Org Exhibitions and Sponsors
Like any self-respecting Open Source conference, we have an exhibition space with commercial sponsors and “dot org” groups. Starting with the orgs, we’ll have tables for some of the BSD projects. The peeps over at iXsystems have their usual display of FreeBSD and PC-BSD goodies. The OpenBSD project is shipping out merchandise for the conference. They always have a nice selection of t-shirts and CDs for sale. The DragonFlyBSD project is working to send out free install media, we’re crossing our fingers. Matt Dillon and the team at DragonFly have been doing some exciting things with cluster technologies.
Rumor is that Beastie will make a surprise appearance, so bring your cameras. I’ll buy anyone a few rounds of stout if they manage to sneak in a Segway.
Of course, none of this would be possible without the generous contributions from our sponsors. Even under normal circumstances, it can be challenging to procure sufficient funding to host a large conference. During a global recession, executives everywhere are pressured to cut costs and hunker down. Fortunately for us (and one could argue, the entire economy), these companies and organizations recognize that such a stance is self-defeating and serves only to worsen an already difficult recession. They understand that spending, not just for the sake of meeting operational requirements, but to further stimulize the markets, benefits everyone. Cheers to our sponsors over at Message Systems, iXsystems, the FreeBSD Foundation, Freedom Technologies, MatrixGroup, ShmooCon, OmniTI and Google!
And I’ll be tipping back a pint for every single one of them. 
