DebConf8/Argentina
This is the information for the local-team and other general info regarding Argentina as a host for DebConf8.
Contents |
[edit] Location
DebConf8 will be held in the city of Mar del Plata. We also have a backup location in the city of Mendoza, although we don't expect to need it.
[edit] Local team
The local-team for DebConf8 in Argentina is at least composed by the following people:
| Name | Debian | DebConf Presence | Organizing events / Other info |
| Margarita Manterola | DD | DC4, DC5, DC6, DC7 | Involved in DebConf organizing since DC5. Organized several small events for LUGFI (engineering faculty LUG) in Buenos Aires. |
| Marcela Tiznado | DD | DC4, DC5, DC6, DC7 | Involved in DebConf organizing since DC5. Involved in organizing CaFeCONF(*) in the years 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 |
| Luciano Bello | DD | DC4, DC5, DC6, DC7 | Volunteer and semi-local team for DC6. |
| Maximiliano Curia | NM applicant | DC4, DC5, DC6, DC7 | Volunteer and semi-local team for DC6. Been involved in organizing some small events for LUGFI in Buenos Aires. |
| Martín Ferrari | NM applicant | DC5, DC6, DC7 | LUGFI Member. |
| Damián Viano | DD | DC7 | Involved in organizing some small events for LUGFI in Buenos Aires. Video team during DC7. |
| Juan A. Diaz | Non DD maintainer | DC6, DC7 | Involved in organizing CaFeCONF in the years 2004, 2005, 2006. Responsible for the registration and accreditation of attendees. |
| Lucas Wall | DD | - | - |
| Cristian Bruscella | Debian user | - | Involved in organizing CaFeCONF in the years 2004, 2005, 2006, and responsible in Capital Federal for FLISoL 2006. |
| Ariel Wainer | Debian user | - | Involved in organizing CaFeCONF in the years 2005, 2006, and some other events organized by Capital Federal free software user group. |
| Sebastián Galletto | Debian user | DC5. | Involved in organizing events for LUGFI in Buenos Aires. |
| Melisa Halsband | Debian User | - | LUGFI member. |
| Federico Heinz | Debian User | - | President of Fundación Vía Libre, GNU Speaker. and involved in another big events |
| Martín Mambrilla | Debian User | - | Involved in organizing CaFeCONF in the years 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and main coordinator 2006. |
| Daniel Coletti | Debian User | - | Involved in organizing CaFeCONF in the years 2002, 2003 (main coordinator), 2004 (main coordinator), 2005, 2006. Involved in organizing Congresses Usuaria(**) in 2004, 2005, 2006 and leader of the academic committee. President of XTech working exclusively with solutions of Free Software since 1999. |
| Diego Essaya | Debian User | - | LUGFI member. |
| Emiliano Castagnari | Debian User | - | LUGFI member. |
| Dererk | Non DD maintainer | - | - |
(*): CaFeCONF is an Anual event of CaFeLUG about Free Software with 1800 attendants in 2 days and more than 100 talks with international key speakers like John Maddog Hall, Roberto Di Cosmo, Anna Ravenscroft y Alex Martelli from Python Software Foundation...
(**): USUARIA (Argentina Association of users of Computer science and Communications) organizes Congress Usuaria focused in the use of Technologies of Computer science and Communications solutions in both private and public sectors.
[edit] About the local-team
The main feature of this local team is that we are a group that has already worked together organizing other big events and we have a free software community that has been growing for many years as background.
The people listed here have personally added themselves with the intent of helping in the organization and execution of DebConf8 in Argentina. Nearer to the conference we expect to have a much larger group of volunteers.
[edit] Why Argentina
[edit] Local team
Our local team includes 3 (very soon 4) Debian Developers, and a group people who will most certainly be DDs by 2008. We are a growing Debian community, with lots of Debian users who are lately turning into maintainers, translators and bug-fixers.
Besides that, we have very strong support by the free software community of the whole country, most of whom use Debian as their preferred OS and a lot of people who are eager to help with the organization of the event.
Also, most of us have organized or been involved in organizing many different kinds of Free Software events, and thus have experience handling the different problems that might come up along the way.
[edit] Country
Argentina is a very beautiful, friendly and welcoming country. It's the home of many different weathers, large cities (Buenos Aires is one of the largest in the world), and also picturesque small towns.
In this country you can experience the joy of eating a real asado with argentinian meat; dancing the original tango; eating as much dulce de leche as you might ever wish; and buying your own mate. It's also said that Argentina is home to the most beautiful latin-american women.
In August, we are in the middle of winter, so this would be the first DebConf in winter. However, this is not Finland, and winter temperatures usually stay above 0°C (i.e. above 32°F).
[edit] General Argentinian Stuff
- How friendly is your country towards foreigners?
- We are generally very friendly. People in the streets will stop and give you directions as to how to get to your destination, and will usually try to break the language barrier, even when their English might be rusty.
- In big cities, however, robbery is a problem that does not discriminate among tourists or citizens. So anyone that's coming to visit should be careful.
- Visas: Which/how many countries' citizens require getting a visa? How hard (bureaucratic, probable) is it to get it?
- No visa needed for less than 90 days: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Barbados, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guyana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korean Republic, Letonia, Liechtenstein, Lituania, Luxemburg, Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Santa Lucía, San Vicente y las Granadinas, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, UK, Uruguay, USA, Vatican City, Venezuela, Yugoslavia, and Serbia & Montenegro;
- No visa needed for less than 30 days: Granada, Hong Kong (with British Passport), Jamaica and Malaysia;
- Passports must be valid for at least 90 days from the date of arrival in Argentina.
- Types of visa and cost: Tourist: US$30 ; Business: US$50.
- Time required: between 2 and 3 work days, depending on the country.
- Application requirements for turist visas (this might change from country to country, but it's generally a list like this):
- Valid passport (valid for at least 6 more months).
- Application form.
- One passport photo.
- Fee; payable by cheque or postal order.
- Medical certificate stating that the applicant is free of any symptoms of infectious diseases.
- Return ticket.
- A letter requesting a visa, stating the purpose of the trip and duration of stay.
- Proof of sufficient funds
- Affidavit signed at consular section by applicant, declaring that applicant has not, in the last 30 days, been to any SARS countries or zones and that they will not travel to them during the validity of the visa.
- Proof of legal residence in country of residence.
- Are there any import regulations, which might affect DebConf? (e.g. a limit to number of notebooks / DVDs / other media you can bring in; hard regulations for money transfers; etc.)
- Things you cannot bring:
- Products intended for selling or industrial business.
- Firearms
- Explosives, illegal drugs
- Other forbidden products for heath or security reasons.
- Language: Do most people speak English? How hard is it for a foreigner to find their way around?
- Quite a lot of people speak English, even though it might be a bit basic. According to this survey conducted in 2006, 42.3% of Argentinians claim to know some English though only 15.4% of those claimed to have a high level of English comprehension.
- All the airports have the signs both in Spanish and English.
- Foreigners normally manage to find their way around without much trouble.
