When will D1 be finished?

[Brad Roberts]

On Tue, 12 May 2009, Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:

> The stars are aligning themselves very nicely for a second D conference.
> However, I would like to suggest a few changes this time around that are aimed
> at improving the quality of the conference.
> 
> * All submissions will be reviewed by a committee. They must be presented at
> least as abstract + slides for review. The committee will reject weak
> submissions even though there might be "space" left. No more "I think I can
> slap together something" this time around.

Two or whatever years ago, I was _lucky_ to get enough speakers to justify 
having the conference.  I see no reason to expect that there will suddenly 
be a wealth of them such that proposed talks could be rejected.  That'd be 
a wonderful place to be.

> * The conference should not be free. This may seem odd, but I am convinced
> that a non-free conference will end up being better than a free one. There
> will be a cost that's reasonable but non-null. Speakers will get appropriate
> discounts and transportation reimbursements, which encourages competitiveness
> and also allows us to bring an outside authority for e.g. a keynote talk.

Given the cost of attendance (airfare, lodging, etc), I'm reluctant to put 
additional barriers in place.  But I wouldn't say no to the idea.  I'll 
point out that last year some of the speakers who couldn't have otherwise 
attended were assisted flown in.  What you're really saying is that there 
needs to be a budget.  That doesn't imply cost to attend, though it would 
certainly help.

> * We should put together one or more panels. I personally don't care much for
> panels/roundtables/etc., but somehow most people love them. For the state of D
> in particular, I believe the panel format will be very appropriate.

I agree.  I love panel discussions as they become actual discussions 
rather than presentations with Q/A sprinkled in or after.

> In short, I'd like to hold a real, good-quality conference.

I'm all for this, but I'd quibble about the definition.

Later,
Brad