Living in a time where we can get "infinite" amounts of information online, it is all the more important that we keep in mind the preciousness of time spent together.

At the LGM, we have some of the best specialist in our topics, both as attendees and fellow presenters, and we always hope that all of them contribute to the LGM with inspiring talks. This means that talks like "the last 10 years of the project I have been involved in and what we plan to do next" is useful info to share online, but such a focus rarely makes for an engaging talk. It's not that the information is not interesting, but it's not what most of us want to hear in a place where the best people are in a room, both in the audience and on stage.

So we decided to send out this reminder to all presenters to keep a tight focus for your presentation, foregrounding aspects that will allow for lively engagement. Keep in mind that your audience is full of other specialists - including developers, designers, and educators -, many of whom have attended multiples LGMs and expect well-focused talks. Then there are always people new to LGM, interested in what the community is all about, and people from the general free software community. All of them benefit from lively, engaging presentations.

As you prepare, please check if your talk / presentation focuses on a specific topic. Many of us know about the many conflicts and controversies across open source and free software networks, so talks do well to point us toward collaborative futures rather than telling us what many of us probably already know.

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old letters of confirmation/request for clarification:

Dear --

We are happy to confirm that your proposal -- has been accepted and will be part of the LGM 2019 program as a presentation / LT / BoF / meeting /workshop. The meeting takes place from May 29 to June 2, 2019, in Saarbruecken, Germany.

We ask you to confirm by responding to this email that you are indeed planning to join us in Saarbruecken. Please do so before Friday, February 23, 2019 so we can finalize the schedule!

You will find as attachment your proposal as you sent it to us. If you want to revise it, please send us the new version before Friday, February 23, 2019. You will find in the second part of this email informations from the selection committee about the content of LGM talks.

If you asked for support from LGM, take into account that we cannot currently promise such reimbursement. As soon as we know that sponsoring and/or community contributions are available, we will get in touch. We cover travel costs only (economy class, no accommodation etc.)and also publish information related to travel cost reimbursement on the LGM website.

If you need an invitation letter (for obtaining a Visa for example),
please get in touch with us.

Latest news, the definitive programme, special events etc. will be published on the LGM website.

We look forward to your contribution and to a great LGM!

For the LGM team,

xyz