(Cross-posted to the Evergreen blog, list, and Facebook group.) Hear this very short podcast of Jessamyn West on the value of open source software in libraries — a quick preview of Jessamyn’s talk at the upcoming Evergreen International Conference, May 20-22 in Athens, Georgia.

Coming soon: a short recording of Joe Lucia, our other keynote speaker!

Program proposals for Evergreen International Conference 2009 are due Monday, March 2.  We’ve seen some great proposals flow in, but we’re looking and hoping for more. Send yours in!

Please don’t worry about the category — a really good program will find a home. I’m at the Code4Lib 2009 conference right now — a single-track conference in one large room — and it’s making me wonder if some of the proposals we’ve seen wouldn’t fit well as all-conference programs!

We on the Evergreen Conference planning committee have had some very good questions about the conference programs, and I’ll quote one (almost) verbatim:

“Would attending this first Evergreen conference likely be useful for someone who doesn’t use Evergreen now, but would like a sort-of crash-course?  I’m more interested in seeing and hearing basic implementation stories and technical issues that tend to crop up in early stages of Evergreen deployment; will that be a part of the tracks?”

The answer: absolutely! Consider this a track-within-a-track that can cross functional lines (staff, tech, admin). Success stories, getting-started stories, how and why you selected Evergreen, the value of using Evergreen, how you made the pitch — consider these for full programs, as well as lightning talks and even Birds of a Feather sessions where you can swap tales and tips.

If you’re trying to persuade stakeholders of the economic and technical feasibility of Evergreen, the Evergreen International Conference is a great conference to attend.