O'Reilly Open Source Convention Call for Papers

suzanne writes "The deadline cometh: if you have a hankering to participate in the 2003 O'Reilly Open Source Convention, get your proposal/s in by February 15. It's in Portland this year, and a little earlier than usual, July 7-11. (If you missed the fun last time, check out last year's coverage page, especially SuperSnail's photos of the event.)"

I$ it ju$t me

[josephgrossberg]

or do the O'Reilly conferences about "free" software seem really freaking expensive?

Irony about free (as in beer) vs. free (as in speech) aside ...

Last year's Open Source Convention [oreillynet.com] was a fortune -- $895 for the "regular" (and early-bird).

PyCon [python.org] is $150 (early-bird). That sounds more reasonable.

I see that they have sessions/tutorials, but is there really any chance of a good return-on-investment at that rate, unless you're there to schmooze and network? Are there really employers willing to pay this, or consultants who find it's worth the investment?

I'm more interested in first-hand accounts than speculation, but I'll take either. :)