[ Thanks to An Anonymous Reader for
this link. ]
“Recently SCALE announced that the 2012 event, January 20-22 in
Los Angeles, will include a SCALE Kids Conference. Gareth
Greenaway, who is helping organize the new track, says that SCALE
has always been a family-friendly environment. Greenaway says one
of his favorite memories from a past SCALE was watching a small
girl talk to a vendor who was exhibiting OLPC laptops. When the
exhibitor started to tell her about it, she interrupted him and
told him she already had the laptop at home and knew all about
it.“Greenaway says that in the past, some children have presented
at the SCALE mini-conferences, which are held the Friday of the
event weekend, and these talks tend to be some of the most popular.
“A few years ago, one of the mini-conferences that we hosted was
dedicated to showcasing the contributions that women have and
continue to make in the free and open source community,” Greenaway
says. ‘One of my favorite sessions from this particular
mini-conference was done by Mirano Cafiero, Malakai Wade, and
Saskia Wade. They gave a presentation on their favorite FOSS
software and what they wished it could do that it didn’t
currently.’“I actually attended that talk and agree with Greenaway when he
says that the session was inspiring to watch because the girls were
telling a room full of adults the directions that FOSS software
should take. ‘The most amazing part was that the adults were
listening,’ he says.”