4 ms·

Crowded, to a scary degree when people started squishing into the lobby despite no actual forward progress at the head of the line. I learned some things about

Crowded, to a scary degree when people started squishing into the lobby despite no actual forward progress at the head of the line. I learned some things about herd behavior that day. The talks were largely uninteresting. I got far more out of the meet & greets which happened the night before. Ultimately I voted with my feet and left early.

anigbrowl 14y ago
I didn't see you at the meet-n-greet, but agree with you about the crowd size. I enjoyed the presentations a great deal but didn't even attempt having conversation on Saturday. I had intended to sit with the person I arrived with (krithek2, IIRC) but although he was just a few places behind me in the line for name badges we lost each other in the swirling crowd. I presume it was the event managers who decided where to put the registration table etc.; I suppose they know the location and are used to events like this, but I'd have done that part differently. PS the crowding is also why I completely failed at meeting anyone from Friday night - sorry Lynn from Google (whose last name I can't remember :-/), Harry Yu and Paul Biggar.
- rachelbythebay 14y ago
  The registration setup was miserable, and the scanners didn't work. Who thought up that traffic flow pattern? We're going to come in, cross through ourselves to get in line, then cross through again to get out the same door, when the building clearly has front and side access? Set up a bunch of stations, have a bank style line, and when a station frees up, someone goes to it. Or just do what Fry's does and have someone directing you to the next available station. People come in the front, enter the line, hit a station, and depart out the side door. This has the added side-effect of keeping people from coming IN through that door, which is what happened around 11:40 when people all crowded in because we all thought something was starting. I definitely did not go to join an impromptu mosh pit, but that's what we had for a while there.

anigbrowl 14y ago

I didn't see you at the meet-n-greet, but agree with you about the crowd size. I enjoyed the presentations a great deal but didn't even attempt having conversation on Saturday. I had intended to sit with the person I arrived with (krithek2, IIRC) but although he was just a few places behind me in the line for name badges we lost each other in the swirling crowd. I presume it was the event managers who decided where to put the registration table etc.; I suppose they know the location and are used to events like this, but I'd have done that part differently. PS the crowding is also why I completely failed at meeting anyone from Friday night - sorry Lynn from Google (whose last name I can't remember :-/), Harry Yu and Paul Biggar.

rachelbythebay 14y ago
The registration setup was miserable, and the scanners didn't work. Who thought up that traffic flow pattern? We're going to come in, cross through ourselves to get in line, then cross through again to get out the same door, when the building clearly has front and side access? Set up a bunch of stations, have a bank style line, and when a station frees up, someone goes to it. Or just do what Fry's does and have someone directing you to the next available station. People come in the front, enter the line, hit a station, and depart out the side door. This has the added side-effect of keeping people from coming IN through that door, which is what happened around 11:40 when people all crowded in because we all thought something was starting. I definitely did not go to join an impromptu mosh pit, but that's what we had for a while there.