would fit in the Harmattan phase.

The important questions are: where, connected to which event (if any) and who volunteers to organize it.

MaemOmaha 2010 anyone? ;)

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

Only a 3 hour drive for me. ;)

Tim

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

Lets hold the summit in New Orleans :) It is the most "European" city in the US, after all... Everyone would feel more at home. And... I wouldn't need to drive for days to get there ;) Not to mention it has the best convention center in the whole of the US.

But, really, if the Summit was in the US, I'd go.

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

I am a Canadian 30 year old father of one travelling with my wife and son (who are both American). I have no criminal record in the US or Canada. I don't do drugs or anything illegal, so the car we were travelling in was clean. I'm not on any sort of watch lists and I am always kind and cooperative when dealing with customs.

Despite all that, the border guards decided that I was somehow a threat and that I might be carrying something inside of me and so they forced me into a cavity search, even after I simply said "fine, forget it, we're going back to Canada".

There's no way I'd go to the US for a Maemo Summit in this climate, even though I'm just across the invisible line.

It would be just my luck that you guys would organize a Maemo Summit here in Quebec City (an excellent choice, by the way) right when my job is moving me to Halifax. ;)

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

Canada sounds like a great choice for a meeting in North America. The only problem I could see for me if I went is that I would have to return home through US Customs.

On a recent outing to Victoria by ferry, the only part that wasn't fun was coming back through US Customs. Canada on the other hand seemed to care enough about your experience that their customs people give you a survey where you can provide comments.

I also haven't figured out how we had to go through US customs on Canadian soil before boarding the ferry and then again on reaching the US. I thought Canada was a separate country.

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

Did you add your vote to the Canada poll?

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

I am sure you would be equally hassled coming back from Amsterdam, if not worse.

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

@ zerojay - your story is unfortunate. I feel for you. I am an American Citizen, living in Canada for decades, and I get scrutinzed all the time crossing the border - albeit, never with a search of that magnitude.

@mars - it is quite common to clear US Customs in Canada before departing for the States. In fact, i think that is how it is done nowadays. There is a whole whack of US Immigration, Homeland Security, etc at Toronto's Pearson Airport - you clear Customs and associated shenanigans in Canada before you can set foot in the States - truly the land of the 'free'.

Re: Maemo Summit 2010 in the United States ??
 

I sure did.