Among the notable personalities in the FOSS community who have visited the country recently was Bulgarian e-Rider, Vladimir Ognyanov Petkov aka Kaladan. He is the FOSS projects manager of InterSpace Media Art Center in Bulgaria.
He was invited to Manila to speak on "Using FOSS on Governance: Experiences Abroad" during the 1st Philippine Conference on Free and Open Source Software in eGovernance held last 7-8 March 2007 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Pasig City, Philippines. The event was organized by the Institute of Popular Democracy.
The highlight of Kaladan's visit was the presentation of the 2006 Dirk Award. I remember Bobby bringing the Oscar-like trophy all the way from AS2 when its inaugural recipient, Dirk Slater handed it to him for the awarding ceremonies. And it's a heavy piece of solid metal. Bobby, did it trigger the airport security alarms?
The Dirk Award is given annually to Circuit Riders or eRiders who have shown extraordinary contributions to the nonprofit and international NGO technology communities while paying tribute to the principles of social justice and the role technology can play in empowering other communities and individuals.
The site also states that "in person, Kaladan is warm, friendly and always has a smile. He is also entirely humble and always ready to help where he can." In fact, it was more of an understatement about Kaladan. He is more than that! You should hear him make his voice squeak when he emphasizes a point. Really funny!
I may have spent a brief time with his company during his booth visits, our group beer drinking sessions and during his Ubuntu+FOSS migration lecture, yet I do find Kaladan a person of passion and a lover of freedom - like a true FOSS advocate he is.
Congratulations Kaladan for all your tireless and selfless contributions! I wish you all the best! See you again in the future. Thank you for visiting our country.
He was invited to Manila to speak on "Using FOSS on Governance: Experiences Abroad" during the 1st Philippine Conference on Free and Open Source Software in eGovernance held last 7-8 March 2007 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Pasig City, Philippines. The event was organized by the Institute of Popular Democracy.
The highlight of Kaladan's visit was the presentation of the 2006 Dirk Award. I remember Bobby bringing the Oscar-like trophy all the way from AS2 when its inaugural recipient, Dirk Slater handed it to him for the awarding ceremonies. And it's a heavy piece of solid metal. Bobby, did it trigger the airport security alarms?
The Dirk Award is given annually to Circuit Riders or eRiders who have shown extraordinary contributions to the nonprofit and international NGO technology communities while paying tribute to the principles of social justice and the role technology can play in empowering other communities and individuals.
The site also states that "in person, Kaladan is warm, friendly and always has a smile. He is also entirely humble and always ready to help where he can." In fact, it was more of an understatement about Kaladan. He is more than that! You should hear him make his voice squeak when he emphasizes a point. Really funny!
I may have spent a brief time with his company during his booth visits, our group beer drinking sessions and during his Ubuntu+FOSS migration lecture, yet I do find Kaladan a person of passion and a lover of freedom - like a true FOSS advocate he is.
Congratulations Kaladan for all your tireless and selfless contributions! I wish you all the best! See you again in the future. Thank you for visiting our country.
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