Ruby Conf '04 reactions

[Bil Kleb]

I thought I'd wait until the honeymoon feeling died down a bit..

But my reaction is still strong: I came away really impressed with
everyone I encountered.

I have always felt a bit like an outsider in this community, but I
now realize that what I have been feeling is more along the lines
of "out classed".

I have now witnessed the orders of magnitude difference in skills
that Brooks wrote about in Mythical Man Month. I think I'm about
in the middle. I've experienced the lower tier and now I've witnessed
the upper tier. Thanks for making me feel welcome even though
my packet loss is ~80%.

Little conference tweaks I would suggest for next time:

at least for the first day, have everyone /always/ introduce themselves
before speaking (whether lecturing or questioning), e.g., "Bil Kleb,
Aero Engineer, NASA" so everyone can associate names and faces

use a larger font on a two-sided name tag (front and back containing
the same data), and optionally room for the person's online handle

inject some more fresh fruit into the food chain

Are there other conferences like this? I.e., where all the world's best
programmers hang out, or is Ruby blessed?

 

[jim]

Little conference tweaks I would suggest for next time:

at least for the first day, have everyone /always/ introduce themselves
before speaking (whether lecturing or questioning), e.g., "Bil Kleb,
Aero Engineer, NASA" so everyone can associate names and faces

use a larger font on a two-sided name tag (front and back containing
the same data), and optionally room for the person's online handle

inject some more fresh fruit into the food chain

Good suggestions. ++1

Are there other conferences like this? I.e., where all the world's best
programmers hang out, or is Ruby blessed?

I'd like to see a rails working conference where we did nothing but
code up webpages (all levels supported, beginner, intermediate and
advanced.)

 

[Matt Lawrence]

I'd like to see a rails working conference where we did nothing but
code up webpages (all levels supported, beginner, intermediate and
advanced.)

Sign me up! Also, I may be able to offer a few UML systems for people to
play on.

-- Matt
It's not what I know that counts, it's what I can remember in time to use.

 

[Chad Fowler]

I thought I'd wait until the honeymoon feeling died down a bit..

But my reaction is still strong: I came away really impressed with
everyone I encountered.

I have always felt a bit like an outsider in this community, but I
now realize that what I have been feeling is more along the lines
of "out classed".

I have now witnessed the orders of magnitude difference in skills
that Brooks wrote about in Mythical Man Month. I think I'm about
in the middle. I've experienced the lower tier and now I've witnessed
the upper tier. Thanks for making me feel welcome even though
my packet loss is ~80%.

Little conference tweaks I would suggest for next time:

at least for the first day, have everyone /always/ introduce themselves
before speaking (whether lecturing or questioning), e.g., "Bil Kleb,
Aero Engineer, NASA" so everyone can associate names and faces

use a larger font on a two-sided name tag (front and back containing
the same data), and optionally room for the person's online handle

inject some more fresh fruit into the food chain

Are there other conferences like this? I.e., where all the world's best
programmers hang out, or is Ruby blessed?

Bil, thanks for the comments and suggestions! We're taking notes. I
like to think the conference gets better every year. Comments like
these definitely help.

We'd love to hear other suggestions from the attendees of this
conference or those of past years. FWIW, I think Ruby is either
blessed or Ruby has blessed us.

Thanks,
Chad

 

[Bil Kleb]

We'd love to hear other suggestions from the attendees of this
conference or those of past years.

Actually, that was one suggestion I forgot: The New Orleans XP/Agile
Universe Conference had a few PostIt note pads, a few tethered pens, and
a wall designated for posting comments. This was available during the last
1.5 days of the conference for all to see and use.

It almost worked like a Wiki where one person would seed an idea and others
would vote on it and in some cases, even work it into a full-fledged action
plan.

Regards,

 

[Francis Hwang]

We'd love to hear other suggestions from the attendees of this
conference or those of past years. FWIW, I think Ruby is either
blessed or Ruby has blessed us.

I already wrote some of these in 3rd day blog entry (
http://fhwang.net/blog/37.html ) but I'll put 'em here for the sake of
discussion:

+ Rob McKinnon had started a rubygarden page where people could post
info about themselves, but I don't think it was well-publicized enough
or used enough. Next year I'd also encourage people to post their own
photos of themselves so you could recognize them by looking at their
face instead of search for the name tag.
+ Also, if the name tags could have pins at the back instead of being
hung from a strap, that might be better. I felt a little self-conscious
looking at everybody's stomachs.
+ This is probably far-fetched, but if we can find somebody to serve as
an informal translator for our Japanese guests, that would be just
amazing. Maybe a deal where somebody who can speak Japanese and
English, and agrees to serve as their wingman for most of the event
(esp. for any talks), in exchange for getting some or all of their
admission fee discounted? It would encourage western Rubyists to learn
Japanese, at least.
+ Depending on how big things get next year, and if there's one track
or two, it might be a good idea to have a little time set aside for
last-minute talks. I could think of a few last-minute talks I would've
demanded last weekend, if I'd had the option

These are small points, though. The WiFi and power supply were major
improvements over last year, and you can't beat the people. It's the
most inspiring tech conference I go to, and I suspect it will stay that
way for some while.

F.

 

[Gordon James Miller]

Bil, thanks for the comments and suggestions! We're taking notes. I
like to think the conference gets better every year. Comments like
these definitely help.

We'd love to hear other suggestions from the attendees of this
conference or those of past years. FWIW, I think Ruby is either
blessed or Ruby has blessed us.

Thanks,
Chad

I'd also like to thank the organizers again for the labor of love that
went into the conference. The only annoying thing about it was that
after leaving I felt the need to go and rewrite just about everything I
had to take advantage of the new things I'd learned

My one comment about the conference are:

- Having discussion groups on some particular topics would be nice.
There was a lot of potential discussion to be had on things like
RubyGems, Code Generation, and so on. While there was time to have
meetings, and I'm sure that they were held, I'm not socially confident
enough to walk into a discussion and make myself a part of it. Having a
more formal introduction to a discussion might be nice. (I apologize
for asking people to help accomodate my social ineptness )

 

[Daniel Berger]

My one comment about the conference are:

- Having discussion groups on some particular topics would be nice.
There was a lot of potential discussion to be had on things like
RubyGems, Code Generation, and so on. While there was time to have
meetings, and I'm sure that they were held, I'm not socially confident
enough to walk into a discussion and make myself a part of it. Having a
more formal introduction to a discussion might be nice. (I apologize
for asking people to help accomodate my social ineptness )

This is why I think it might be best to have two tracks next year.
That way we could finish all of the talks before dinner, get some
food, and then have more time for discussion groups, lightning talks,
general socializing, etc, after dinner.

But, that largely depends on submissions for next year. And, of
course, how David and Chad feel about it.

Dan

 

[Matt Lawrence]

This is why I think it might be best to have two tracks next year.
That way we could finish all of the talks before dinner, get some
food, and then have more time for discussion groups, lightning talks,
general socializing, etc, after dinner.

I would rather see the conference extended by a day. Also, slightly
better meal scheduling could help, some of the meal breaks were much
longer than necessary.

-- Matt
It's not what I know that counts, it's what I can remember in time to use.