Bryan Cantrill

Yeah, I was going to say, have you counted how many conferences you've been to in your life? No. No, I don't want to do that.

Yeah, I was going to say, have you counted how many conferences you've been to in your life? No. No, I don't want to do that.

What was your first conference?

What was your first conference?

Oh, there you go. Okay. Wow. Um, I think, I think mine was, I think like yours, Steven was a prior to a debug Adam, which is obviously very memorable for many reasons. Um, the, um, it was an internal, uh, the sun had a sun tech symposium, um, the STS where one of these large, but it was an internal conference, large internal conference.

Oh, there you go. Okay. Wow. Um, I think, I think mine was, I think like yours, Steven was a prior to a debug Adam, which is obviously very memorable for many reasons. Um, the, um, it was an internal, uh, the sun had a sun tech symposium, um, the STS where one of these large, but it was an internal conference, large internal conference.

This is the conference where they had had apparently a complaint in previous years that there were too many things for people to pick from. And this is before anything was videoed, which I think is kind of important. Remember when we're remembering that super early conference era, like talks are not recorded.

This is the conference where they had had apparently a complaint in previous years that there were too many things for people to pick from. And this is before anything was videoed, which I think is kind of important. Remember when we're remembering that super early conference era, like talks are not recorded.

You go to the talk, you watch the talk and like, it's whatever you can remember from the talk basically. Yeah. Which is such a sea change in the way we consume information. But they had gotten the feedback that there was just too many talks to pick from.

You go to the talk, you watch the talk and like, it's whatever you can remember from the talk basically. Yeah. Which is such a sea change in the way we consume information. But they had gotten the feedback that there was just too many talks to pick from.

So they came up with what they thought was a brilliant solution where every presenter at STS, this is in 2000, every presenter that was selected to give a talk would give their talk three times in a row, back to back to back. And it is the only time in my life I've done this. This was in Denver. I grew up in Denver.

So they came up with what they thought was a brilliant solution where every presenter at STS, this is in 2000, every presenter that was selected to give a talk would give their talk three times in a row, back to back to back. And it is the only time in my life I've done this. This was in Denver. I grew up in Denver.

And my mom said, oh, well, if you're coming to Denver, I want to come watch you talk. Very supportive mother. And so I give the first talk and they're like 15 people there. And like, I'm presenting something that's pretty esoteric. And I'm like, I don't think I'm going to be able to fill three rooms on, this is the real-time support in the Solaris operating system. And I'd make 15, 20 people.

And my mom said, oh, well, if you're coming to Denver, I want to come watch you talk. Very supportive mother. And so I give the first talk and they're like 15 people there. And like, I'm presenting something that's pretty esoteric. And I'm like, I don't think I'm going to be able to fill three rooms on, this is the real-time support in the Solaris operating system. And I'd make 15, 20 people.

And then in that next middle session, one person shows up. And my mom also shows up for that middle session. And I explained to the guy, I'm like, look, this conference has got this very weird idea that everyone presents back to back to back. You know, my mom is here. Why don't you, let's wait to see if someone else shows up.

And then in that next middle session, one person shows up. And my mom also shows up for that middle session. And I explained to the guy, I'm like, look, this conference has got this very weird idea that everyone presents back to back to back. You know, my mom is here. Why don't you, let's wait to see if someone else shows up.

But if no one else shows up, like it doesn't make sense to give the talk just to you. You can come in the next, I'm going to give this talk again a third time. You know, I'll kind of like go to lunch with my mom or whatever. I'll come back and I'll give the talk to you. And he just says, I don't really feel like doing that. I'm like, okay. And then no one else shows up. And so he sits down.

But if no one else shows up, like it doesn't make sense to give the talk just to you. You can come in the next, I'm going to give this talk again a third time. You know, I'll kind of like go to lunch with my mom or whatever. I'll come back and I'll give the talk to you. And he just says, I don't really feel like doing that. I'm like, okay. And then no one else shows up. And so he sits down.

I'm like, all right, I guess I'm going to give the talk to you and then my mom. And so I start giving this talk and this guy like starts spacing out during my talk. And like, you can't do this. Like there's only one person here. Like the social contract is now different. Like if you're in a big room, you can like space out. That's fine. There's only like one person. It's just me and you, man.

I'm like, all right, I guess I'm going to give the talk to you and then my mom. And so I start giving this talk and this guy like starts spacing out during my talk. And like, you can't do this. Like there's only one person here. Like the social contract is now different. Like if you're in a big room, you can like space out. That's fine. There's only like one person. It's just me and you, man.