Along with multiple other changes taking place in 2020, you can add to the list a number of new content tracks being added to the schedule.

Every year sessions are arranged and clustered into tracks for a variety of reasons, primary among them to make the number of sessions we feature easier to search and digest for attendees. And while the tracks featured in past years have worked well we wanted to change things up a bit and bring a new dimension to the event.

So what’s new?

The following new tracks will be featured at the conference this year on Tuesday, October 20:

Open Source Programs Office (OSPO)

With more of the world migrating to open source in one from or another, having the right policies, strategies and even personnel in place has never been more important. Enter the Open Source Programs Office, or OSPO. The track will examine OSPO’s through stand-alone talks and panels, and will introduce you to the thought leaders leading the evolution.

International

Open Source continues to enjoy explosive growth worldwide with more and more people contributing and participating in a variety of ways. We’ll introduce attendees to thought leaders based outside of the U.S. on this track, which we hope will lead to more engagement, networking, and collaboration around the world. Speakers representing Africa, Asia, South America, Europe and other regions of the world will be featured.

Projects

Open Source projects are “where the action is” and remain a source of innovation and opportunities to get involved. We’ll take a close look at interesting projects on this track and introduce you to project maintainers, the people behind the projects, along the way. In our opinion, these people are the unsung heroes that make so much of open source possible. Know of a project we should feature? Drop us a line at [email protected].

Nonprofits

The impact and role nonprofits play in the Open Source space cannot be understated. In short, they are vital. But who are they? We’ll introduce attendees to a number of these organizations and the people behind them on this track.

Jobs

Yes, we’ve always featured job openings at ATO in the past. However, we’ve found simple job postings often don’t begin to “tell the whole story” and provide a comprehensive and clear picture regarding the opportunities presented. This track has been created to feature job postings from Open Source leading companies, but more importantly, to give attendees the opportunity to learn more than what is typically captured in a few lines of text and to meet the people behind them. Q&A is also encouraged.

News / Announcements

Want to hear the “news” as it is announced, whether it be a new product or platform, or perhaps a new collaboration or partnership? Many indeed do, and this track is intended for them.

Live Coding

Many of our technical sessions in past years have including live coding as a component of the overall talk, but this track is intended to showcase talks where the entire session is live coding. We feel it’s fascinating and incredibly engaging to watch people code, and perhaps to even get some play-by-play and verbal context as it is happening. this track has been requested for years, and we’re thrilled to finally make it happen. Know of someone who live codes and should be featured? Let us know at [email protected].
 

While a few more tracks could be added between now and the conference on October 19 & 20, we feel the ones identified above will be exciting and extremely engaging, leading to a better overall attendee experience. And as our community is aware, this is always our goal. Returning value to the community is always our priority.

Thoughts? Comments? Let us know at [email protected].