[GeekDinner-planning] talk list / content

[Johann Botha]

Hi Jonathan                                   >@2007.10.15_12:39:53_GMT+0200

> > I suspect (just a theory) that a big reason for the GeekDinners not getting
> > above about 60 people showing up is because of the talk topics.
> 
> I'm not sure that this bit is true.  We've had fairly decent showings,
> mostly getting the capacity that we stated on the wiki.  Summerville was
> a bit lower than usual, but that's because it was quite far out of the way.
> 
> The talks aren't the drawcard for the dinners, they're just an excuse to
> hold them - people come to the dinners to meet up and "network" and so on.

Sure, but for a newby looking at the page they would guess the general tone
of the dinner and the type of people they could meet by the talk topics.

Some of the people I've asked about why they don't come to the GeekDinner
said.. "and listen to talks about programming languages?" or "just too
nerdy" or "way too technical".. but they have not been to one before.. how
did they get that idea?

 
> That said, I've always actually agreed with what you said about the
> content of the talks - I feel that they "should" be as you describe. My
> idea was that a talk should either be a non-technical view of a
> technical subject (Ian Gilfillan talking about his experiences in
> writing a MySQL book;  How a wifi network has helped the Scarborough
> community), or a technical view of a non-technical subject (an idea for
> a restaurant review website, for example).  This way, people can
> approach them from either end, meet on a common ground, and take
> something away from the talks.

I like your thinking.


> The trouble is, we can't tell people that they can't talk.  In fact, we
> don't want to.  People can come and talk about whatever they want - it's
> all voluntary and participatory, and it's not up to us to try to force
> it down a certain path.

Hmm.. not totally true, we _can_ tell people they can't talk about some
topic that does not fit.. the issue is really just some general consensus in
the GeekDinner community.

--8<---------:- snip -:---------8<---------:- snip -:---------8<--
We reject: kings, presidents, and voting.
We believe in: rough consensus and working code.
                -- Dave Clark
--8<---------:- snip -:---------8<---------:- snip -:---------8<--

I can think of a few topics that would be very unpopular :-P


In my previous email I used the word "guide"..
--8<---------:- snip -:---------8<---------:- snip -:---------8<--
"please help guide the content of the geekdinners"
--8<---------:- snip -:---------8<---------:- snip -:---------8<--

..not "force" (:

 
> What we can (and should) enforce is the format:  don't go above 5
> minutes.  Nobody has time to be "boring" if they only have 5 minutes to
> talk.  This way, we get a blast of thoughts from them, and then it's
> over, and if they were interested enough to tell us about it, then it
> was probably interesting enough to keep us entertained for five minutes.
>  Any longer, and it's a talk that should be given at CLUG, and not at
> GeekDinner.  If somebody does want to present their new programming
> language, then we can suggest to them that they would only be able to do
> it justice at length, at a CLUG meeting.


I don't have a problem with keeping it short. My worry is that the
GeekDinner is seen as a nerdy event because of the talk topics on our wiki.

> Those "talks wanted" (quality assurance, etc) are a bit out-dated now
> anyway - they are carry-overs from the March GeekDinner, and should be
> removed, probably...

Please remove old stuff. That would be a good start.


-- 
Regards        Visit the Frog Shop: http://shop.frogfoot.com/
 Joe

  "Simplicate. Add lightness."
        -- William B. Stout
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