Hot on the heels of the announcement of the Karmic Koala, I am tickled pink to announce the details of the next [Ubuntu Developer Summit](https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UDS) taking place at Palau de Congressos de Catalunya in Barcelona in Spain from Mon 25th May – Fri 29th May.

The Ubuntu Developer Summit one of the most important events in the Ubuntu calendar and at it we discuss, debate and design the next version of Ubuntu. We bring together the entire Canonical development team and sponsor a large number of community members across the wide range of areas in which people contribute to Ubuntu. This includes packaging, translations, documentation, testing, LoCo teams and more. UDS is an incredible experience, filled with smart and enthusiastic people, fast paced and exhausting, but incredibly gratifying to be part of the process that builds the next Ubuntu.

For every UDS, Canonical sponsors a number of community members to attend the event. We are looking for those who want to bring some real insight and expertise in their area of Ubuntu, be it development or community governance. If you feel you could offer this but can’t afford to cover your expenses of attending, you should apply for sponsorship.

## How To Request Sponsorship

Luckily, requesting your sponsorship is pretty simple, and we a simple system to handle sponsorship requests. To apply for sponsorship, just follow these simple steps:

* Go to [summit.ubuntu.com](https://summit.ubuntu.com) and log in with OpenID. When you have logged in, click the *Request Sponsorship* link.
* On the first page, add your location and use the *About* yourself box to tell us why you should be sponsored and tell us about your work on Ubuntu – here you should tell us your vital stats – tell us your 5-A-Day numbers, your work on the sponsorship queue, what you have uploaded, which teams you are in, your LoCo involvement, documentation you have written, any translation work and other work that you have been involved in. When you have done this, click the Next button.
* On the final page, answer the questions and then click Finish to finish your sponsorship request.

All done. 🙂

Everyone should get their sponsorship requests in by Wed 4th March 2009 to be considered. Good luck!