Slashdot Mirror
Would You Attend a Slashdot Convention?
J.J. Lee asks: "I must say that I'm truly touched. I've just read some of the peoples' response to the System Administrators - College or Career? posting and I found it very encouraging that people have posted selfless, useful, encouraging and helpful advice to a complete stranger. I've been a Slashdot devotee for about a year now and I know this wasn't the first time I felt proud to be in such a community. The responses (for the most part) were well though out and had a genuine concern for this young fellow.
Would the Slashdot community be willing to come together for an annual convention or event? If so, what would be the theme and what talks would a convention like this have? Just thought it might be great to meet some people and get to know each other on a non-virtual level."
I've been doing Ask Slashdot for somewhere close to 5 years, and it's been one of the best experiences of my life. I sure wouldn't mind meeting some of the faces behind the nicknames (particularly this "Anonymous Coward" chap), what about you? If not a huge convention, would local
get-togethers be more your speed?
I wouldn't go because:
a. It's probably not near me
b. I'm too poor to travel
c. I don't like other people, especially in person
d. I'm embarrassed enough to be here
e. I'm just lazy
f. I don't want to make myself available for easy capture.
g. I don't have time
h. Other: _________________
Please select your answer(s) above and submit your response.
Pretty much, to me a slashdot convention sounds a lot like communism: if you could ever get it to work the way you thought it was supposed to, everything would be great...but that's not ever going to happen. Slashdot is undoubtedly a great community, and one that I'm happy to be a part of, but I believe that a community like Slashdot could only exist in an environment like the internet and trying to turn it into a more conventional (no pun intended) community would only lead to ruin.
What I'm saying here is that Slashdot is about up-to-date nerd news, and letting all the nerds who come here every day say what's on their mind (even the trolls). If ever there was a convention, letting everyone have their say would have to go right out the window, and then I don't see that it would be much different than any other tech convention. I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade here, I just don't see this working out well in the end.
Some other thoughts:
Schedule it a half a year in advance so that I can book tickets and time off.
Book it in a reasonably-priced hotel, or at least near reasonably-priced hotels (like $100/night or less). I pay for conferences out of my own pocket, which means I never attend conferences.
Pick a city that's an airport hub, and central to the U.S. (Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis) so that airfares are cheaper, instead of the obvious and expensive cities like Boston, New York, and San Francisco. And when considering what's an expensive air fare city, think of flights out of smaller towns, not comparing L.A.-->Baltimore tickets.
In short, do this so that the great unemployed can afford to go, and can make contacts. Don't do this as a moneymaker. I've chaired conferences before. I know what they cost, and I know how much money they can make. I also know how easy it is to make them affordable.
If it works, make it an annual event, and pick the same location/city/weekend each year. We can then plan better, and "accidentally" be at a customer site, or on layover, in that city at the right weekend.
I'm sorry, but how someone could be proud to be part of a 'community' such as what is found here on slashdot is completely baffling to me. As such for most online 'communities' across the internet. How one can feel companionship from complete strangers that you have never met, will most likely never meet; and will furthermore most likely never want to associate with in real life is beyond logical comprehension.
Slashdot has degraded seriously over the years, this sort of 'community' just does not scale. I'm not refering to serving horsepower here, as the software and hardware actually scales quite well. I'm talking about the fact that such a comminity [in a sense] could not possibly scale to the level that you really have personal attention and the true sense of belonging with your peers. Of course, one could theorize that the system is merely made up of many smaller communities contributing to the great hive of slashdot. This is where the problem arises though, is that these microsystems do not generally follow geographic lines. In the real world , communities usually only form through geographical constraints, unlike the online counterparts.
What I am getting at, is that trying to bring real world contact and sense of community involvement over into the real world would more than likely end up becomming a dismal failure. The chances are slim that your microcommunity fits within a local geographical boundary; and if it does, then there may be some serious problems.
One future, two choices. Oppose them or let them destroy us.
"Multiple exclamation marks," he went on, shaking his head, "are a sure sign of a diseased mind."