Re: DebConf 2 post-mortem
On Wed, 10 Jul 2002 03:32, Chris Lawrence wrote:
> > Internet access was great when I finally hooked myself up on
> > Sunday. I was typing summaries of the talks over IRC to some people who
> > wanted to attend, but couldn't make it. It would have been very nice to
> > have received presenter's slides ahead of time, and put them online so
> > that people outside the conference could look at them. Streaming audio
> > (not video yet, alas) would have been most beneficial and we could
> > archive the talks for other people to follow. I know there was someone
> > video taping the whole affair, when can we get these videos up on a
> > website somewher? I think it would have been EXTREMELY cool to have an
> > IRC client projected on the wall during question periods so that remote
> > conference goers can participate. Because Debian is such a global
> > thing, and travelling is difficult for many people; I think we really
> > ought to consider making these proceedings readily accessible.
>
> Cool idea. This may have also benefitted some people at the
> conference itself; I know at least attendee was deaf. It would be
> nice to have someone as the "IRC liaison" or some such.
Also all people giving speeches should be required to submit their notes
prior to the conference. Then they could be distributed to people who need
them (IE blind people can read them on a braille display).
> - We needed official, sanctioned Internet access in the conference
> facilities. Patching together a WLAN with PCMCIA cards in ad-hoc mode
Also it would be good to have a conference IRC channel on
irc.openprojects.net with the topic set in a useful fashion. But this is
more a matter for the delegates to attend to once good net access has been
provided.
> - Housing in general was less than satisfactory. I realize this is a
> dorm, and the price was right (particularly after multiplying by 2/3),
> but I found the conditions to be bordering on squalid.
I think it was fine. Clean towels every day, the toilets etc were all clean,
the rooms didn't smell. It compared well to other university dorms!!!
Whether $CA50 per day is a suitable price for a dorm room is another issue,
but it was certainly cheaper than hotels.
I'd have been happier if the debconf had been in Ottawa immediately before
OLS, then I'd have saved considerably on accomodation costs.
> - Some sort of organized lunch would have been nice on Sat and Sun,
> even if it was only "ordering 20-25 pizzas from Domino's,"
> particularly since the only feasible alternatives were on-campus
> ripoff dining facilities.
Good point. Also better food should have been provided for the main
conference dinner. With $5K provided I'd hoped for something significantly
better than what was provided, both better quality food and alcohol. Also
the main dinner should have included all the things that you expect from a
conference dinner, T-shirt auction etc.
> - Would it be more practical to hitch DebConf to other developer
> events? For example, should we organize a "Debian track" at OLS
> (since the "main conference" seems to be moving to a "kernel track"
> type of situation)?
The kernel conference preceeds OLS. If we had DebConf preceed OLS at a
different location then the non-kernel people who are in the area could all
attend DebConf.
> OTOH, having a separate conference seems like a nice thing,
> particularly if we can continue to have university and corporate
> sponsors who keep the participant cost low. Also, hitching to one or
> two conferences may leave out people in other parts of the world, or
> leave us in a bind if a conference folds (for example, suppose we had
> decided to attach to Atlanta Linux Showcase, which now seems to be
> permanently dead after becoming Just A Trade Show and getting caught
> in the dot-bomb).
We can hitch to other conferences easily enough. Debconf was hitched to
LSM...
> - Should we hold more than one DebConf per year? In Internet (and
> Debian) time, maybe semiannual conferences in summer and summer (one
> each hemisphere) may be better and more timely. OTOH, summer may be a
> bad time for conferences, due to weather; perhaps autumn and spring
> would be better?
What about linux.conf.au? Are they including a Debian day this time?
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