[CREATE] Suggested dates for LGM 2009 Montreal

[Anders Brander]

Hi,

This mail is somewhat colored by the fact that i contribute to one of
the small MyGraphicsProject.org-projects. I hope everyone can cope :)

On Sat, 2008-11-08 at 13:18 +0100, Dave Neary wrote:
> Dave Crossland wrote:
> > I'd generally agree with this, but I think LGM has been consistent at
> > packing out 3+-1 days with quality presentations the last few years.
> > 
> > I think JP's suggestion about more focus is worth thinking about,
> > though; perhaps we could have 4 days but only one track, so that we
> > don't have to make hard choices between what to see? :-)
> 
> FWIW, I think that some of the best things about the first LGM were:
> 
>  - One track, with mostly invited speakers (no call for participation)
>  - 3 days, with 2 days scheduled presentations, 1 day completely
> "unconference".
>  - 2 hour lunch break
>  - 9am start, 5pm finish
>  - Lots of space in the schedule to absorb conference over-runs, and
> allow chat time between conferences (some people said too much - 40
> minute presentations were scheduled at the top of each hour).
> 
> I don't think that most people are there for the presentations, so I
> don't think "packing out" the schedule is important. It's important in
> conferences where attendees pay a lot of money to go, and need to
> justify the expense to their bosses by pointing out all the great
> content that's scheduled. We're not in that situation.

Well. We shouldn't have lots of presentations, with the sole purpose of
selling the idea to our bosses. But; I don't see why we should avoid
people talking about their small and specialized projects. Some of the
talks I enjoyed most at LGM2008 were some of the very specialized talks.

Even if we're paying for the trip ourselves, we still have to convince
the wife, the kids, the bank and so on, that we can justify spending
$2000 on a one week trip to hear some talks and drink Canadian beer :)

> Those 4 or 5 points were core principles when I was organising with
> David Odin. I missed both Montreal 1 and Wrocklaw, so I don't know how
> much they carried through; but if they didn't I'd suggest reverting back
> and avoiding once again the temptation to cede to pressure from people
> who want to put their thumbprint in the ice.
> 
> I had people tell me they wouldn't travel if they didn't have a
> presentation, I offered a ligtning talk. I had people say they couldn't
> justify travelling for an unscheduled day, I told them maybe the
> conference wasn't for them. I had people insist that hearing a 40 minute
> presentation on their project would be great, vital, a huge boost to the
> project - sorry, but the chances are that most people won't be
> captivated for 40 minutes by a presentation of (say) Art of Illusion in
> the same way they would be by a presentation on design principles, on
> free content & remix, or on Inkscape.

I'm sure we can find people interested in Art of Illusion or any other
of the many smaller projects. Not most people, Maybe not even a minor
part, but they will be there.

> So to the organisers: Decide what content you want, set the tone, don't
> let the weeds grow and end up with a hairy 2 or 3 track schedule with
> presentations titled "MyGraphicsProject.org: Cool stuff we have done
> this year". Make sure all the presentations are useful to most
> attendees, and all the presenters are good.

Please - don't let let everything be about Inkscape and friends. Leave
some room for the not-so-famous projects and people too.

/abrander