Audience: No technical expertise needed—just your good business savvy.

As personal computer hardware gets cheaper and cheaper, the cost of the software to get our work done becomes disproportionately high. But if you're suffering those expensive-software blues, you can find relief! Free open source software (FOSS) can be a viable alternative to commercial products. This session will look at the pros and cons of using FOSS, and will spotlight some useful FOSS packages.

Speaker: Tom Gutnick, the owner of Sunny Banana IT Consulting, has decades of experience in many areas of information technology, including information security, enterprise architecture, Web site design, and software development. His clients have ranged from Fortune 500 corporations to small businesses and nonprofit organizations. He has taught everything from junior high science as a Peace Corps volunteer to high-level computer seminars for corporate audiences. In addition to personal technology classes for Arlington Adult Education, he teaches information systems classes at Northern Virginia Community College.

Sunny Banana IT Consulting helps small businesses and individuals who are struggling with the complexities of technology and don't have their own IT departments. With in-depth knowledge and experience, Sunny Banana helps clients harness the right technology for their business, with patient and jargon-free consultation and training customized to their needs.

Location: One-half block south of the Cineplex Odeon Uptown movie theatre on Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. (There are many restaurants suitable for pre- or post-meeting gathering/networking/refreshment in the block north of the library.) 

Metrorail--Cleveland Park Station on the Red Line (on Connecticut Avenue, just 1.5 blocks north of meeting site) 

Parking: Very small lot, off Macomb St., to left of library. 

Free and open to all 

Several times a year a smaller group (usually about 8 to 12) goes to Nanny O'Brien's (directly across the street from the library at 3319 Connecticut Avenue, NW, 202-686-9189, open noon Saturday to 2 am Sunday) or another local establishment for continued conversation, networking, and refreshment following the meeting. (Participants pay for their own beverages and food.) 

Join us!