Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Tech Networks of Boston (also known as TNB) is pleased to invite local employees of nonprofit organizations to a Roundtable session on what nonprofits need to know about open source software. Our featured guest will be Andy Oram from O'Reilly Media.

Here's what Andy says about the session:

"The world depends on useful data, and so does your organization. You need software to store, share, manage, and process the data--software that costs as little as possible (hopefully nothing), whose workings are open to inspection, are guaranteed not to go away, and are accompanied by communities of people who understand the tools well. You need open source software.

"Participants in this workshop will learn what open source software is, its importance, why it thrives in communities of practitioners, and a few principles for benefitting from it."

Here's a bit more about Andy:

Andy Oram is an editor at O'Reilly Media, a highly respected book publisher and technology information provider. Andy currently specializes in open source, software engineering, and health IT, but his editorial output has ranged from a legal guide covering intellectual property to a graphic novel about teenage hackers. Andy writes often on policy issues related to the Internet and on trends affecting technical innovation and its effects on society. Print publications where his work has appeared include The Economist, Communications of the ACM, Copyright World, the Journal of Information Technology & Politics, Vanguardia Dossier, and Internet Law and Business. Open source conferences where he has presented talks include O'Reilly's Open Source Convention, FISL (Brazil), FOSDEM, and DebConf. In addition to participating in open source communities, he has served on the boards of many nonprofit organizations.

Please note:

1) In keeping with the spirit of the TNB Roundtable series, this session will NOT be a sales pitch for any product or service. This will be a professional development opportunity for nonprofit professionals who want to learn with and from their peers in other organizations.

2) This session is for employees of nonprofit organizations. It is not designed to meet the needs of vendors, volunteers, students, consultants, job-seekers, and others.

3) Priority in registration will be given to those who are employed by nonprofit organizations that hold full membership in the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network.

4) Participation in this session is free of charge for nonprofit professionals. However, you must have a confirmed reservation in order to attend.

5) If this session is booked to capacity by the time you seek to register for it, please go ahead and put yourself on the waiting list. We have a good track record of finding seats for nonprofit professionals on the waiting list.

We hope that you can join us for a vigorous and informative conversation, in which you will be welcome to share your knowledge and experience with your peers.

Best regards from Deborah