Come for the Talks, stay for the FREE BEER, courtesy of Facebook! This lively session has become a fun and expected ApacheCon tradition! Thursday evening, after the day's sessions are done, we will gather in the main hall for Lightning Talks. As a community, taking time to laugh together is as important as taking time to code together. The Lightning Talks are spontaneous and each year has its own unique highlights.

The ApacheCon Lightning Talk FAQ:

• What is a Lightning Talk?
  A Lightning Talk is a short presentation/talk of up to 5 minutes. There will be a timer which counts down from 5 minutes to zero.

• Who can do a Lightning Talk?
  Any attendee of ApacheCon. You don't need to be a speaker to do a Lightning Talk. Don't be shy, it's your chance for 5 minutes of fame at ApacheCon.

• How do I submit a Lightning Talk?
  To submit a talk, just write down your name and the title of your talk on a piece of paper and hand it to one of the Lightning Talk moderators at the beginning of the session.

• How do I know when it's my turn to do the talk?
  Jim Jagielski and Lars Eilebrecht are moderating talks and will chose the talks randomly during the Lightning Talks session. Once they mention your name, just get up on the stage and do your talk. The clock starts ticking as soon as you are on the stage. Jim and Lars will try to select all submitted talks, but sometimes we receive a lot of talks and don't have enough time to do all of them.

• What are the topics of a Lightning Talk?
  A Lightning Talk can be about anything. Yes, really anything! You get bonus points if it's about Apache, Open Source, and even more bonus points if the talk is funny. However, sales pitches are not very popular at our Lightning Talks, and you may get kicked off the stage if you do one.

• Can I use slides?
  No, absolutely no slides allowed, unless your name is Rich Bowen.