UpSCALE is a set of lightning talks held at SCALE in partnership with OpenSource.com, in the style of Ignite presentations. Speakers will get 5 minutes to enlighten the audience. Slides will auto-advance while chosen speakers deliver their message, a brief story of open source deliciousness. The format makes for a fast paced, fun event for participants and audience.

The UpSCALE talks will take place on Saturday March 4th at 8pm in Ballroom DE. Please join us as members of the Free and Open Source community do their best to beat the clock and get their ideas out!

In recent years the SCaLE program has grown to include an increasing amount of security related content including presentations, tutorials, and our long running PGP keysigning party.  This year we are again growing to include a hacking competition target  during the conference which aims to test the security skills of the participants in a live setting.

People of SCALE, have I got some rocking news for you.

For the last few years the Bad Voltage team (a podcast all about technology, open source, Linux, and anything else we think is fun), have delivered a live show at SCALE. This has always been a great time, but this year, well, it is time to turn up the volume with an incredible party sponsored by our friends at Ticketmaster and Linode.

With Scale 15x less than a month away, final touches are being made to the schedule including Sunday’s keynote. The SCALE team is excited to announce that the Sunday keynote speaker will be Karen Sandler, who will deliver In the Scheme of Things, How Important is Software Freedom?

Linux is a robust and secure operating system with a rich array of applications. The Southern California Linux Expo is once again providing those who want to start using Linux an opportunity to learn how. SCALE will provide an Installfest + basic system administration class on Saturday, March 4th, 2017. The class will be held again on Sunday March 5th.

Training will be provided by the Linux Foundation's professional trainers, assisted by skilled SCALE volunteers.

It's time. Yes people if you have a 5-minute talk about an open source topic ready to share, then a submission to UpSCALE, in partnership with Opensource.com, is something you should consider over the new few weeks. Submit your lightning talk proposal before February 12 for a chance of glory on the upSCALE main stage.

Though it may not be the most appealing of metaphors, the rhetorical early bird does end up with the proverbial worm.

That said, the SCALE 15X “Early Bird” discount for the first-of-the-year North American Linux/FOSS expo ends in four days, on Jan. 22.

Also, you may want to act quickly in making your hotel reservations at the discount rates offered by both the Sheraton and Hilton hotels in Pasadena soon, because both hotels will be closing down the discount rates on Feb. 8.

As you may know, last year SCALE formed a diversity committee which was announced in December 2015. In that announcement I said the first thing we wanted to do was to collect, analyze and publish some data. Today, I give you that data. (Sorry for the delay - while this was originally written in May 2016, changes in SCALE staffing this year lead to a lot of additional work which delayed the lengthy edit and review process for this).

Registration for SCALE 15x is now open -- be the first in your neighborhood to register for the largest open-source event in North America.  We will be returning to the Pasadena Convention Center March 2-5, 2017.  

The Full Access Pass, which provides access to all SCALE sessions, is $75. The Expo Only Ticket, providing access to exhibit hall only, is $20. The exhibit halls for SCALE 15x are open Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Over 180 sessions. More than 140 exhibitors. Just north of 3,600 attendees registered.

That was SCALE 14X.

Now that the SCALE Team has had a chance to decompress from the four-day event – our first ever in the Pasadena Convention Center – we would like to take some time to thank those who made it possible.

But first, it will be a relief to some of you to know that SCALE 15X will be held a little later next year – March 2-5, 2017 – at the Pasadena Convention Center. So we're back to our usual time slot in the Linux/FOSS expo schedule.