----- Original Message ----- From: "John Hall" To: "QL Users" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2005 11:09 AM Subject: Re: [ql-users] The QL is an adult computer conference
> Two comments: > > 1) We could have done with more space in the main room on Saturday. > This is a fair comment. I was a bit surprised and disappointed when I saw the main room. It was indeed very difficult for traders and to add to the problems we had more traders than we expected. (But then it was good to see Bill Richardson at a show again.) When we chose the Ibis, we knew this might be a problem, but there were good reasons for that hotel. In particular the manager was very willing to cater for all our needs, the price was favourable and the cafe area between the rooms was a useful facility to have. The activity program was much better attended than we expected. We had 42 visitors at the show and the lecture room had space for 30. For most events it was full. Sorry to Tony about the internet connection. We did negotiate this and I emailed Tony to suggest he contact Roy Brereton. Unfortunately as some of you know I had severe email problems just before the show. My email address had been hijacked by spammers and I found myself on several blocked lists. A few emails concerning QL is 21 did not get through. > 2) I would have preferred it if at least a rough schedule of talks had > been posted, say, in the main room and outside the lecture room so > that people could catch up with what was going on and do a little bit > of forward planning (e.g. "I'll go and do X now so that I'm ready for > Geoff's talk in half-an-hour"). So would I, but it proved to be impossible as I was having to change the schedule the whole time. The sort of problems we had were: 1: We had to wait longer than expected to start the activities until numbers were reasonable. Also Leon Heller, whom I intended as first speaker, arrived half an hour later than expected. 2: One or two presenters needed time to check their machine was compatible with the projector etc. 3: I was expecting to work through the lunch hour, but at 12.00 everyone b*gg*r*d off to eat and did not come back for an hour. 4: Some things happened we did not expect. We thought Dilwyn's (aided by Marcel) presentation of EasyPtr 4 would attract about 6 - 12 people and last for 20 minutes. In practice it attracted a full hall and lasted almost an hour. With interest like that you let it go on and re-arrange the rest of the program. 5: Both UGI presenters, Roy and Dilwyn, asked to be put on as late as possible. Unfortunately by then I had had to abandon any attempt at scheduling and it was too late to put them on. My apologies. 6: I had made promises to Simon Goodwin, which I wanted to keep as he had put a lot of time into his presentation at very short notice. I also wanted to give him time priority as I thought it good to have a counter-balance to all the SMSQ-E stuff. At the start of the show I made an ambitious promise that I would teach any one present how to use the new colours in half and hour using an 11 line basic program and no PE jargon. Unfortunately this was the last item on the Sunday morning, by which time most visitors were on their way home. I had an audience of about 8, but by the look on their faces I think I kept my promise! If people are nice to me I might repeat this colour presentation at the Quanta AGM in Manchester in April and, if I am there, in Eindhoven in March. I shall be writing a full report for QL-Today and also have 8Mb of photo material. However QL-Today has first publishing rights and Jochen can select the best photos to use. I shall not publish the photos until after the next QL-Today. BTW we are short of material for QL-Today so any articles will be appreciated. For me one of the high spots of the show was Saturday evening. After dinner there were some very interesting conversations taking place between unlikely (groups of) people, and as John Hall said to me, "What will come out of that?". We often think of the QL scene being populated by old men, but John reminded me how many people under 50 are QL users. Strange, but the next day after the show was over, four Quanta committee members stayed to have lunch together. We felt it was time for younger blood to take over from us, Best Wishes, Geoff _______________________________________________ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
