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OK, this is getting kind of exciting, even for wet blankets like me. Here
are my comments:
1. If it's true that weekend conferences are cheaper, let's go with that.
People who want to take an extra day or two can, while the rest of us don't
have to (especially those who won't be sponsored by an employer).
2. Re location: I think we're going to have to go with Andrew's arbitrary
suggestion--whoever organizes gets to pick the place, because we're never
going to agree. If it's on the east coast, I'm just not going to be able to
go, and I'm sure the same is true for people on the east coast coming west.
Personally, I like the idea of Vegas (or better yet Reno) but mainly
because I've heard conference costs are cheap. I'm not even going to
suggest Seattle because, as Boeing has informed us, Seattle is not where
it's at.
3. also re location: any comments on holding it at a college? Summer time,
the dorms are empty, lots of colleges open them up for conferences.
Cheaper? Do we really need catered meals?
4. To repeat another poster: keep it small this year. One track only?
Say, four to five sessions per day?
5. Organization and audience. We'd need to figure out our audience--what
do we want to get out of a session? The basics? A general overview of the
industry? Special advanced topics? The future? Are people going to a
conference because they want to break into a new field, advance in their
chosen one, or just want to learn something new? What do we want people to
get out of each session? Some topics will require longer sessions (2
hours), for others it would just be nice. Do we choose to have just four
long sessions, or do we break it up into basic and advanced sessions? It
would be useful to have a sort of conference-wide direction.
In my specialty, databases, I could see an intro session on database
terminology, tools, state of the industry, maybe a hint of life beyond the
relational model. An advanced session might introduce some specific
segments that will be important in the future (in which XML plays a role),
such as data analysis, knowledge management, knowledge mapping, conceptual
analysis, etc. There's also the whole subject of administering databases,
across a network, across the web.
6. In addition to technical topics, we might add one or two short topics
geared at documenting technical subjects. For example: how do you document
something when there's no GUI to look at--how do you gather information on
this type of product, what does your audience want to know? The difference
between writing procedures and writing conceptual information. Or how about
a developer's perspective. When a developer starts a project, what are
their priorities (it's generally not whether the error message is
grammatically correct)--what sort of back-end concerns fill their days and
why does it seem like the GUI is the lowest priority.
7. Scope--are we just concentrating on computer software here? What about
hardware technical topics? What about other non-computer scientific or
engineering topics? Can we do it all? Maybe we'll need to have additional
tracks--actually three different conferences meeting at the same time and
place?
8. Round tables--how about a round table evening or lunch, where people in
similar specialties sit together. This may be a good forum for sharing
advanced information, and making contacts.
9. I think the attitude we need to have to make this work is that this is a
group effort on the part of all attendees. With big conferences such as
STC, etc., the conference basically becomes a "product" to be sold. That
may be an okay thing, and it may be an inevitable step in the natural
evolution of a society conference. But, at least for this first year, it
would be nice if people thought at least as much about what they contribute
to effort as what they get out of it. Overall this makes for a more
satisfying experience, and when things go wrong or unexpected, people make
it work instead of pointing fingers.
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