5 ms·

The hallway chat will be so hard to replicate

ghaff 7y ago
The two biggest challenges I've seen are hallway track (defined broadly) and just engagement/bandwidth. Not that people aren't distracted by their phones while they're in sessions, but it's that much worse sitting in your office watching what is effectively a webinar--assuming you've even set aside the time and bother to tune in. I'll be involved in some virtual conference chats over the next few weeks. We'll see how it goes.
- grogenaut 7y ago
  The number of drunk/hungover/obviously coding people I've seen at tech conferences makes me realize what your saying isn't much different. Your either paying attention and interested or your not. Being there doesn't help. They're just there for the drinks If you don't set aside the time why did you sign up?
  - ghaff 7y ago
    >If you don't set aside the time why did you sign up? It seemed like it might be interesting at the time I signed up. It's not unusual for me to have 2 or even 3 low-priority things on my calendar at the same time. To say nothing of ongoing projects that seem more urgent on a given day and which I don't want to interrupt for some webinar. There's a lot of stuff on my calendar that's either standing calls that I join if the agenda or immediate situation warrants or interesting-looking presentations that I'll listen to on a time-available basis but which aren't necessary.
Ericson2314 7y ago
Covid-19 or not, it's time to formally divorce the hallway track from the rest. We should have more event's whose explicit purpose is to discuss and collaborate, rather than it be hiding other some measurable rat-race ritual.
- ghaff 7y ago
  It works for senior people at small scale. I attend one event in particular that has presentations on a pretty varied set of topics. But, while they tend to be very good, they're really just there to give the event a little structure and there's lots of time set aside for more informal interactions. It's hard to do that at a big event where a lot of attendees really are there to learn the latest features of Product X. And furthermore, I imagine a lot of managers would look askance at a request to travel across the country and hang out for a few days.
  - Ericson2314 7y ago
    Well it would be a smaller event, and there are many discussions to be had about exclusivity and what-not. I might add a lottery-random element so it doesn't get to clubby. But these are exactly the sorts of conversions that many communities should be having anyways.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- egypturnash 7y ago
  I got news for you, the Hallway Track is an important part of any industry conference. Like, I make comics, I go to comic cons, and while sitting on the show floor selling my stuff to whoever wanders by and looks interested is an important part of the whole thing, so’s stepping away from the table to have a meeting with a publisher, so’s dinner and events after the show floor closes. SF cons are like this too, though “making various social connections with other people who have this niche interest” is a big part of why you’re explicitly there. Meet weirdos you don’t have to explain your weird interest to, hang out, have some activities to share but feel free to make up your own fun and games. The organized portion of any conference is there to provide a starting point for some of the Hallway Track, and an excuse for you to leave your normal life behind for a few days to commit to being in the same place as a bunch of other people who do whatever the con’s about.
  - Ericson2314 7y ago

The two biggest challenges I've seen are hallway track (defined broadly) and just engagement/bandwidth. Not that people aren't distracted by their phones while they're in sessions, but it's that much worse sitting in your office watching what is effectively a webinar--assuming you've even set aside the time and bother to tune in. I'll be involved in some virtual conference chats over the next few weeks. We'll see how it goes.

grogenaut 7y ago
The number of drunk/hungover/obviously coding people I've seen at tech conferences makes me realize what your saying isn't much different. Your either paying attention and interested or your not. Being there doesn't help. They're just there for the drinks If you don't set aside the time why did you sign up?
- ghaff 7y ago
  >If you don't set aside the time why did you sign up? It seemed like it might be interesting at the time I signed up. It's not unusual for me to have 2 or even 3 low-priority things on my calendar at the same time. To say nothing of ongoing projects that seem more urgent on a given day and which I don't want to interrupt for some webinar. There's a lot of stuff on my calendar that's either standing calls that I join if the agenda or immediate situation warrants or interesting-looking presentations that I'll listen to on a time-available basis but which aren't necessary.

Ericson2314 7y ago

Covid-19 or not, it's time to formally divorce the hallway track from the rest. We should have more event's whose explicit purpose is to discuss and collaborate, rather than it be hiding other some measurable rat-race ritual.

ghaff 7y ago
It works for senior people at small scale. I attend one event in particular that has presentations on a pretty varied set of topics. But, while they tend to be very good, they're really just there to give the event a little structure and there's lots of time set aside for more informal interactions. It's hard to do that at a big event where a lot of attendees really are there to learn the latest features of Product X. And furthermore, I imagine a lot of managers would look askance at a request to travel across the country and hang out for a few days.
- Ericson2314 7y ago
  Well it would be a smaller event, and there are many discussions to be had about exclusivity and what-not. I might add a lottery-random element so it doesn't get to clubby. But these are exactly the sorts of conversions that many communities should be having anyways.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
egypturnash 7y ago
I got news for you, the Hallway Track is an important part of any industry conference. Like, I make comics, I go to comic cons, and while sitting on the show floor selling my stuff to whoever wanders by and looks interested is an important part of the whole thing, so’s stepping away from the table to have a meeting with a publisher, so’s dinner and events after the show floor closes. SF cons are like this too, though “making various social connections with other people who have this niche interest” is a big part of why you’re explicitly there. Meet weirdos you don’t have to explain your weird interest to, hang out, have some activities to share but feel free to make up your own fun and games. The organized portion of any conference is there to provide a starting point for some of the Hallway Track, and an excuse for you to leave your normal life behind for a few days to commit to being in the same place as a bunch of other people who do whatever the con’s about.
- Ericson2314 7y ago