The news about the new job has already hit the Internets, but I haven’t taken the time to update my blog yet. I’m thrilled to be working at Oregon State University’s Open Source Lab as an Open Source Outreach Manager. I worked closely with the OSUOSL team through the Summer of Code program, and I’m honored to be joining such an accomplished and well-respected  organization.

Among other things, I’ll be creating new programs for the lab, specifically related to open source and education. It’s a great opportunity for me to further engage with the Teaching Open Source community  and use some of the lessons I’ve learned there to create something new for open source in academia. Very exciting. Add in a little marketing, a side of public relations and some market research and there you have it – my new gig.

For the short term, I’m focusing on GOSCON, the Lab’s Government Open Source Conference. Six years ago, the OSUOSL identified a pressing need for government IT Managers to have an opportunity to learn more about open source software and share best practices. For more background, check out the excellent interview with Andy Stein on the Evolution of GOSCON and Open Government. In 2010, the conversation has progressed to include an Open Data Summit, an Executive Open Data Roundtable on the State of Open Government and the first ever Ignite talk series focused on government, IgniteGov. The conference will feature several agency use cases on cutting costs and increasing opportunities for interagency collaboration through the use of open source software. Speakers hail from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, the Naval Postgraduate School, TriMet and more.

We’re just eight days to GOSCON, and I’m rocking and rolling to help Deb Bryant make this conference the best one yet. If you want to stay abreast of the latest news from the conference, follow @goscon on Twitter. I’m looking forward to seeing some old friends there, and learning more about how open source can help government better meet citizens needs.