Yes, I was at ApacheCon once in 2006 coincidentally also held in
Dublin. Apache conference format was the same as any big technology
conference, held in a big hotel, with some open source "celebrity"
keynote speaker, corporate sponsors (Google, Sun, etc.) having stands
in the common area. And then a few days of sessions, with each session
held by the Apache committers talking about their projects (e.g. a
sample schedule http://us.apachecon.com/c/acus2009/schedule/
2009/11/04 ). I am not sure what percentage of attendees are
committers vs. non-Apache developers, but I think it is more than 50%.
So it is a good albeit fairly expensive way to meet people from
various projects (I didn't use this opportunity to the full extent in
2006 as I was still very new to Apache).
This year there will be still a traditional conference in US in
November (which I am tentatively going to attend and maybe give a
Cayenne presentation), but Apache is experimenting with "non-
conference" formats (e.g. BarCamp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
BarCamp ) - smaller cheaper informal gatherings that focus on more
face-to-face meeting and doesn't cost a fortune for attendees.
A retreat in Ireland is one such attempt. I think another announcement
with more details is coming out soon, as currently the event
organizers are using the registration on the eventbrite site as a
questionnaire on people's preferences about the event details (e.g.
catering vs. cooking, etc.).
Andrus
On Jan 26, 2010, at 12:37 AM, Andrey Razumovsky wrote:
Hi,
When I first got a notification couple months ago, that seemed
interesting.
I sent some questions to those responsible for the organization, but
never
got an answer. Have you ever been on Apache Cons? So can you share
some
experience of what's going on there?
2010/1/22 Andrus Adamchik <[email protected]>
http://apache.eventbrite.com/
I am seriously considering going there. I like the fact that ASF is
trying
to move from official expensive conference to a number of smaller
informal
events. If others want to join we can share a car (although the
place is
pretty close to Dublin, so public transportation seems like a
reasonable
option).
Andrus
--
Andrey
