LinuxFest 2000 - Show Your Support

An Anonymous Coward writes: "When you are walking into a tradeshow and the first thing spoken is, 'I hear this thing is a flop,' you know you're in trouble. That about sums up my experience Friday at LINUXFest 2000. I know that there are more Linux users in the Kansas City community than this, and it would be nice to see some support. It would be nice to see a better showing Saturday, and perhaps Slashdot readers would be interested in Emmett's scheduled speech." I will be delivering a keynote, and it would be great to see you there. Admission's free. As far as the show being a flop, I'm writing a full feature on it so you can decide for yourself.

Comments

Re:The Kansas City Interface

[Jeffrey Watts]

Lynx was developed at the University of Kansas.

OLUG member's review of linuxfest

[Klaruz]

can be found here:

http://kong.bstc.net/list proc/archive/June2000/0040.shtml

I was going to go on saturday with another Omaha LUG member, but we both decided the weekend could be better spent doing other things after reading this review.

I wondered how this event would turn out from the start, not much of a website, I've seen no other promotion materials, high entry fees, etc. It's to bad those of us in the midwest have to go to either coast just to hang out with geeks for a few days.

On the bright side, if anybody is in the Omaha, NE area and would like to attend our LUG meeting on sunday, you're more than welcome. See: http://olug.bstc.net/meet.shtml for more details. I think I'm going to end up giving a short talk on zope sunday also.

Are there too many trade shows?

[haaz]

I'm -from- KC, and I didn't go.. Partially because right now, I'd be as useless as a Windoze box at a Linux show. ;) (Just had surgery.) But largely because of one or two big reasons: there are already a _ton_ of shows (IMO), and there are way too many to go to, at least, on a reasonable budget. Perhaps someone with lots of IPOs or outside support (hey, Apple...), but not us. (I work for LinuxPPC Inc., if you didn't know.)

Here are the ones I try to make: Macworld NY snd San Fran, which are in July and January of each year. So, that's two chunks of the year eaten by trade shows. BIG trade shows. And expensive. Anyway, there's also the Atlanta Linux Showcase, which is on my "must go" list. That's in October. OK, January, July, and October.. I did the ALS right before I got married, so I guess that's OK.. but I missed my wife's 30th birthday because of Macworld SF..

...and then there's the LinuxWorldExpos, which I think are in April and... I can't remember if there's another one. So, that's 4 or 5. Then there's international shows: one of ours guys just went to Korea for some show. Ouch. We could go to Europe or maybe Mexico, as there's definately shows in Europe. (I'd be into an Italian show, myself.)

So, basically, the whole year could be dominated by trade shows. Easily. I'd also be exhausted, and that is me in the state I was in _before_ the accident!

IMNSHO, there are too many trade shows. In one year, I think we did two Macworlds, two LinuxWorlds, a Comdex, and ALS. Ohmy. That was definately too many -- and those were just the US shows! Also, we make _free_ software. As in, we don't have M$'s massive profits to pay for us to go to a show and spend billions on it. That'd be nice, but it's not how it is. Zo.

I do feel kinda bad that a show in KC didn't do well -- I'm from there, originally. Wouldn't mind visiting some time, and was tempted to when I heard there was a show that was going to happen there. But, the accident saw to it that I didn't go anywhere (except the hospital for a few weeks), so for us, it would've been kinda bad. Even so, it would've been Another Trade Show, which I'm already pretty tired of doing. I know it's part of the computer business now, but for someone who lives in an odd corner of the US, it's not good. But, that's just my opinion. Too many shows. Yeah.

'nuff said.

(He says after typing for 10 minutes...)

Re:Central Resource?

[Bruce Perens]

Yes, it's somewhere under li.org .

Bruce

Re:Anyone going to LinuxWorld Expo?

[Bruce Perens]

The one in San Jose is huge. All trade show booth space is booked, 50 companies are waiting for someone else to cancel. The attached Hilton hotel has all suites booked. Attendance was very high last time. The failure in KC is not a reflection on Linux, but due to problems with a first-time show, money running short, and too much work for only one guy.

