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

[Matt Darnell]

On 1/29/06, R. Scott Belford <scott at hosef.org> wrote:
>
> Matt Darnell wrote:
> > A little late but here are my answers....
> >
> > Am I going - No
>
> I find your response most interesting and obviously a little late to be
> helpful.  Ironically, you made no such comments after our first year,
> when, let's see, you spoke and were an in-kind sponsor.


Here is where you lost me as an active participant/sponsor.....I am not
going back to research it, but this should be the gist (preface each
sentance with 'I think'....I posted a message on the board recommending a
after action meeting from TPOSSCON.  You said you already had the meeting
and the results would be posted.  All I ever saw was a spread sheet claiming
break even.  As an 'in-kind' sponsor I was never approached for feedback,
would I sponsor again, how would I make it better?



>
> > 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.
>
> When I first began talks with Mark Spencer, I was doing this for you,
> Matt.  You seem to be the VOIP business in Hawaii that should care about
> an Open Source VOIP speaker.  When Mark asked if Rana could attend due
> to some synergies between the work of Softel and the direction of our
> City and County under Gordon Bruce, I still thought that we had an
> appealing speaker for you.



I appriciate that, I have heard him speak 3-4 times in person and at least
20 interviews on podcasts.  I wish you would have asked me the value of him
speaking.   Now a hands on workshop for people who want to run * in their
office that he led would have been of tremendous value.


>
> > 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?  Are they happy, sad - what were the lessons learned, did they
> > gain/savewhat they thought the would?  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.
>
> So, are you saying that you wanted a typical ROI Case Study?  These tend
> to be full of slides, well rehearsed, and, according to you, "Why would
> anyone want to come to a convention just to hear someone speak to some
> prepared slides, or a listen o remarks that person has already made
> 10-20 times already at a conference?"
>
> With respect to your list of FOSS service providers, add HOSEF to it.
> Also - Tim Newsham.  Clifton Royston.  Julian Yap.  Ron Willis.  Kris
> Hansen.  Scott Thompson.  Jim Thompson.  Scott Belford.  Jeff Mings.  I
> can go on and on, Matt.  This is the benefit of networking in an Open
> Source Community.  There are multiple VOIP providers, and, after
> TPOSSCON, the competition will be heating up.


I am remiss not naming Ron Willis, one of my first OSS contacts, and Clifton
Royston.  A directory would be super.  Maybe of those folks will take the
intiative.



>
> >
> > 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.
>
> Do you actually have any idea what the profile was of our speakers,
> Matt?  I fear that your questions belie your knowledge.


I saw titles and copanies, from there I made assumptions.  As did everyone
else.


>
> > 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.
>
> Who has left any conference saying they could not get a seat?  Have you
> ever sat in a conference session at Linuxworld?


Never been to Linuxworld.  I do not want to compare TCON to CES, or IT Expo,
but I have been in many standing room, turing back people, only keynotes.



The WiFi situation was a triumph for the engineering of Netgate and the
> spirit of HOSEF.  We had great connectivity, for Free.  Some people find
> problems in the world; HOSEF finds solutions.


Jim is the guy to make it happen!  It still would have infuritaed me, that
they are so short sighted, trying to nickel and dime their customers.


>
> > 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.  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?
>
> Do you know who Aaron Seigo is?  Full-time KDE developer, paid by
> Trolltech and a Nanakuli Graduate.  Do you know that we had hands-on and
> speaking sessions, Matt.  Both Aaron and John Terpstra could have shown
> you plenty that your company and employees would have benefited from.


I knew that b/c I think I saw it on the Managers list, if someone wasn't
subscribed to Luau or the managers list, would they have known?



>
> > 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.
>
> Do you not think that the CEO of Hackysack might have been intrigued by
> Rana Dutt, Gordon Bruce, Peter Quinn, Tom Welch, or Mike Balma?
>


I applaud your efforts, you are one of the most driven people I know, but
everyone would agree that there was little or no improvement in attendance
over last year's conference.  It is horribly broken.  My comments were an
attempt to help fix it.

It is bad if the CIO of Hackysack didn't come because he didn't think it was
worth it, but a worse sin is them not coming b/c they didn't know about it.

-Matt