tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10748614.post8080292530472199768..comments2024-02-28T12:34:09.691-05:00Comments on FrazzledDad: CodeMash 2011 Wrap UpJim Holmeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869146736565695900noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10748614.post-60147244278734533072011-01-18T14:32:38.569-05:002011-01-18T14:32:38.569-05:00As always, Codemash was well done and enjoyble. I ...As always, Codemash was well done and enjoyble. I would hate to see the keynotes go simply because we had misunderstandings this year.<br /><br />I think the idea of separate lunch rooms is a reasonable one to consider, as there really is a need for a large area where people can sit and talk. The A/V problem was a huge contributor, as I was sitting in the back and couldn't hear a thing. This definitely contributed to a difficulty in remaining interested in the speaker.<br /><br />I posted an idea to the mailing list that was inspired by the MS launch event. I'd love to hear thoughts on that: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/codemash/C_M-uHUaWZcCorey Haineshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06863615802688642075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10748614.post-64716675233804351902011-01-18T09:58:14.208-05:002011-01-18T09:58:14.208-05:00Hi Jim - As everyone said, another great CodeMash ...Hi Jim - As everyone said, another great CodeMash and kudo's all around to all of the organizers. Overall the issues with the food and the talking during keynotes are minor and while you want to learn from each year to make the next better you don't want to over-react.<br /><br />The lines for breakfast and diner were great because people arrived at varied times. At lunch everyone is there all at once and in a hurry to get to the keynote. It's no surprise if you're trying to move 700 people thru 6 lines even at 15 seconds a piece it will take almost 30 minutes. Speaking personally, I attend for the people and presentations so I would gladly eat a boxed lunch rather than lose keynotes, breakouts or even chat time at the lunch tables. Maybe a happy in-between might be to have one serving table with simple boxed lunches and the other two with hot meals?<br /><br />As far as the noise went, yes it's rude to talk during a keynote but responding with more rudeness is probably not the best approach. A simple reminder would probably have sufficed. I'm always reminded by the saying that if you treat people like children, they will act like children and if you treat them like adults, they will act like adults. I teach an after school programming class to Jr High students and they get pretty rowdy but I've never had to chastise or belittle them like that to settle things down. I suspect he didn't intend to come off quite that strong but once again another lesson learned towards making future years even better.<br /><br />Don't let peoples feedback on the 0.01% of things that didn't go perfectly overshadow the other 99.99% of things that went great. CodeMash continues to be a great event and I think everyone who attended is already making plans to attend next year.<br /><br />Thank you for all your effort and time that went into making CodeMash the success it is.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10748614.post-12947963778806602252011-01-17T21:58:19.706-05:002011-01-17T21:58:19.706-05:00With box lunches on Thursday, I would not have had...With box lunches on Thursday, I would not have had to wait until after 1 o'clock to finally get up to the buffet and then they ran out of chicken and we had to wait another 15 minutes while they cooked up more. Also, if you are looking at allowing family to purchase meals would it be possible to make meals (maybe lunch and dinner optional)?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10748614.post-16083181496761291542011-01-17T21:53:34.978-05:002011-01-17T21:53:34.978-05:00The buffets may offer "more" food option...The buffets may offer "more" food options but it doesn't mean it is always good. I would have rather had a good ham or turkey sandwich and chips than whatever that "roast beef" was on Friday.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10748614.post-58146977440981152492011-01-17T17:18:39.683-05:002011-01-17T17:18:39.683-05:00Hi Jim-