Bruce

Re:Why this event and not others?

[Bruce Perens]

Slashdot does fund itself through advertising. Thus, I doubt they generally promote shows that don't advertise. Nobody posted to technocrat, not that we get nearly as many readers. Better use could have been made of free promotion.

Thanks

Bruce

Only community presence?

[Bruce Perens]

Yes, you were the only community presence left there for most of the week. But Eric Raymond, Larry Augustin, and I all took time to present there. I would have stayed longer except that I was leaving Valerie alone with a two-month-old baby to present at the show. I don't get paid for this either, only my transportation and lodging is taken care of.

And yes, the LUG guys worked hard and deserve better. I do know one LUG guy who took the entire week off from his job to do things like drive the speakers to and from the airport. Thanks, Hal!

Hopefully they can organize it differently next year.

Bruce

Re:Sad, but true.

[Bruce Perens]

I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer. I had an 8PM flight, and a 2-month baby waiting at home.

I would be glad to come to Kansas again, and to other small, independent shows. All I ask the small guys for is travel and lodging expenses. If the show is well-financed and in an interesting place, I sometimes ask them to fly Val and the baby out to be with me. But I don't ask for any honoraria.

Thanks

Bruce

Sad, but true.

[Bruce Perens]

Go to the show on Saturday, the exhibitors especially would really like to see you.

Eric Raymond, Larry Augustin, and I were all there on Tuesday. We wanted to help out another independent show, lest IDG and Ziff-Davis get a lock on Linux trade shows. We did this for The Bazaar too, which worked out much better.

Greg, the promoter of the KC show, is a nice guy and he really cares, but it sounds as if he ran out of money and resources to promote the show, and he tried to do too much on his own. The two local Linux User Groups helped out, but there was little they could do - it sounds as if they were brought in much too late. I spoke on Tuesday morning, to 13 people. Apparently, the talk wasn't publicized sufficiently. Larry, Eric, and I sat at a table in a Kansas City restaurant on Tuesday evening, a $20/ticket event open to the public, and were undisturbed. Few in the area knew we were there. At least it was nice to have the chance to talk with Larry and Eric.

Sigh. I was hoping this would get better on Wednesday. I guess it didn't. I left Tuesday night to get back to the baby and didn't see the rest of the show.

Darn. There's no point in chastizing Greg, the exhibitors have no doubt already parbroiled him. Kansas City deserves a good Linux show and I hope we can make a better one next year.

Thanks

Bruce

Re:Sad, but true.

[ides]

Actually what happend was that Larry's talk was listed on the schedule as being at the convention center, not at the restaurant a few miles north. Anyone showing up at the convention was greeted with locked doors.

As for your talk Bruce, you weren't listed at all.
You were a pleasant surprise, however the first I heard of you being there was when I saw you at the restaurant.

Why this event and not others?

[Stumpy]

Why is it that this event gets attention on Slashdot while others get rejected or looked over? Is it because a member of the Slashdot staff is giving a keynote at the event? That sounds really unprofessional to me.

Re:Why this event and not others?

[emmett]

Why is it that this event gets attention on Slashdot while others get rejected or looked over? Is it because a member of the Slashdot staff is giving a keynote at the event? That sounds really unprofessional to me.

Maybe because I don't want people to walk out of this show saying 'Linux sucks.' I've been the only community presence at this show all week, and that's the way it is.

What's unprofessional about it? I'm not making money from my appearance; The conference itself didn't even get me out there. It was the local LUG that flew me out there and let me sleep on a LUG member's couch for the week.

I'm giving a keynote because I'm trying to help rescue this conference almost single-handedly with the help of the LUG communities. The members of KULUA alone have put well over a thousand dollars worth of time, energy and effort trying to make this a great show. The LUGs were not involved in the planning or infrastructure of this event, and hooboy, does it show. They were not invited to help. As a matter of fact, when the LUG decided to have me out, I called the conference organizer, and said, 'Look. I'll do a keynote. But you let all the LUG members in free because they got me here.' Originally, the conference organizer wanted LUG members to pay for a booth, a network drop, and electricity. Oh, and they were supposed to buy show passes, too.

