What is an Open Source Showcase?

On Monday October 26, there's going to be an Open Source Showcase for Non-profits in downtown Toronto. Hopefully you believe me when I say that it is a unique event. But what exactly is a Showcase?

Well, when I hear the word "Showcase", I usually expect to hear the word "Showdown" right afterwards. That of course just says I spent too much time in front of the TV as a child, but on the plus side, I did get a good sense of the "actual retail price" of random household items. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, then you need to check out Bob Barker in his heyday.

So what is an Open Source Showcase? Well, first things first...there's no big wheel, unfortunately. But, on the other hand, the actual retail price of everything is $0!

Freeform Solutions and people from several other wonderful organizations have come together to create an event where the focus is on open source software, and what it means for non-profit organizations. This is not a sales or marketing related event, this is not a tradeshow, in the typical sense. This is an attempt to bring together open source developers and consultants who work with non-profits, and people in non-profits who are interested in open source and want to know more.

There are a lot of misconceptions about open source out there, like "if it's free is must not be very good" or "no one is there to support it when it breaks". We want to provide a venue where the people who build and support open source software can bust some myths and explain what the real strengths and benefits of open source software are.

It should be kind of like when your neighbour is putting in a patio, and you like the way it's shaping up, so you get chatting one day about where she got the materials, how the plans were drawn up, etc. The Showcase is kind of the same thing, except instead of a neighbour, it's fellow publicly-minded technical folks who know the non-profit sector, and instead of a patio, it's computer software.

But otherwise, exactly the same thing. ;-)

So hopefully this sounds interesting and now you are going to come out next Monday and have a fantastic time! With open source, the price may be right, but that's only the beginning of the story, there's a lot more to it than that.

Register now at the event webpage. Space is limited!