[LUAU] Am I going to TPOSSCON - If not why?

[Jim Thompson]

> A little late but here are my answers....
>
> Am I going - No
>
> Why? - None of the topics were of much interest to me.  They all  
> had a very
> academic feel to them...not practical.  The price was fine, like  
> me, most of
> us here, I tip more that in a month.
>
> What would cause me to attend TCON-07?  - I want hear things I can  
> apply to
> my business...things that will make me better.  Local CEO's who have
> transitioned to OSS, what were the benefits they thought they would  
> gain,
> what did they think it would cost - what was the result, how did it
> compare?

Wow.  The last thing I want to hear is some CEO pitching his  
product.   You're unlikely to find one that
will come in and talk about their FOSS transition.

However, you *did* miss Rana Dutt,  Founder/CEO Softel Solutions, Inc  
talk about transitioning a whole city/county government in  
Massachusetts to Asteris, something I thought would be right up your  
ally.

You missed a great discussion about DUNDi.   (How will DUNDi change  
your business, Matt?   What if Kuokua, (also announced at the  
conference) enabled a federated peer-to-peer VoIP system for Hawaii,  
with a distributed set of cheap gateways into local POTS lines?  How  
would that change your business?

> Are they happy, sad - what were the lessons learned, did they
> gain/savewhat they thought the would?

Rana Dutt thinks that DUNDi will revolutionize telecommunications (or  
at least voice), and said so during the Q&A.  (I asked what he  
thought.)  I tend to agree with his assessment.   What if this was  
the single piece of information that spurred you to action and as a  
result keeps ComTel in business five years from now?

> What companies in town are offering
> OSS solutions, what are some migration strategies.  Who are the OSS  
> players
> in town, I tend to think of my self as plugged in, and all I know is
> Michael, Hoala, and Vince part time.

Well, you certainly missed the opportunity to meet a few others.

You missed Terpstra talk about Linux in business.   (And he should  
know.)

>
>
> My Comments:
>
> I assume the P in TPOSSCON means the conference hopes to attract  
> people from
> around the pacific, Asia and the mainland.  I am not interested in  
> hearing a
> bunch of 'OSS' intellectuals speak about the benefits, direction,  
> etc. of
> OSS.  I need to know what works, what doesn't work.

Here's the thing you really missed.  You missed Andre Hill, one of  
the lead guys at Novel freaking *expound* on what they're doing, and  
how they're going to make it easier to ship applications on SUSE.  It  
was the most jaw-dropping thing I've ever heard at any conference,  
ever.  Period.

He hadn't talked about it anywhere else, and as he got deeper and  
deeper (in the Q&A) he kept looking at the camera, knowing that he  
had gone beyond what he was *supposed* to talk about.   He freaking  
(and I want to say another 'f' word there) *revealed*, Matt.

And you missed it.

And yes, I think this would be quite "interesting" for your business,  
Matt.

> I think a smaller venue with smaller rooms would be more  
> effective.  Who
> left TCON this year talking about how they couldn't get a seat b/c  
> it was so
> packed.  If the conv ctr is a way to get dignitaries from the  
> mainland, it
> isn't worth it.  As prestigious as it is to say TCON is held at the  
> conv
> ctr, I do not see the benefit.  The WIFI situation would have made  
> my blood
> boil.

Guess what?  The HCC is *cheap*.   They want a small percentage of  
the gate for us.  *C*H*E*A*P*, and its a nice venue to boot.

What about the WIFI situation would have made your blood boil?  I'm  
curious.

>
> I think general conferences are dead.  If I subscribed to a couple of
> podcasts, I am sure I could hear what the speakers presented, maybe  
> not the
> exact same thing, but something similar.

You miss out on all the Q&A, which is where the real communication  
takes place.   You won't hear that on a podcast, unless its a  
'podcast' of
a conference session.

Have you read "Cluetrain"?

> Why would anyone want to come to a
> convention just to hear someone speak to some prepared slides, or a  
> listen
> to remarks that person has already made 10-20 times already?

Because the interesting things happen at the edges.   The meetings in  
the halls, the bizcard exchanges at the end, the lunches, the times  
when someone in the audience asks the tough questions.

> Targeted conferences will continue to be successful, IMO, TCON  
> needs to have
> a target market....OSS in education, OSS in government, OSS in the
> construction industry, OSS - making a smooth transition from  
> Windows to
> OSS.  That has a much better chance of attracting the 10-20 people  
> that will
> attend every yeae. The CIO of Hackysack PA can convince the mayor  
> for funds
> for a trip if they will learn how to save $$$$'s and talk to other  
> like
> minded folks.  A general OSS conference is too.....general.

We're looking at a couple themed "days" next year.

Thanks for your feedback.   Feedback is a gift.

Jim