Changes

  === * [[FreenodeIrcConnection|Freenode IRC connection ===]]** Historically, conference attendees have had trouble maintaining persistent connections to the #code4lib IRC channel. We'd always assumed we were overwhelming the conference facility's Internet connection, but we were actually running into Freenode's IP-based connection limits. Freenode is supportive of the IRC-as-backchannel model, however, and they're happy to work with organizers to raise the connection limit. ** Contact the conference facility in advance and see if you can find out what your ''public IP address range'' will be during the conference. (If it starts with 10.*, 192.168.*, or 172.16.*, ask again -- those are "private" IP ranges used for connection sharing.) ** Once you have the IP address or range, send an email to [mailto:ilines@freenode.net ilines@freenode.net] containing a request to raise the connection limit. Include conference info, IP range(s), and the expected number of connections. For example:  To: ilines@freenode.net Hello, I'm helping plan the code4lib 2010 conference, taking place in Asheville, NC next week. Since our backchannel runs through #code4lib on Freenode, we're trying to plan ahead to avoid running up against the connection limit. Would it be possible to raise the cap for us during the conference? Details follow. Conference: code4lib 2010 < http://code4lib.org/conference/2010/ > Dates: February 22-26, 2010 Attendees: 250 Location: Renaissance Asheville Hotel, Asheville, NC IP Ranges: 12.21.216.106 and the entire 12.21.217.0/24 block We encourage in-channel participation, so we expect a high percentage of attendees to be connected at once. We'll also have two or three channel bots connected from the conference for the lobby monitors. Please let me know if you need any further information, and thanks very much for your help! Michael ** I received an automated reply with a ticket number almost instantly, but didn't hear back after that. I sent a quick followup early on the morning of the 22nd, and received a response (from a human) letting me know that it had been taken care of. (Follow-up, one year later: Same experience. Immediate automated reply, but with a need to follow up with Freenode staff in the #freenode channel to get the ticket resolved.) ** Additional support is available from the helpful volunteer Freenode staff in the #freenode channel.