The Mozilla Summit — Part one

I have a problem, I know, I never blog about events in time. Its been almost two weeks
since the Mozilla Summit and this post is a brief writeup of my experience in Canada.

The invitation

The Mozilla Summit is/was a meetup of all core contributors to the Mozilla Project. About 2000 peole were invited to three different locations namely Santa Clara, Toronto and Brussels, with each location hosting about 600 Mozillians.

I was ecstatic when I got the email telling me that I had been invited. I really didn’t think I’d make the cut, I mean there are some amazing Mozillians out there who are more experienced and talented than I am. I was happy.

Preparations

After the excitement had worn off(a bit) I started working on getting the travel arrangements sorted. Fortunately for me, Mozilla knows how to take care of one of their own and I was provided with the funds to apply for a Canadian Visa. Mozilla provided all the necessary documents to support my Visa application. I had to travel back and forth to Harare to get the visa sorted and I also got to see my sister and her lovely puppies in Gweru.

The wait

The two weeks following the visa-application submission were not easy for me. I cound’t think straight, I was worried I wouldn’t get the visa and a long list of other negative thoughts flooded my mind. I was very happy when I collected my passport and saw the visa sticker with my picture in it. I had A VISA!.

Getting to the Summit

The travel and event agencies finalised flight and hotel bookings and I was ready to go. I left Zimbabwe on a Wednesday. The first flight I was on was the Bulawayo to Joburg Airport. This was a short but pleasant flight.

I had a 6 hour layover at the O.R Tambo airport and I promise you, I wasn’t even bored in the 6 hours that I was there. There is so much to see in that airport.

View form one of the lounges

The next two flights took me through the UK and then to North America. I had arrived.

After going through customs and immigration, I was met by two very friendly ladies that were part of the Meet and Greet team. They welcomed me to Canada and arranged transport to the Hotel.

I got a chance to ride in a slick Caddilac Escalade on my way to the hotel and the drive gave me a chance to see the many condos and under-construction buildings in Toronto.

After going through the hotel check in and making my way to my room for a shower(after being in and out of planes for 20hours, this made me feel human again), I made my way to the summit lobby area to register.

During registration, everyone got a welcome pack that had neat goodies inside. Included was a water bottle, stickers, t shirts and a sharpie for writing.

 

The Summit had begun.

I will put up another post right now about the Summit experience.