Call for Participation in PDF

LISA '11 Call for Participation

Practice and Experience Reports

A good experience report proposal will describe a substantial system administration project that has been completed. Many of these experiences will have a basis in technical requirements, but will also have components that may span planning and social issues as well. Insights on all of these topics are welcome. Also, note that the project need not have been a success to make for a successful experience report; sometimes spectacular failures are considerably more instructive. A great report tells an interesting story and concludes with lessons that advance the collective knowledge of system and network administration.

A submission may be either an extended abstract (at least 4, no more than 6, pages) or the (draft) full report. It will be judged on the basis of three major criteria: technical scope, applicability to a general audience, and the insights presented.

The scope of experience reports is as wide as the scope of the work our attendees are called upon to perform, ranging from highly technical to social processes, such as building consensus and planning. Here are some examples:

• Organizing large-scale user migrations
• Building business cases for technology
• Benchmarking and performance evaluation
• Designing policies for shared systems
• Deploying new services
• Moving a production data center

Need help with your submission? You're not alone or in the dark. Please see our page about getting assistance with your submission.

Submission Details

Authors must submit a 4–6 page written proposal. The title and author name(s) and affiliation(s) should appear on the first page of the submission. (LISA reviewing is single blind.) Authors should make sure that their submission prints properly on U.S.-style 8.5"x11" paper.

General submission rules:

• All submissions must be electronic, in PDF only, via the Web form. The Web form will ask for contact information for the report and allows for the submission of your full report file. Please do not email submissions.
  
  
• The first page of each submission must include the name, affiliation, and email address of the author(s).
  
  
• Submissions should include a list of appropriate topic keywords or tags above the body text of the draft report.
  • Tags: security, research, IPv6
  Suggested tags include DevOps, networking, infrastructure, security, research, case study, backups, configuration management, database, Web, printing, filesystem, authentication, and VMs. Authors may include additional tags as well.
  
  
• Submissions whose main purpose is to promote a commercial product or service will not be accepted.
  
  
• Submissions may be submitted only by an author of the report. No third-party submissions will be accepted.
  
  
• All accepted reports must be presented at the LISA conference by at least one author. The author(s) will give a 20-minute presentation immediately followed by a 10-minute Q&A session. One author per report will receive a registration discount of $200. USENIX will offer a complimentary registration for the technical program upon request.
  
  
• The author(s) of an accepted proposal must provide a final report in advance of the conference for publication in the proceedings. Final reports are limited to 4–10 pages, including diagrams, figures, references, and appendices. Complete instructions will be sent to the authors of accepted reports. To aid authors in creating a report suitable for LISA's audience, authors of accepted proposals will be assigned one or more shepherds to help with the process of completing the report. The shepherds will read one or more intermediate drafts and provide advice and assistance, as needed, before the authors complete the final draft. Accepted authors will be expected to make a dress rehearsal presentation with their shepherd prior to the conference.
  
  
• All accepted reports will be available online to registered attendees before the workshop. If your report should not be published prior to the event, please notify production@usenix.org. The reports will be available online to everyone beginning on December 7, 2011.
  
  
• Practice and Experience Reports may not be simultaneously submitted to other venues. Writing must be original, not previously published online or otherwise. See the USENIX Conference Submissions Policy for details. Questions? Contact your program co-chairs, lisa11chairs@usenix.org, or the USENIX office, submissionspolicy@usenix.org.
  
  
• Reports accompanied by nondisclosure agreement forms will not be considered. Accepted submissions will be treated as confidential prior to publication on the LISA '11 Web site; rejected submissions will be permanently treated as confidential.

Reports are due by 11:59 p.m. PDT on June 9, 2011.

Authors will be notified by July 11, 2011, whether their proposals have been accepted. The final reports are due September 15, 2011.

If your report is accepted and you need an invitation letter to apply for a visa to attend the conference, please contact conference@usenix.org as soon as possible. (Visa applications can take at least 30 working days to process.) Please identify yourself as a presenter and include your mailing address in your email.

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