From: Nathaniel Talbott <nathaniel@...>
Date: 2002-04-29T15:19:56+09:00
Subject: RE: RubyConf.new(2002) - ideas for agenda

David Alan Black [mailto:dblack@candle.superlink.net] wrote:

> On Mon, 29 Apr 2002, Nathaniel Talbott wrote:
> 
> > Not to burst anyone's bubble or anything, but I've never liked
poster 
> > sessions. First of all, I stink at making posters, and second of
all, 
> > I don't much like reading them either. Could be because the bright 
> > colors scare me, or it could be because I'm not the only geek who 
> > stinks at making them :-)
> 
> My bubble is intact :-)  "Poster" in this context won't 
> involve graphic design -- just a little write-up and 
> willingness to distribute it and possibly be on hand to field 
> questions in a pretty informal context.

Fair enough... sounds a bit different than the poster sessions I've been
to in the past (such as at OOPSLA). Plus, I'm probably the only one who
hasn't gotten much out of those, too.


> > Instead of (or perhaps in addition to) a poster session, I'd love to

> > see a lightning talk session. 
> > http://perl.plover.com/lightning-talks.html
> > (Pardon the reference to the 'P' language). While I've never been to
> > one, it seems easy to put on, and good fun for everyone. Plus it
feeds
> > right in to our inability to concentrate on anything for more than a
> > few....
> 
> It's a very different animal from [my conception, at least, 
> of] a poster session, so I'd lean toward the "in addition to" 
> option.

Yes, it's very different, except in that it lets a lot people get some
face time for presenting something they're interested in. Running them
both makes a lot of sense, since different people like to present
different ways.


> Given the two room/three day format, there are 
> definitely time/space slots for a fair amount of activity 
> beyond formal presentations.  (The description of the 
> lightning session at the above link doesn't do much for me 
> personally, but I've heard the idea mentioned at least twice 
> in the last 24 hours, so I guess there's a buzz about it :-)

See, your attention span is still too long... ;-)

The most interesting one I heard about was when Larry Wall gave his
whole "State of the Onion" keynote in lightning talk format, with his
daughter keeping time.


Nathaniel

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