Back in June I submitted a talk to FOSS.IN 2012 conference in Bangalore, India. Unfortunately my talk was not included in the list of accepted proposals, in other words, it was rejected. But that's not the reason why I'm writing, or why I am most disappointed in how things were handled by FOSS.IN's organizing team.
The program's call for participation stated that the list of accepted proposals would be published by August 6th. This, however, did not occur until two months later, in early October. Working in academia, I am well aware that conference dates and deadlines can be changed, and one gets used to this, and takes it with a grain of salt. What I cannot understand, or accept, is the fact that FOSS.IN did not bother to inform anyone (specially those of us who took the time to submit a talk) that the deadlines were not going to be kept. A delay of two months is already incredible, not to mention the total lack of information as to when the accepted talks would be published. I had never seen such a thing from a conference, and hope to never see it again.
Furthermore, I was not even informed that my talk had been rejected. FOSS.IN already has an automated system to send people emails, I got one confirming my submission. So why wasn't I notified? Automatic emails are easy, fast and free.
Submitting a good talk to a conference takes time and careful preparation. I would expect a minimal amount of courtesy and professionalism by FOSS.IN. People make plans around deadlines and it's extremely rude to keep them in the dark.
This kind of behavior is simply unacceptable and makes the entire conference look bad. Yes, it's quite a big and well known event within the free software community, but that's not a justification. I am aware of Atul Chitnis' condition and wish him all the best and hope he can overcome the illness. I was very sorry to learn about it. But FOSS.IN is not a one man job.
I am writing this as a constructive criticism, hoping that these unpleasant things do not reoccur in future events. Since this year was the first time I proposed a presentation I don't know if these issues were a one time thing or is what people have come to expect from the FOSS.IN teams. Still I wish the best of luck to you folks and hope that you have another great conference this year.
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