I posted this for the benefit of the LUG, not the benefit of the show itself. The members of the LUG have busted their asses trying to fix this show for the past three days, and we have made a bit of difference. At this point, the show is free, the hall is rented, and goddamnit, I'm going to have a little party. Join me if you like. I'm sure a lot of people would rather go to a cool party with fun friends than stay home and bitch about the perceived unprofessionalism of the Slashdot staff.

I've gotten a lot of questions, like, 'Hey, Emmett, the show is probably going to be dead tomorrow. Why don't you skip the keynote, hang out in Lawrence and look at the pretty girls, instead?' The answer is, the local community has been let down by this show more than you can possibly imagine. This was the first serious Linux event in a Microsoft town, and they were let down severely. Exhibitors may have packed their bags and gome home because of cost issues and lack of foot traffic. I don't have to concern myself with a bottom line. I'm doing my keynote because I said I would, and I will be damned if you think I'm going to let down the community by not showing up for a keynote.

We've got plenty of free soda left, and I've got some Slashdot swag to give away. Show up. Have fun. Enjoy yourselves. Bitch at me in person about Slashdot, if you want. Just come down, shoot some Nerf guns and enjoy the rest of the show. I'll try to make it worth your while.

--Emmett

Re:Poorly advertised, perhaps?

[Stumpy]

It was on Linux.com in the LUG section, unfortunately I have a feeling that it fell into the same predicament that my LUG has run into many times, the big Linux news sites (even Slashdot) dont want to have anything to do with the events. Which is kinda funny since the people running and organizing the events are the ones that helped give the people running those sites their start. They have lost their sense of community pride and support.

Stranded in Springfield

[Robotech_Master]

Hi...

Well, poopie. I'm down here in Springfield, Missouri...if I'd known about it, I might could have come up today (I work tomorrow & Sunday), like I did when Princess Mononoke was playing up there. But then again, thinking about it more rationally, I probably couldn't have...gas is $1.70-1.80 a gallon, and I'm still having problems getting my money supply (financial aid) for the summer.

Maybe next year.
--

As someone who lives in Kansas City....

[Randy Rathbun]

here is my take on the show. I have not been to it yet, but will mosey (see! I am from Kansas City!) over on Saturday.

Be that as it may, KC has some absolutely horrible shows. I am not talking bad - I am talking really bad. Every year there is some computer show that comes through town run by some outfit from Arizona. What kinds of high tech cool geek toys do they have on display?

Copying machines! Whoo boy! Just what I wanna see lots of. I am not joking either. Last time I went (1999), they had like 300 booths. There were ISPs in five or six of them, Apple had a decent sized booth, IBM was nowhere to be seen, MS was absent so I was unable to laugh at them, and other than one of the video production companies in town having a booth showing all their digital editing stuff, the rest of it was taken up with copier companies.

I think this is probably why folks in KC are not showing up at this thing, to be honest. It is a shame really. Lots of us just don't know what a good show can be like.

Other shows?

[Dr. Sp0ng]

Any big Linux shows coming anytime soon in the near (~100 miles) vicinity of the D.C./Baltimore area or Massachusetts?
--

Re:First I've heard

[Plasmic]

I concur. I live and work in KC, as well and have not hear anything about this event. The web site looks pretty shoddy, and what's with this remark at the bottom of the page?

" ® LINUX is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in several countries"

Anyhow, I might stop by and check it out tomorrow and judging by the 'Speakers' section, there might be some decent material there (someone mentioned a beowulf cluster!).

Unfortunately, due to the lack of promotion, not to mention a "LinuxFest sucks" story on Slashdot, I am having my doubts as to how great this will actually be.

By the way, if anyone decides to have a Linux-centric event in the future and they're considering the use of any forms of the words "festival" and "linux" in the title, there better be some kegs there.. discussions about "Using Linux for teaching" don't quite qualify as festivals in my book.

