---
layout: post
title: 'SeaGL speaker Q&A: Georgia Young'
status: publish
type: post
published: true
categories: news
tags: '2015'
---

Free Software Foundation staffer Georgia Young will speak at SeaGL this
weekend:

Q: Could you please introduce yourself and tell us a little about your
background?

My name is Georgia Young. I am the program manager for the Free Software
Foundation and live in the Boston area. I joined the FSF in January as
outreach and communication coordinator, had previously worked on
LibrePlanet in 2014, and took on my new role this past summer. My job
includes event management, writing about free software issues,
connecting with the free software community, and fundraising to sustain
the FSF's work. I'm also a musician.

Q: Without tipping your hand on the actual talk, can you give us an
idea of what we might expect?

This is my first free software talk, and I wanted to introduce people to
a great free software program that is licensed under the GNU General
Public License, a free software license written by Richard Stallman and
administered by the Free Software Foundation.

I discovered Scribus around 2009, when I was in graduate school. Much of
my professional experience is in the publishing industry, where nonfree
programs reign. I wasn't consciously thinking about Free as in Freedom
when I chose Scribus, but the idea of software that was effective but
not created by huge corporations like Adobe or Microsoft inherently
appealed to me.

Twelve years after its initial release, I feel like Scribus deserves
more attention than it gets. My aim is to get people interested in using
this program for their own documents, and to get them thinking about
freely licensed fonts, and other free software programs that can be used
in concert with Scribus.

Q: Is this your first visit to SeaGL? If so, what are your expectations? If
not, can you give us your impressions of the event?

It's my first visit to SeaGL, to Seattle, to the Pacific Northwest in general!
I'm looking forward to seeing a few familiar faces, meeting lots of new
people, and hearing other great ideas arising from the free software
community.

Q: If attending your talk inspires others to present at a conference, what
can they do?

A: Talk to me or visit the Free Software Foundation table in the exhibit hall
for more information about submitting a proposal to LibrePlanet, the FSF's
annual free software conference in the Boston area, March 19-20, 2016!