It's so great to hear that using Even...Hi Jim-<br /><br />It's so great to hear that using Eventbrite has helped things run more smoothly...we love to hear that!<br /><br />Congratulations on hosting such a successful event!<br />Vanessa (Eventbrite's PR Manager)Vanessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04242133951844676169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10748614.post-39554840011344407452011-01-17T17:01:53.640-05:002011-01-17T17:01:53.640-05:00I was going to leave my critical two cents on the ...I was going to leave my critical two cents on the keynotes, but honestly it's minor hiccup compared to the rest of the conference, which was amazing.mgroveshttp://mgroves.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10748614.post-63403964544784337492011-01-17T14:33:45.772-05:002011-01-17T14:33:45.772-05:00Personally I'd be sad to see the keynotes go.....Personally I'd be sad to see the keynotes go... as far as people being rude, I think a lot of this had to do with not being able to hear the speaker. It took a lot of effort to hear what he was saying so I think a lot of people decided they would rather just talk, which made it worse. I don't remember ever having this problem in the past, even during the less interesting keynoters. I thought TJ had some interesting stuff to say (even if it didn't apply to my career like the other keynoters), but it took more energy and focus to follow it because I had to listen harder. If the sound were loud enough, I wonder if it would've been too much of a pain for people to talk over him.<br /><br />Every year it seems that 2 of the 3 keynotes are really good, so I'd be sad if we only had one and that ended up being the one that wasn't as good, or in this case we would've missed out on either Chad or Scott.Jon Krugerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17967382331944684749noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10748614.post-20652757686197602902011-01-17T13:18:06.439-05:002011-01-17T13:18:06.439-05:00Jim,
From my perspective everything went off witho...Jim,<br />From my perspective everything went off without a hitch. No doubt, this is due to your scrutinizing of details and ability to refactor. <br /><br />Had a great time, can't wait to do it again!Steve Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11799829988971859359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10748614.post-91687972903149357662011-01-17T13:02:11.065-05:002011-01-17T13:02:11.065-05:00Hi Jim,
It seemed that we also had issues with so...Hi Jim,<br /><br />It seemed that we also had issues with sound during the keynotes. I would also suggest that someone from the Kalahari IT staff stick around for about 5 minutes into a keynote to be sure the levels are good and that there is no feedback.<br /><br />--Mike.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13525049694078338154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10748614.post-12513482921315623772011-01-17T12:39:14.058-05:002011-01-17T12:39:14.058-05:00It was awesome. Had a blast and learned a ton. H...It was awesome. Had a blast and learned a ton. Hope you all get a much deserved break. See you next year.<br /><br />ThanksRyan Cromwellhttp://blog.cromwellhaus.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10748614.post-46802882195223583342011-01-17T12:08:07.560-05:002011-01-17T12:08:07.560-05:00Keith's "brusque" message may have r...Keith's "brusque" message may have rankled the crowd but the timing was awful. By the time he lashed out the only thing it definitely accomplished was to embarrass the speaker.<br /><br />--Mark HaskampAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10748614.post-22521896004229306252011-01-17T11:38:52.502-05:002011-01-17T11:38:52.502-05:00Jim and all organizers.
Another great, GREAT, Cod...Jim and all organizers.<br /><br />Another great, GREAT, CodeMash this year. The conference is huge fun and an amazing value. Thank you to you and all the organizers.<br /><br />I'll also weigh in on the keynotes. There are two sides to the issue.<br />On one hand, yes, the audience(including myself) was too loud. The noise level was not respectful to a CodeMash guest.<br />On the other hand, the highlights of the Ford keynote were a dry, bullet-point laden presentation (with no sound the first 10 minutes) and a poorly-timed, childish diatribe by the MC.<br /> <br />As you can imagine, there was much talk about the Ford keynote in the hallways but I heard no one say the solution was to remove 2 keynotes and 1 breakout session. That seems like an overreaction to me. Personally the idea of losing 2 keynotes is bad but losing a breakout session would be awful. In terms of mindshare that's a huge amount of opportunity lost. Perhaps a better, simpler solution would be to schedule the keynotes during breakfast and lunch periods and a reminder to the attendees, at the beginning!, to make the extra effort to keep the noise down to a respectful level.<br /><br />Anyway, it was a great conference, including lunch lines and all the keynotes.<br /><br />Mark Haskamp<br />mrhask at gmail dot comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10748614.post-40575193393979390722011-01-17T11:14:33.524-05:002011-01-17T11:14:33.524-05:00@ 3rd Anonymous poster: we will never, EVER go bac...