First things first: It’s a safe bet that Ruth Suehle could read the Raleigh phone book and make it sound interesting, with or without accompanying Lowenbrau slides. So it would come as no surprise that of all the great keynotes that have been given at the Southern California Linux Expo, Ruth’s Sunday keynote makes anyone’s SCALE short list as an all-time great.
Generally, many who attend three-day — excuse me, a four-day — event like SCALE start to wear down during the marathon grind. However, Ruth’s keynote injected a much-needed boost to kick off the final day.
Sessions were still full or near-full throughout the course of the day. Even the last sessions — sessions that speakers dread because normally it is often populated with folks looking at their watches and contemplating their flights — were filled with engaged attendees.
At well over 3,000 registrants — the final numbers aren’t tallied yet at the show’s end on Sunday evening — SCALE set another record. Overall, the show was a success, so much so that rumor has it that the next venue for SCALE — SCALE 14x — will probably have “convention center” at the end of its name.
Once I sort out the tsunami of photos produced by a prolific SCALE Publicity Team, I will post a reprise in my regular Wednesday column, complete with photos.
Larry Cafiero, a.k.a. Larry the Free Software Guy, is a journalist and a Free/Open Source Software advocate. He is involved in several FOSS projects and serves as the publicity chair for the Southern California Linux Expo. Follow him on Twitter: @lcafiero
