On Friday, June 29, 2018 11:54:48 Joakim via Digitalmars-d wrote: > On Friday, 29 June 2018 at 11:32:13 UTC, Jonathan M Davis wrote: > > On Friday, June 29, 2018 10:50:52 Joakim via Digitalmars-d > > > > wrote: > >> I coincidentally just read this blog post, that summarizes a > >> lot of my thoughts against conferences and meetups: > >> > >> https://marco.org/2018/01/17/end-of-conference-era > >> > >> Maybe a good first step would be a mostly online DConf geared > >> towards Asian timezones? I could help out with arranging those > >> online talks. > > > > That article seems to pre-suppose that the only benefit from > > conferences is the talks. A _lot_ of good comes from having a > > bunch of the key developers in the same place for a few days > > where they can talk in person. > > It "pre-supposes" nothing, points like yours are specifically > addressed: > > "But all of that media can’t really replace the socializing, > networking, and simply fun that happened as part of (or sometimes > despite) the conference formula."
Well, then I clearly read over it too quickly, but regardless, I think that you're going to have a hard time convincing the folks that attend dconf that meeting in person is not highly valuable, and for those who aren't there in person and only care about the talks, the talks are livestreamed and then made available separated out later. I don't see how trying to kill off the in-person aspect of things makes it any worse for those online, and I can say from experience that meeting in person can be a game changer. It gives you a very different perspective on someone if you've actually talked with them in person, and there's lots of communication that works far better that way. dconf is valuable for both the talks and the communication that happens before, between, and after them. And regardless of its location, I would hate to see it stop happening or stop being an actual, physical conference. Much as I prefer it when it's closer to where I live so that the travel time and expenses are lower, I've gone even when it's been halfway around the world, and I wasn't speaking (and thus wasn't reimbursed), and I will continue to do so. And I hate flying. I honestly don't see how convincing folks to do just online videos instead of meeting in purpose and recording the talks is any kind of improvement. At best, it could be argued that if folks could give their talks from home that the travel expenses would be avoided, but that's not even vaguely worth the loss of being able to have most of the core devs and many D enthusiasts meet and talk in the same place for a few days - even if several hours of that time is spent listening to talks that could arguably have been done from home. If you don't want to show up in person, then just watch the livestream and don't show up. The rest of us actually want to show up in person. I feel sorry for those who want to come but can't afford to (be it due to the time required or the money required), but they wouldn't be any better off if everyone were livestreaming their talks from home instead of a central location that they couldn't afford to go to. Many of us pay to go to dconf and consider the money very well spent. - Jonathan M Davis