ACTIVITIES

To enhance your LISA conference experience, attendee events are held throughout the week. Attend the very popular Birds-of-a-Feather sessions (BoFs). Mingle with your peers and with technological luminaries during the receptions. Please check back here for the latest additions to the activities schedule.

Welcome Get-Together and Conference Orientation

Saturday, November 8, 6:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m., California

Whether this is your first time at LISA or your twentieth, stop by the Welcome Get-Together and Conference Orientation to learn how to get the most out of the conference. The orientation includes an overview of San Diego, an introduction to LISA, and an opportunity to meet your peers. Refreshments and snacks provided.

Board Game Night

Sunday, November 9, 8:00 p.m.–11:00 p.m., Crescent

Join us on Sunday night for some good old-fashioned board games! Take a step back into the past and test your knowledge playing the Totally 80s edition of Trivial Pursuit. Challenge your fellow attendees to a game of Scrabble or Pictionary. Bring your own games, too!

Meet the USENIX Board and Staff

Tuesday, November 11, 8:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m., Windsor

Members of the USENIX Board and staff want to hear from you on how we're doing. Find out what's new, and tell us how we can improve LISA, SAGE, and USENIX. Refreshments provided.

Vendor Exhibition

Golden Pacific Ballroom
Wednesday, November 12, noon–7:00 p.m.
Thursday, November 13, 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.

Looking for the latest and greatest? Visit the Vendor Exhibition to find new technologies, products, and services. We encourage our exhibitors to bring their technical staff so that you can learn about products and innovative services from knowledgeable vendors. Get in-depth answers to serious questions.

Exhibit Hall Mexican Fiesta

Wednesday, November 12, 5:30 p.m.–7:00 p.m., Golden Pacific Ballroom

Join us at the Vendor Exhibition for margaritas and snacks, and check out the latest products and technologies. Don't forget to get your vendor passport stamped!

New in '08: Vendor Passports and iPhone Raffle

Don't miss the vendor passport in your attendee bags! Get it stamped during the exhibition and enter to win an iPhone! The raffle drawing will take place on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in the Golden Pacific Ballroom. You must be present to win, so join your colleagues for the concession lunch (or bring your own) while learning about the latest products.

LISA Conference Bookstore: Barnes and Noble

Stop by the LISA Conference Bookstore, hosted by Barnes and Noble. Located in the Vendor Exhibition in Booth 44, the bookstore will provide the latest titles from publishers including Addison-Wesley Professional/ Prentice Hall Professional/Cisco Press, Apress, O'Reilly, and more. Meet authors Bruce Schneier, Tom Limoncelli, Strata Chalup, Mark Burgess, Paul Anderson, and more.

Wednesday, November 12
1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.
Mark Burgess and Æleen Frisch, authors of A System Engineer's Guide to Host Configuration and Maintenance Using Cfengine
Æleen Frisch, author of Essential System Administration

3:30 p.m.–4:00 p.m.
David N. Blank-Edelman, author of Perl for System Administration
Tom Limoncelli, author of Time Management for System Administrators

5:30 p.m.–6:30 p.m.
Bruce Schneier, author of Schneier on Security and Beyond Fear

6:00 p.m.–6:30 p.m.
Peter Baer Galvin, author of Operating Systems Concepts (8th Edition)

Thursday, November 13
10:30 a.m.–11:00 a.m.
Paul Anderson, author of LCFG: A Practical Tool for System Configuration

1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.
John Arrasjid, author of Deploying the VMware Infrastructure

Poster Sessions

Wednesday, November 12, 6:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m., Golden Pacific Ballroom Foyer
Thursday, November 13, 5:30 p.m.–6:30 p.m., Golden Pacific Ballroom Foyer

Don't miss the cool new ideas and the latest preliminary research on display at the Poster Sessions. Take advantage of a perfect opportunity to mingle with colleagues who may be interested in the same area. Check out the list of accepted posters.

Human Search Engine

Thursday, November 13, 9:00 a.m.–9:10 a.m., Town & Country
(immediately before the Plenary Session by Bruce Schneier)

There are a lot of smart people here. We're all smart—but some of us have more experience in some areas and holes in others. If you have a question that needs answering, participate in the Human Search Engine! This is a real-life exercise in massive parallelism.

If you have a question that's been nagging you, go to the mic, state your name, ask your question, mention a place/time you'll be available later, and then sit down. If you have an answer, please find the questioner LATER and help them out! Questions should take only 5–10 seconds, although the answers later may take quite a bit longer, of course.

LISA Poolside Tiki Reception

Thursday, November 13, 6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m., Tiki Pavilion & Poolside

It's time to unwind at the LISA poolside tiki reception. Join us for tropical libations and savory snacks by the light of the tiki torch. It's the perfect location to engage your colleagues in lively discussion while you soak up the relaxing outdoor atmosphere. Don't miss it.

Work-in-Progress Reports (WiPs)

Friday, November 14, 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m., California

Short, pithy, and fun, Work-in-Progress reports introduce interesting new or ongoing work. If you have work you would like to share or a cool idea that's not quite ready for publication, send a one- or two-paragraph summary to lisa08wips@usenix.org by 6:00 p.m. PST on Thursday, November 13. We are particularly interested in presenting students' work. A schedule of presentations will be posted here, and the speakers will be notified in advance. Work-in-Progress reports are five-minute presentations; the time limit will be strictly enforced.

Birds-of-a-Feather Sessions (BoFs)

Monday, November 10, 2008, 7:00 p.m.–11:00 p.m.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008, 7:00 p.m.–11:00 p.m.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008, 7:30 p.m.–11:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 13, 2008, 8:30 p.m.–11:30 p.m.

It's not too late to schedule a BoF! Stop by the USENIX Registration Desk to reserve a space for a BoF session or send an email to bofs@usenix.org. The always popular evening Birds-of-a-Feather sessions are very informal gatherings of persons interested in a particular topic. Check the BoF Boards in the registration area for the latest schedule and room locations. The schedule is also available here.

Vendor BoFs

See demonstrations of new products and find out about the latest technologies at the evening Vendor BoFs! The schedule includes presentations by the following vendors:

• Sun Microsystems: BigAdmin
  Tuesday, November 11, 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m., Windsor
• Cambridge Computer Services: Beer and Ice Cream Social
  Tuesday, November 11, 7:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m., Sheffield
• GroundWork Open Source: RRDtool Project in Residence
  Wednesday, November 12, 8:30 p.m.–9:30 p.m., Hampton
• Zenoss: Open Source Systems Management
  Monday, November 10, 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m., Windsor
• Google
  Thursday, November 13, 9:00 p.m.–11:00 p.m., Sheffield
• Permabit Technology Corporation
  Date, time, and location TBD; please check the BoF Boards or the BoF schedule here.

LISA Quiz Show

Friday, November 14, 4:00 p.m.–5:30 p.m.

The LISA Quiz Show is back! Closing this year's conference, the LISA Quiz Show will pit teams of attendees against each other in a test of technical knowledge and cultural trivia. This year Jeremy Allison will bring his acclaimed game show hosting skills to the table, assuring a LISA Quiz Show unlike any other. Don't miss it!

Want to play? We're looking for two teams of 3. Sign up at the Membership booth.