[barcampgr] Next Year

[Adam Tauno Williams]

On Mon, 2010-08-23 at 16:10 -0400, Kyle wrote:
> Things I liked that I'd rather not see change:
> 1. Time between classes.  I'd hate to lose five minutes of a class just 
> so I have more than enough time to get to another.  Even with them 
> exactly back-to-back, I thought it worked well enough.

+1   I've been thinking a loud bell sound or something at start & end
times would be a good idea.

> 2. The location was wonderful, easy to get to, and had plenty of other 
> places to go to nearby.

+1

> 3. Classes being scheduled on-the-fly once people get there.  I think 
> having a wiki scheduling system for people to schedule their classes 
> before it starts would eliminate a lot of the spontaneity.

AFAIK, no one is suggesting signing up for slots prior to the event;
just being able to sign up for a Saturday slot on Friday, etc...  I'd -1
a pre-slot-request suggestion.

> 4. Lack of definitive feedback.  This was my first year, I'm not used to 
> teaching much less standing up in front of a group of people, and my 
> first presentation went quite poorly.  I think having red and green 
> pieces of paper to nail that point home would have discouraged me from 
> giving a second presentation, which seemed to be very well received.

Nothing prevents the speaker from giving their e-mail address or
whatever and asking the audience for feedback.

> 5. I'd love to see additional subjects, but not necessarily at the 
> expense of the very wide variety of subjects that were presented that 
> related to web programming.  I know this is subject to opinion, but of 
> anything, this was probably the most valuable part for me.

We had an open room for most time slots, so I don't think there is much
fear of squelching additional topics.

> Things I would like to see changed, largely echoing other comments from 
> the list:
> 1. A third day!
> 2. Broadcasting of schedule to rooms, or at least having the main 
> schedule placed in a more open area so everyone isn't bunching down the 
> hall.

+1

> 3. Wiki for "What I'd like to learn about" to be filled in before 
> BarCamp and printed as a starter for the list

+1

> 4. Projectors that are aimed high enough that they don't go off the 
> pull-down screens.

There isn't much we can do about that. :)

> 7. A whiteboard outside each door displaying the current and next class 
> titles with the classroom number above it.  This may alleviate the need 
> for having the schedule broadcast to the rooms, as the people walking 
> back from the end of the hall can see which classes they're walking past 
> and possibly find their next class without revisiting the main schedule.

Someone would have to maintain those.

> 8. Non-dry whiteboard markers.
> 9. Extension cords and power strips to the middle of rooms so those of 
> us with old laptops don't have to stay near a wall.  This was especially 
> apparent in the main lobby area.
> 10. More presentations on obscure languages.