@ 3rd Anonymous poster: we will never, EVER go back to box lunches!! :)<br /><br />The buffets offer us MUCH better food options. They've always worked smoothly in the past -- we unfortunately had a couple timing issues that caused the long delays. It's fixed (Thursday dinner worked great) and won't happen again.<br /><br />Also, to folks in general: I understand some folks got their feathers ruffled by Keith's brusque message -- but frankly it would NOT have sunken in to the offenders if he'd said it in any other fashion. I'll back him up 100% on how he handled it -- you don't want to know how I would have dealt with it. We'll also work on changing the environment, which is the right answer anyway.Jim Holmeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05869146736565695900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10748614.post-73513189261427836392011-01-17T11:01:50.382-05:002011-01-17T11:01:50.382-05:00One other suggestion whenever Jim Weirich is speak...One other suggestion whenever Jim Weirich is speaking make sure he is scheduled in one of the larger rooms, his talk was packed and was in the small room.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10748614.post-77687037566278383132011-01-17T10:54:42.483-05:002011-01-17T10:54:42.483-05:00Jim - another great conference by you and your fol...Jim - another great conference by you and your folks, I have been to all 5 years of CodeMash and have enjoyed most of the keynoters throughout. While I don't necessarily agree in the way Keith handled the situation, I do believe that the people who where there talking during them to be very rude (and acting like children) and should have known better. I think having separate eating areas is a good idea to keep the keynotes but allow those that are not interested to eat else where. As for the problems with the lunch, I think it would make it easier if we could go to a boxed lunch like we did in the past to help shorten the lines and spread out where they are at to reduce the lines further. Another thing the staff could have done was when the food was ready and the lines were starting to let those that were there go ahead and start that way the lines don't back up as far. Besides this, the staff at the Kalahari do a wonderful job and I think it is a great venue for such a great conference. I hope with the expansion next year, there will be other places to hold the Open Spaces because where they were this year did not work out too well, there was music playing and quite a few people sitting around chatting. Thanks again for all your hard work.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10748614.post-31686536611216272232011-01-17T10:53:00.183-05:002011-01-17T10:53:00.183-05:00+1 to the idea of talkers vs. listeners eating are...+1 to the idea of talkers vs. listeners eating areas if it's possible. I like the fact that you can hear three different perspectives in the keynotes instead of just one.<br /><br />Although the MC could have handled it better, IMO it's just plain rude to talk through someone else's presentation. There were plenty of other areas where people could convene to talk. Possibly, the long buffet lines contributed to people not getting to sit, eat and converse before the speaker started.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10748614.post-42420793169218780022011-01-17T09:59:45.774-05:002011-01-17T09:59:45.774-05:00Jim - Great conference, yet again. Every year you...Jim - Great conference, yet again. Every year you guys do an awesome job, making this a can't miss event for me and many of my colleagues. <br /><br />A thought about the keynotes. I added to the fodder a bit by lashing out through twitter at the MC during the Ford keynote. By his own admission, what Ford was doing with tech wasn't ground breaking stuff, just new for the auto industry. I understand people wanting to talk, and support it. I think the MC (sorry, I don't know his name) handled the talking terribly. Effectively, he treated the attendees like children and admonished us for talking. I half expected "go to your room, your grounded" at the end of his diatribe, but instead was told to "leave if we wanted to talk". Cool, we left.<br /><br />I, too, would be sad to see the keynotes go. I really enjoyed Chad Fowler and Scott Chacon's keynotes. I like the different perspectives they presented.<br /><br />I guess in short, I'd encourage something along the lines of keeping the keynotes. Offer attendees two eating areas, one for "talkers" and one for "listeners". If you are interested in the keynote, go listen to it. If not, have a separate area for attendees to eat where they can talk. Perhaps post signs highlighting the two areas.<br /><br />Again great conference, I'd encourage you to not veer too far from the winning formula you already have.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com