Added thank you post and Cascadia award post

_posts/2015-10-25-Thanks.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: 'Thanks For a Great Year Three!'
+status: publish
+type: post
+published: true
+categories: news
+---
+
+As we wrap up our third annual conference, we thank all of our speakers, 
+sponsors, volunteers, exhibitors, and attendees! Each year we see greater 
+community participation and record attendance numbers.
+
+We're also grateful to everyone who either invited friends to SeaGL or 
+spread the word through social media. Word of mouth is absolutely critical to 
+the success of our conference. 
+
+Special thanks goes to the staff at [500 East](http://www.500eastsh.com/),
+who hosted our keynote speeches and after-party.
+
+Join our [mailing
+list](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/seagl_announce)
+to get announcements about the 2016 conference.
+
+We'd love your feedback! Tell us what you liked and what you'd like to see next
+year:
+
+- Email <participate@seagl.org> with "Feedback 2015" in the subject
+- Contact us on [Freenode](http://freenode.net/using_the_network.shtml):
+[#seagl](http://webchat.freenode.net/?randomnick=1&channels=%23seagl)
+- [Tweet](https://twitter.com/seagl) us your ideas
+
+See you in 2016!

_posts/2015-10-26-cascadia-award-announcement.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: 'Michael Dexter Wins The First Annual Cascadia Community Builder Award'
+status: publish
+type: post
+published: true
+categories: news
+---
+
+<img src="/img/MichaelDexter.jpg" width="25%" height="25%"/>
+
+The Cascadia Community Builder Award recognizes a person who has made an
+outstanding contribution to the free software movement in the Cascadia region.
+The 2015 inaugural winner is Michael Dexter.
+
+The award was given for the first time on Saturday, October 24th at the Seattle
+GNU/Linux conference and is expected to remain a feature of the local event. 
+Michael was chosen because his work with the Portland Linux/Unix Group and the
+BSD community exemplified the type of unsung community-building work that is so 
+critical to the growth of the free software movement. 
+
+Michael has used BSD Unix systems since January of 1991 and provides BSD and
+ZFS support at Gainframe. He has supported BSD Unix with download mirrors,
+events, and projects for over a decade and is best known for his virtualization
+work. His advice for free software community activists is, "Trust your
+instincts, ask lots of questions, and ignore the discouragement that will come
+from every side."
+
+Michael was nominated by someone who got to know him through his tireless work
+with the Portland Linux User Group. The nomination reads, "Michael has
+organized over one hundred speakers for our two monthly meetings, including
+Linus Torvalds, Bradley Kuhn, and Ward Cunningham."
+
+Michael received an engraved
+multi-tool, made by the Oregon-based Leatherman company, that includes both a
+bottle opener and a wire stripper -- critical tools for every free software
+community organizer. He will also be invited to participate in choosing
+the recipient of future Cascadia Community Builder awards.
+
+Nominations for the 2016 honoree will open next summer.