4 ms·

Essentially all conferences are intended to be a mix of "hard" information transfer and "soft" networking/socialization. Very little can actually be directly ac

Essentially all conferences are intended to be a mix of "hard" information transfer and "soft" networking/socialization. Very little can actually be directly achieved at a conference, and connections are probably more important for ongoing future progress. IMO the article seems more like a standard case where there was some particularly exceptional "green field" days of Ruby around 2002 when everything was shiny and you could do something as important as "first real package manager" overnight. Even by 2007 things had matured well past that, and RubyConf shifting directionally towards what a Dentist Convention is like seems entirely natural.

teddyh 6y ago
> Very little can actually be directly achieved at a conference, The article directly contradicts this. > and connections are probably more important for ongoing future progress. Then why are so many of these “networking/socialization” events held in forms which don’t facilitate either? With darkness, deafening music and copious hard liquor, the amount of socializing you can do is severely limited in scope and kind. (And non-partyers get to stay home and stay out of the loop, I guess.) Regarding Werewolf, it is certainly slightly more amenable to networking/socialization, but all things should be taken in moderation, which the original article argues it had exceeded. And, like drinking, Werewolf is not everyone’s cup of tea; do non-players simply get to stay home and get nothing? > things had matured well past that Had it really, or did Werewolf simply meme-infect the conference population? There is no way to tell without more data.
- esrauch 6y ago
  > like drinking, Werewolf is not everyone’s cup of tea; do non-players simply get to stay home and get nothing? I'm someone who really doesn't enjoy Mafia/Werewolf, but it's just the reality that it's impossible to include everyone: some people don't want to X for any X. Overnight hacking sessions until 4am are also exclusionary. Werewolf seems better than binge drinking in terms of inclusion. > did Werewolf simply meme-infect the conference population The evidence would be essentially all other conferences, which are "bad" in the way the article is griping about and which rarely involve Werewolf. 2007 Rubyconf sounds normal, so it seems like it would have been more productive to try to discuss what made 2002 Rubyconf special rather than what made 2007 Rubyconf not-special.

teddyh 6y ago

> Very little can actually be directly achieved at a conference, The article directly contradicts this. > and connections are probably more important for ongoing future progress. Then why are so many of these “networking/socialization” events held in forms which don’t facilitate either? With darkness, deafening music and copious hard liquor, the amount of socializing you can do is severely limited in scope and kind. (And non-partyers get to stay home and stay out of the loop, I guess.) Regarding Werewolf, it is certainly slightly more amenable to networking/socialization, but all things should be taken in moderation, which the original article argues it had exceeded. And, like drinking, Werewolf is not everyone’s cup of tea; do non-players simply get to stay home and get nothing? > things had matured well past that Had it really, or did Werewolf simply meme-infect the conference population? There is no way to tell without more data.

esrauch 6y ago
> like drinking, Werewolf is not everyone’s cup of tea; do non-players simply get to stay home and get nothing? I'm someone who really doesn't enjoy Mafia/Werewolf, but it's just the reality that it's impossible to include everyone: some people don't want to X for any X. Overnight hacking sessions until 4am are also exclusionary. Werewolf seems better than binge drinking in terms of inclusion. > did Werewolf simply meme-infect the conference population The evidence would be essentially all other conferences, which are "bad" in the way the article is griping about and which rarely involve Werewolf. 2007 Rubyconf sounds normal, so it seems like it would have been more productive to try to discuss what made 2002 Rubyconf special rather than what made 2007 Rubyconf not-special.