Subverting Proprietary Economics

Presenter(s): 
Location: 
S2168
Time: 
2008/10/24 2:00pm

In small-town Canada we have seen an increase in the "cottage industry" as retirees cash out of urban centres and move to the country. These micro-enterprise businesses often have only the owner (and their partner) as staff. Although the businesses offer a huge range of services, they have one thing in common--very small budgets. Individually these businesses can rarely afford expert technical support and services and as a result they often end up experiencing vendor lock-in in the worst possible ways. By combining the idea of a LUG and a Chamber of Commerce, it is possible to subvert the proprietary economic model and gain new clients in the process. In this presentation Emma Jane Hogbin you show you how to convert businesses to FOSS by creating a sustainable, technology focused, business network. Pulling from experiences with her own client user group, she will show you how to: create self-sufficient clients that still pay you money; manage expectations (client budgets and contractor time); attract new clients by distinguishing yourself from your competitors; define and achieve success; and spread the ethos of free and open source software into the business world.