[eclipse.org-eclipsecon-program-committee] Great Job on 2008 - Time To S

[Scott Rosenbaum <scottr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

So Long EclipseCon 2008

Thanks to all of you for your feedback and participation on EclipseCon 2008.  Based on the feedback that I got from my completely un-scientific polling, this really was an awesome conference.  Using Bjorn's far more scientific evaluation system data, appears to confirm this:

• 39% of the talks had a 100% approval rating
• 65% of the talks had better than 90% approval rating
• 80% of the talks had better than 80% approval rating

I think that the results indicate that the program committee must have been doing something pretty well. 

The non-scientific approach indicated that a lot of the other activities such as foozball, x-box, poker, running, BOFs were extremely popular.  The response to the free tutorials was really positive too.  I have compiled / edited the comments all of your feedback out onto the EclipseCon wiki here, if you have additional feedback or didn't have time to peruse the individual emails please have a look. 


Hello EclipseCon 2009

For anyone that is not aware, I have agreed to be the 2009 Program Chair.  My hope is that all of you will be willing to help with next years conference.  If for some reason you do not wish to participate on next years program committee, I would really appreciate your assistance in recruiting your successor.  If you can let me know by mid May it will help me to keep things moving forward.  If you would like to contact directly you can email me at scottr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or call at 612 220 6006.

I have started to look at 2009 and have created a new section on the EclipseCon wiki for 2009.  Right now my number one focus is to line up keynotes.  I have started to compile a list of candidates.  If you have ideas or opinions for next years keynotes, please add them to the wiki.  Bjorn and I have also started to brainstorm on the ideas and planning for next year, feel free to add your thoughts.

In terms of my goals for 2009, my number one goal is presentation quality.  I walk out of a great talk and I am energized and fired up about our community and my involvement in it.  I sit through a dis-organized talk where the demos don't work, I am just glad that the wireless works so well.  The amazing thing is that the great speakers transcend differing skill levels, backgrounds, etc. they just have compelling talks. 

My hope is that as you reflect on this years conference that you note the truly exceptional speakers.  How do we make sure that these speakers are back next year.  How do we make sure that these speakers are recognized and promoted?  Bjorn and I are a kicking around some ideas on how we can feature these speakers in next years program, if you have ideas please feel free to share them.

Finally, I will be blogging into Planet Eclipse on the EclipseCon planning process.  While respecting the committees need to have frank deliberations of the merits of each speaker, I would like to make the entire EclipseCon selection process as open as we can.   EclipseCon belongs to the entire community, I think that one of the key benefits of an open process is the ownership that the participants take in the process. 

As Doug said in his debriefing notes: "Overall, this was my favorite EclipseCon so far. I’m not sure if it’s just because I was so involved or whether it was better this year."  My thought is that the answer is yes on both counts, EclipseCon was better because of his involvement.  I hope that we can let all of our participants feel that way.

Scott Rosenbaum