Red Hat founder joins the circus

NEWS Known for sporting a crimson fedora at trade shows, the founder and one-time chairman of Linux software maker Red Hat now plans to don the outfit of a ringmaster when he kicks off his latest venture, Lulu Tech Circus, at the end of this month. Half technology classroom and half geek funhouse, the Circus aims to put the enthusiasm back into technology trade shows, said Young. "Attendees that go to trade shows feel somewhat used ... like so much cattle fodder for the vendors," Young said. The Circus is about "empowering consumers. It's about knowledge and understanding." Unlike other trade shows, which focus on a common--and often times narrow--theme, Lulu Tech Circus will be a menagerie of all things technology, Young said. The conference is structured around five tracks, called "experiences," which will each have a specific focus. For example, attendees will be able to learn about how a mobile phone works in the Gear & Gadget experience, how to edit a digital film in the Artis-Teka experience, and how to set up a computer cluster in the Expansive Education Experience. Geeks can learn about next-generation computer processors in the Extreme Computing experience, and gamers will be able to play against one another over a high-speed LAN in Fun & Games. Funded out of his own pocket, the Circus is the second venture Young has started under the Lulu name - a name that's an inside family joke but that Young calls apt for a start-up venture because of its meaning. One of the definitions found in Merriam Webster's online dictionary is "one that is remarkable or wonderful." Robert Lemos writes for News.com