Re: "Breaking Cliques at Events"
On Sun, Dec 10, 2017 at 04:23:01PM +0000, Chris Lamb wrote:
> Hi -discuss,
>
> I came across this recently…
>
> http://ericholscher.com/blog/2017/dec/2/breaking-cliques-at-events/
>
> In particular...
>
> Most events develop an “insiders” group who's been going for a long
> time. These groups tend to feel like exclusionary cliques for first-
> time attendees, and actively hurt the community's goal of inclusion.
>
> I'd like to propose a simple rule that we have at the events I run,
> which I think makes inclusion easier for everyone.
>
> Leading to:
>
> The rule is: For every year you have attended the event, you should
> try to meet that many new people each day.
I've been to DebConf since 2005, and missed only two instances (so,
that's 11 editions). There are usually 14 days of DebConf and DebCamp,
and I often attend both (I didn't this year, though).
14 * 11 = 154.
There simply aren't that many new people in a given DebConf for me, so
if that rule was going to be a requirement for people to attend DebConf,
I wouldn't be allowed to attend DebConf anymore ;-)
I do subscribe to the "try to meet new people" idea, though. In fact, I
make it a point to try and have lunch with a group of people I don't
know yet at each DebConf at least once a week. Not every lunchtime (I do
occasionally want to eat with friends etc), but at least that often,
sometimes more. I find that just going "can I join you guys" is an
excellent ice breaker, followed by "What do you do in Debian?", and it
has led to some of the best conversations I've had at debconfs.
I think meeting people is something we should encourage, but I'm not
sure if what I do is necessarily the best thing to encourage.
--
Could you people please use IRC like normal people?!?
-- Amaya Rodrigo Sastre, trying to quiet down the buzz in the DebConf 2008
Hacklab
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