Please don't do a DConf 2018, consider alternatives

[Adam Wilson]

On 10/1/18 11:26 PM, Joakim wrote:
> [snip]

I disagree. There is much more to the conference than just a 4-day 
meetup with talks. The idea that it's just the core 8-15 people with a 
bunch of hangers-on is patently false. It's not about the conversations 
I have with the "core" people. It's Schveighoffer, or Atila, or 
Jonathan, or any of a long list of people who are interested enough in 
coming. Remember these people self-selected to invest non-trivial 
treasure to be there, they  are ALL worthy of conversing with.

Is it a "mini-vaction"? Yea, sure, for my wife. For her it's a four day 
shopping spree in Europe. For me it's four days of wall-to-wall action 
that leaves me drop-dead exhausted at the end of the day.

Every time I see somebody predicting the end of "X" I roll my eyes. I 
have a vivid memory of the rise of Skype and videoconferencing in the 
early 2000's giving way to breathless media reports about how said tools 
would kill the airlines because people could just meet online for a 
trivial fraction of the price. However, it's 2018 and the airlines are 
reaping record profits on the backs of business travelers (ask me how I 
know). Airlines are even now flying planes with NO standard economy 
seats for routes that cater specifically to business travelers (e.g. 
Singapore Airlines A350-900ULR). The order books (and stock prices) of 
both Airbus and Boeing are at historic highs. There are more 
conferences, attendees, and business travelers than there has ever been 
in history, in spite of the great technological leaps in 
videoconferencing technology in the past two decades.

The market has spoken. Reports of the death of business/conference 
travel have been greatly exaggerated.

The reason for this is fundamental to human psychology and, as such, is 
unlikely to change in the future. Humans are social animals, and no 
matter how hard we have tried, nothing has been able to replace the 
face-to-face meeting for getting things done. Be it the conversations we 
have over beers after the talks, or the epic number of PR's that come 
out the hackathon, or even mobbing the speaker after a talk.

Additionally, the conference serves other "soft" purposes. Specifically, 
marketing and education. The conference provides legitimacy to DLang and 
the Foundation both by it's mere existence and as a venue for companies 
using DLang to share their support (via sponsorships) or announce their 
products (as seen by the Weka.io announcement at DConf 2018) which 
further enhances the marketing of both the product being launched and 
DLang itself.

I have spoken to Walter about DConf numerous times. He has nothing 
against, and indeed actively encourages, local meetups. But they do not 
serve the purpose that DConf does. My understanding from my 
conversations with Walter is that the primary purpose of DConf is to 
provide a venue that is open to anyone interested to come together and 
discuss all things D. He specifically does not want something that is 
only limited to the "core" members. As this suggestion runs precisely 
counter to the primary stated purpose of DConf it is unlikely to gain 
significant traction from the D-BDFL.

Yes, it is expensive, but in all the years I've attended, I have not 
once regretted spending the money. And indeed, coming from the west 
coast of the US, I have one of the more expensive (and physically 
taxing) trips to make. I know a number of people who found jobs in D 
through DConf, would that not make the conference worth it to them?

Something is only expensive if you derive less value from it than it 
costs. And for many people here, I understand if the cost-benefit 
analysis does not favor DConf. But calling for an end to DConf simply 
because it doesn't meet someones cost-benefit ratio is inconsiderate to 
the rest of us who do find the benefit. Nobody is making you go, and, 
since you already get everything you want from the YouTube video uploads 
during the conference, why do you care if the rest of us "waste" our 
money on attending the conference? That is our choice. Not yours.

-- 
Adam Wilson
IRC: LightBender
import quiet.dlang.dev;

Note: Limiting anything to "core" members is a guaranteed way to create 
a mono-culture and would inevitably lead to the stagnation of D. Which 
is why anybody can post to all NG's, even the internals NG.