Steve O'Grady

We turn down lots of things that would be great talks, but they have homes elsewhere, and that's not what we're trying to put together.

We turn down lots of things that would be great talks, but they have homes elsewhere, and that's not what we're trying to put together.

I don't speak Gen Z. I have no idea what you just said.

I don't speak Gen Z. I have no idea what you just said.

I'll give you an example. One of the reasons that I miss OSCON was that it was the one event for many years where people from all sorts of walks of open source life would get together in one place at one time. And I tell the story endlessly internally. But there was one year I was there for three days, I think it was, and I had 30 minutes unaccounted for the entire three days.

I'll give you an example. One of the reasons that I miss OSCON was that it was the one event for many years where people from all sorts of walks of open source life would get together in one place at one time. And I tell the story endlessly internally. But there was one year I was there for three days, I think it was, and I had 30 minutes unaccounted for the entire three days.

And I didn't go to one talk. All it was was meeting, meeting, meeting, meeting, meeting, and or bumping into people in the hall. And so there are some events which are... very good for that. The Portland Convention Center, Portland, Oregon, was much smaller and easier to navigate. You can't do that at reInvent. It's too big.

And I didn't go to one talk. All it was was meeting, meeting, meeting, meeting, meeting, and or bumping into people in the hall. And so there are some events which are... very good for that. The Portland Convention Center, Portland, Oregon, was much smaller and easier to navigate. You can't do that at reInvent. It's too big.

In other words, you hit a certain point and the hallway track is not a thing because it's not navigable. But...

In other words, you hit a certain point and the hallway track is not a thing because it's not navigable. But...

i hadn't really thought about that by the portland convention center in portland or portland oregon it is kind of like it's a very large hallway actually you could basically you could walk in there and grab a table outside the starbucks and yeah every 10 seconds or so like somebody would walk by it's like oh hey i haven't caught up with him you know or her in a while It's like, great.

i hadn't really thought about that by the portland convention center in portland or portland oregon it is kind of like it's a very large hallway actually you could basically you could walk in there and grab a table outside the starbucks and yeah every 10 seconds or so like somebody would walk by it's like oh hey i haven't caught up with him you know or her in a while It's like, great.

You can sit down and catch up, and then other people would stop by and say, I've seen them in a while. That's the type of experience for me. Like I said, that's what I get on planes for. You cannot duplicate, in my view. If you can, if somebody's got a way to do that, please let me know.

You can sit down and catch up, and then other people would stop by and say, I've seen them in a while. That's the type of experience for me. Like I said, that's what I get on planes for. You cannot duplicate, in my view. If you can, if somebody's got a way to do that, please let me know.

Well, and so a perfect example is that, so one year, OSCON went down to Austin. Yeah, I was going to say. It was at the Austin Convention Center. Disaster. Totally, totally broke, you know, the hallway track because that place, you know, for people who haven't been there, it's like a maze. It's like Harry Potter. You get on a fucking escalator, you end up like three floors away.

Well, and so a perfect example is that, so one year, OSCON went down to Austin. Yeah, I was going to say. It was at the Austin Convention Center. Disaster. Totally, totally broke, you know, the hallway track because that place, you know, for people who haven't been there, it's like a maze. It's like Harry Potter. You get on a fucking escalator, you end up like three floors away.

You're like, wait, what? Like, How does that, I'm trying to get to, anyway. So that's the thing is, is that some of it is the design and size and scope of the conference, but some of it is the event or the event venue rather. And like I said, the bigger and more complicated they get, you know, the sort of more unwieldy and frankly impossible, you know, the hallway track gets.

You're like, wait, what? Like, How does that, I'm trying to get to, anyway. So that's the thing is, is that some of it is the design and size and scope of the conference, but some of it is the event or the event venue rather. And like I said, the bigger and more complicated they get, you know, the sort of more unwieldy and frankly impossible, you know, the hallway track gets.

Yeah, you know, and that's a trade-off. And, you know, sort of, as you know, we've sort of thought about, you know, we used to release all the tickets, you know, to sort of prior attendees and or people signed up for the list. We cut that in half. So we only release half ahead of the time.

Yeah, you know, and that's a trade-off. And, you know, sort of, as you know, we've sort of thought about, you know, we used to release all the tickets, you know, to sort of prior attendees and or people signed up for the list. We cut that in half. So we only release half ahead of the time.