Oh well.. we'll see.

T-shirt E-conomy

[Wah]

it's what we've come to. Support your local t-shirt manufacturer. You can wear a suit over it if you want to. I won't tell.

--

Re:The Kansas City Interface

[K8Fan]

NewTek was from Topeka. As crude as it looks now, the Video Toaster was cutting edge when it came out. I was in the Kansas City Amiga User's Group and worked at a store selling Amigas when Tim Jenison brought by the first DigiView prototype and the first "HAM" (hold and modify) format pictures. Later, the store (Brandsmart) installed some big-ass car stereos for various NewTek employees in some very expensive autos.

Hi-tech in the Heartland.

Anyone going to LinuxWorld Expo?

[NetJunkie]

We're planning on going and was just wondering how many others were. I hope it's not a flop...too much money for that.

Poor organization/promotion

[jammcq]

I was at the show on Wednesday, giving a talk on the Linux Terminal Server Project (www.LTSP.org).
I signed up for the talk over 2 months ago and although I was accepted as a speaker, the talk never showed up on the schedule. I emailed Greg Palmer (organizer) several times and he kept promising it would show up on the schedule in a few days but never did. I flew from Detroit to give the talk. The schedule posted at the hall didn't show my talk. I spoke with Greg about it, he added it to the schedule, printed it and posted the schedule outside the exhibit hall. An hour later I looked, and it was off the schedule again. He must have made more changes and didn't save the first change. Anyway, 4 people showed up to hear the talk, and 3 of them I already new. Other talks had similar attendance. <p>Redhat pulled out before the show started, Informix left after the first full day. They never got the registration system working. It cost me and my partner over $1200 to go there, and we achieved very little. I'd be very surprized to see a LinuxFest2001.

Re:Poorly advertised, perhaps?

[wowbagger]

Definitely poorly advertised. I'm in ICT as well, and I heard about it via a passing ref on Yahoo, and said bad words because had I known about it, I could have budgeted time and had work pay for it. I went up today, and stuck around to hear Emmett speak (Rob et. al.: You should try to get Emmett on GIS). However, in talking to a few folks there I hope they will do better advertising next year. I'd love to see a Linux event those of us in the Midwest could get to.

The Kansas City Interface

[small_dick]

...about the only high tech thang i remember coming from kansas.

Poorly advertised, perhaps?

[sdprenzl]

I don't think we here in Wichita knew anything about this thing. I know the ACLUG (Wichita-based LUG) would have promoted it and caravan-ed on over there....Maybe better advertising would help....Hey, KC is pretty big IT-wise....

Let's Face It.

[suwalski]

Not to be a pessimist, but I know because I run the technical stuff for shows relatively often. Not all shows turn out as expected. Just recently I did a great show for a local school celebrating ten years of existence, and only about 50 people showed up. Hundreds were expected. This was disappointing.

So, the moral is, don't judge a book by its cover and if you can go out to this show, by all means do. Think of all the work people put into these things.

First I've heard

[TMLink]

I live and work in the KC area, and this is the first I've even heard about this event...that in itself my be a reason it's a flop. I'm sure that there's plenty of interrest here, but it wasn't promoted well (at all?), especially twords the people that would benefit most from it. It's hard to get a good turnout when nobody knows about it...

Re: too much money

[DeepEar]

Yes, any price is too high. Mark this as a troll if you will, but linux is a joke. No one really uses it. They talk about it, but yet, nearly every "slashdotter" posts from a Windows computer. They rant and rave how great "linux" is but they don't use it on a daily basis; note the threads on C#, in which all the karma fucks ^h^h^h^h^h hordes are Windows programmers. Linux is a pathetic joke. I ask you dip shit moderator, are you reading this in a gpl web browser? Sorry, Netscape fails to count. Ouch to you.

Regards,

Tim

Re:Don't go, emmett cuses too #@*%ing much

[Hewligan]

Does this mean Emmett's free as in speech, not as in beer?