On Wed, 5 Apr 2000, Nathan Torkington wrote: > > 1) I don't think getting 200 people to attend a mod_perl conference is > > particularly ambitious at all, especially if it's held in a manner > > convenient for people to attend. 20,000 people went to Linux World in New > > York, and it wasn't THAT great of a show.... If you hold a conference > > where you already have a fairly thick concentration of mod_perl > > developers, and you get the right people to speak, people WILL come. > Right, I think 200 people is very do-able. I think you're fooling > yourself if you think that Linux World is anywhere comparable to a > mod_perl conference. It's beyond apples and oranges. It's peas and > watermelons. My point was simply that if a not-that-great conference with a completely unfocused program can draw 20,000, that a well-run and well-focused conference should be able to come within two orders of magnitude; I'm well aware that we're talking about a lentils-to-oranges comparison. > > 2) What people are saying isn't that we want a huge, IDG-ish production > > with tracks and a tradeshow floor and catered water and soundsystems and > > skirted tables. Several people have said they would rather have something > > along the YAPC model... a small, productive session, perhaps better suited > > for the conference facilities of a University than those of a hotel. If > > ever there was something calling for the "KISS" mantra, it was this con. :) > Right. But I'm saying that putting on a YAPC conference blows the > organizer's mind. Kevin Lenzo, the YAPC organizer, had to worry about > food, tracks, sound systems, projectors, rooms, accomodation, and > printed proceedings. These problems didn't go away because YAPC was > on a smaller scale, and in some ways they became more of a problem > because there was one person doing the organization and he had to > handle it all. I'm not saying that a YAPC-style conference can't be > done, I'm just saying that it's not as easy as it sounds. Oh, I know, I've run chess tournaments (in a previous life) with substantially smaller attendances that have been fairly substantial logistical nightmares, especially for one person. > Frankly, I think your Route of Least Pain (coincidentally also the > Route Most Likely to Succeed) is to have separate mod_perl tracks at > the Open Source conference. You'll get rooms dedicated entirely to > mod_perl, you (or Doug or whoever the program chair is) can put > whatever talks you want in there, you can have your own tutorials. The biggest factor I see as an issue is this: TOSC is $795 to register. YAPC is $75. By comparison, the Spring AMS Eastern Sectional at UMass-Lowell last weekend had $30/$45 member/non-member registration fees (not that I've been in that business for a while either). I don't know why it is that we (as a computer industry) feel compelled to attach grossly overinflated registration fees to our professional meetings, but the ones that don't have them (like YAPC) tend to be better-appreciated. Just because IDG and Softbank jack up their own registration fees as a mechanism for profiteering doesn't mean that TOSC's registration fee needs to be that high because that's a "usual, customary, and reasonable" reg. fee to charge in this industry. I know I should probably send that off to "Ask Tim" rather than posting it here... but in the context of how to organize a mod_perl event, it's a valid consideration. > Ok, I'm going to shut up now unless people actually ask me a question. > I'm sure you all think I'm some kind of O'Reilly stooge. Not at all. I should hope that people wouldn't think of you as an "O'Reilly stooge" any more than they would think of me as a "McGraw-Hill shill". :) ************************************************************ Jeff D. "Spud (Zeppelin)" Almeida Windsor, CT [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [RFC] holding a mod_perl conference
Jeff D. 'Spud (Zeppelin)' Almeida Wed, 05 Apr 2000 11:12:27 -0700
- Re: [RFC] holding ... Jason Bodnar
- Re: [RFC] holding ... Jeffrey W. Baker
- Re: [RFC] holding ... Jason Bodnar
- Re: [RFC] holding ... Vivek Khera
- Re: [RFC] holding ... Jason Bodnar
- Re: [RFC] holding ... Nathan Torkington
- Re: [RFC] holding ... Leslie Mikesell
- Re: [RFC] holding ... Nathan Torkington
- Re: [RFC] holding ... Mark Imbriaco
- Re: [RFC] holding ... Ask Bjoern Hansen
- Re: [RFC] holding ... Jeff D. 'Spud (Zeppelin)' Almeida
- Re: [RFC] holding ... Nathan Torkington
- Re: [RFC] holding a mod... Greg Cope
- [summary] holding ... Stas Bekman
- Re: [summary] hold... Nathan Torkington
- Re: [summary] hold... John D Groenveld
- RE: [RFC] holding a mod_perl conference Jeff D. 'Spud (Zeppelin)' Almeida
- RE: [RFC] holding a mod_perl confer... Matt Sergeant
- Re: [RFC] holding a mod_perl conference Greg Cope