Howdy folks,
I thought I'd give a quick synopsis on my experience at ApacheCon. I
have had a really nice time here thus far.
I think it would be best to 'report' on Tim Bray's opening for his
Keynote. He wanted to bring relevancy and immediacy to his speech, so
he told an anecdote about an experience he'd had earlier in the day.
Tim Bray (Director of Web Technologies for Sun Microsystems) opened his
keynote with an anecdote about an experience he'd at the "XML at the
ASF: The XML, WS, and Cocoon Projects". Ted Leung (speaker) was
covering Apache FOP, Batik, and XML Graphics, and someone interjected
some information. Ted asked who the speaker was (I don't recall the
name), but he identified himself as a member of the PMC. At that point,
someone a couple rows in front of him introduced raised his hand and
said, I've been working with you for years, and it's nice to finally
put a face and a voice to the name. That's one of the great things
about Apache. People work together for years, and never meet. ApacheCon
gives developers a place to meet. Later on, he mentioned that Apache
FOP just announced a new release. He also mentioned that one of his
clients uses Apache FOP to generate 3 million bills per month.
I was the one who announced FOP's recent release from the TRUNK during
the session. Glen was the one who introduced himself to me. It was
really a kick to hear Tim Bray talk about Apache FOP, as well as a
couple of its committers in his opening remarks. Great 'press'!
Later on, during the "Lightning Lottery Talks", the Apache community
was asked to sign up for a 5 minute impromptu speech on some topic
relevant to the Apache crowd. Among the topics were "Why I hate the
ASF", "Why I hate Apache httpd" and others. I put my name in, to talk
about XML Graphics. I wanted to keep it light, so I told a haiku to
start... I then told the general community that Apache FOP had just
announced it's first release from the TRUNK. The news was received with
many cheers.
Finally, I took it upon myself to 'chair' a few sessions. As you may
know, this pretty much involved just 'being a friendly face' for the
speaker. I also introduced myself as an Apache FOP committer and member
of the Apache XML Graphics Project Management Committee.
On a side note, I met Glen Mazza. It was nice to finally put a face to
a colleague I've been working with for 3+ years.
I hope to meet some of the rest of you as well!
p.s. On a sad note, I was the unhappy recipient of a layoff on Monday.
So I took the opportunity of my ApacheCon attendance to find a job.
Regards,
Web Maestro Clay
--
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> - <http://homepage.mac.com/webmaestro/>
My religion is simple. My religion is kindness.
- HH The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet
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