<div dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:12.8px;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">Dear OpenStack Users, Operators, and Community,</font></span></p><font face="tahoma, sans-serif" style="font-size:12.8px"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:12.8px;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We are excited to announce that</span><a href="https://www.openstack.org/community/events/openstackdays/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">OpenStack Days</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> East 2017 will be in the city of Washington, DC, with the tentative dates of <span class="gmail-aBn" tabindex="0"><span class="gmail-aQJ">Aug 15-16, 2017</span></span>, which are flexible. The two day event will have a focus on the Government sector, amongst many others, such as containerization, DevOps practices, provisioning, orchestration and more.</span></font></p><font face="tahoma, sans-serif" style="font-size:12.8px"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:12.8px;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.meetup.com/OpenStackDC/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">OpenStackDC</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">,</span><a href="https://www.meetup.com/OpenStack-Nova/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">OpenStack-Northern Virginia</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">,</span><a href="https://www.meetup.com/OpenStack-Baltimore/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">OpenStack-Baltimore</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/groups/4762393/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">VA OpenStack Users</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, and several other east coast OpenStack groups will be organizing the OpenStack Days East 2017 event. In order to proceed in earnest, with the planning, we are soliciting a tentative sponsorship commitment from your company for this event.   </span></font></p><font face="tahoma, sans-serif" style="font-size:12.8px"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:12.8px;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Last year’s sponsorship costs can be found</span><a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B28O7k5mIZSiODN6enZROU1EV1lBeE91ekNmbmIxTGNVSXBj" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">here</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, which may differ in 2017. </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:700;font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">All</span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> sponsorship levels are currently available for 2017. If your company is interested in sponsoring this conference, please fill out this </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdwu6FpGIQ6zis-F99E_oWMdWJ8olXKyp50E8G5PQQ4CIwYDg/viewform?c=0&w=1" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">form</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. Also, please keep in mind that this initial sponsorship step </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:700;font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">only</span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> requires a contact name and an email address from your company.</span></font></p><font face="tahoma, sans-serif" style="font-size:12.8px"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:12.8px;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">One pivotal element which is necessary in order to ensure the timeliness, and success of this event is to find a corporate lead. We are seeking a company or companies that are willing to engage with the OpenStack Days East organizers, volunteers and committee members to co-plan the event, and help with the initial seed funding required to reserve a venue, and several other essentials required for a successful event. If you are interested please contact us immediately via email, and fill out this </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdwu6FpGIQ6zis-F99E_oWMdWJ8olXKyp50E8G5PQQ4CIwYDg/viewform?c=0&w=1" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">form</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. </span></font></p><font face="tahoma, sans-serif" style="font-size:12.8px"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:12.8px;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">As you know</span><a href="http://www.openstackeast.com/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">OpenStack Days East</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, in</span><a href="http://www.openstackeast.com/location/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">NYC</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> last year, was a resounding success.  Some of the companies that sponsored the 2016 event were HP Enterprise, Red Hat, SUSE, Canonical, Dell, and IBM. The full list of 2016 sponsors can be found</span><a href="http://www.openstackeast.com/sponsors/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">here</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. We look forward to hearing back from you soon. Thank you very much in advance. </span></font></p><font face="tahoma, sans-serif" style="font-size:12.8px"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:12.8px;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">Thank you very much in advance and we look forward to working with you.</font></span></p><font face="tahoma, sans-serif" style="font-size:12.8px"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:12.8px;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">Best Regards,</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:12.8px;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif"><a href="https://groups.openstack.org/users/haisam-ido" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Haisam Ido</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">,</span><a href="https://groups.openstack.org/groups/dc-washington-dc" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><span style="font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">OpenStackDC</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> Organizer</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:12.8px;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.openstack.org/community/speakers/profile/148" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Shilla Saebi</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">,</span><a href="https://www.meetup.com/OpenStack-Nova/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><span style="font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">OpenStack-Northern Virginia</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> Organizer</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:12.8px;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.meetup.com/OpenStack-Baltimore/members/146903662/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">James Genus</span></a><span style="color:rgb(17,85,204);font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Jr.,</span><a href="https://www.meetup.com/OpenStack-Baltimore/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><span style="font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">OpenStack-Baltimore</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> Organizer</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:12.8px;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevorlowing" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">Trevor Lowing</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">, </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/groups/4762393/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">VA OpenStack Users</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"> Organizer</span></font></p></div>