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Would You Attend a Slashdot Convention? 135

Posted by Cliff from the those-mad-large-chaotic-get-togethers dept.
J.J. Lee asks: "I must say that I'm truly touched. I've just read some of the peoples' response to the System Administrators - College or Career? posting and I found it very encouraging that people have posted selfless, useful, encouraging and helpful advice to a complete stranger. I've been a Slashdot devotee for about a year now and I know this wasn't the first time I felt proud to be in such a community. The responses (for the most part) were well though out and had a genuine concern for this young fellow. Would the Slashdot community be willing to come together for an annual convention or event? If so, what would be the theme and what talks would a convention like this have? Just thought it might be great to meet some people and get to know each other on a non-virtual level." I've been doing Ask Slashdot for somewhere close to 5 years, and it's been one of the best experiences of my life. I sure wouldn't mind meeting some of the faces behind the nicknames (particularly this "Anonymous Coward" chap), what about you? If not a huge convention, would local get-togethers be more your speed?
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Would You Attend a Slashdot Convention? More

Would You Attend a Slashdot Convention?

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  • No (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I wouldn't go because:

    a. It's probably not near me
    b. I'm too poor to travel
    c. I don't like other people, especially in person
    d. I'm embarrassed enough to be here
    e. I'm just lazy
    f. I don't want to make myself available for easy capture.
    g. I don't have time
    h. Other: _________________

    Please select your answer(s) above and submit your response.

  • Games to play... (Score:3, Funny)

    by stefanlasiewski ( 63134 ) <(moc.ocnafets) (ta) (todhsals)> on Wednesday June 05, 2002 @10:11PM (#3649884) Homepage Journal
    Hey, at some conventions they have games like "Spot the Narc" or "Spot the Fed". WE could have games like "spot the hidden goatse.cx link", "Who is the most Anonymous Coward?", pin the first post on the troll, etc.

  • Only if... (Score:3)

    by tswinzig ( 210999 ) on Wednesday June 05, 2002 @10:12PM (#3649886) Journal
    ...the people I've berated over the years promise not to try and kill me at the convention.
    • If I ever meet you in person

      I WILL KICK YOUR FUCKING ASS!!!!!

      Lameness filter encountered. Post aborted!
      Reason: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING.

      • Re:Only if... (Score:1, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward

        "Multiple exclamation marks," he went on, shaking his head, "are a sure sign of a diseased mind."

    • Quoth Wally to Dilbert: "You're pretty brave in cyberspace, Flame-Boy."

  • I can see it now... (Score:5, Funny)

    by lexarius ( 560925 ) on Wednesday June 05, 2002 @10:15PM (#3649896)
    Convention center booked for Slashdot Convention. Unlucky town immediately slashdotted out of existence. Story at 11.
  • I need to get out of the office more often and hang out with my own kind. Kind of like a Free-Willy thing.

    Though, I personally would not need the trailer.

  • Sure if it's in Ann Arbor. I live here anyway:)

    Acutally. It would depend on the theme. I go to confrences to learn or to network. What would be the purpose of a /. confrence. Would it be just a get together or would there be topical discussions.
  • group of nut cases?

    Naw...

    but if it happens, make sure that
    a) there's food
    b) there's firefighters to cut down on the need for the asbestos underware.

  • blah (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Sloppy ( 14984 ) on Wednesday June 05, 2002 @10:24PM (#3649931) Homepage Journal

    It would probably be a good vessel on which to piggyback a keysigning party.

    But that's about all it would be good for, IMHO. I certainly wouldn't make a special trip for it. I doubt many would.

  • Mebbe (Score:1)

    by xinu ( 64069 )
    If you can convince my boss to send me.

  • Pros and Cons (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Morgant ( 444847 ) on Wednesday June 05, 2002 @10:48PM (#3650027) Homepage

    Pretty much, to me a slashdot convention sounds a lot like communism: if you could ever get it to work the way you thought it was supposed to, everything would be great...but that's not ever going to happen. Slashdot is undoubtedly a great community, and one that I'm happy to be a part of, but I believe that a community like Slashdot could only exist in an environment like the internet and trying to turn it into a more conventional (no pun intended) community would only lead to ruin.

    What I'm saying here is that Slashdot is about up-to-date nerd news, and letting all the nerds who come here every day say what's on their mind (even the trolls). If ever there was a convention, letting everyone have their say would have to go right out the window, and then I don't see that it would be much different than any other tech convention. I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade here, I just don't see this working out well in the end.

    • Re:Pros and Cons (Score:2, Interesting)

      by ManDude ( 231569 )
      If ever there was a convention, letting everyone have their say would have to go right out the window.

      For many of us we make rare apperiences and spend a lot of time enjoying others banter. I think the mix of activists, case modders, opensource purests, people selling their latest and greatest, negatives, positives, coders, users, etc would be like any other convention but we would be spending our time celebrating all of it instead of selling one point of it and hiding the rest for the sake of X Inc. This doesn't mean we have to all speak at the same time the same way I can't read all of the different types of posts on the same page.

      Don't be scared. I am sure if it were to ever come about you would find yourself surounded by warm, fun, well informed (maybe a stretch) people like yourself. Embrace and extend ;p

  • First Reactions (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Stigmata669 ( 517894 )
    I have to say I am somewhat suprised by the first few responces, asside from those which suggest sex with farm animals. I thought the Slashdot Community would have been a little more anxious to be as sociable and helpful in person as they are online.
    But then it hit me. The Slashdot Community consists of a really diverse range of people, most of whom i wouldn't really like to meet. There's everything from 13 year old script kiddies to 60 year old unix gurus, and everything inbetween. And that diversity that would make a "reunion" a little weird is what makes Slashdot such a sucessful online community.
    There is something for everybody on Slashdot. Although this has been a source of complaint in recent months ("What has happened to Slashdot?!?" and "This made front page?!?") I believe that because of the diverse nature of the followers Slashdot has to be the best source for news and tech talk on the net.
    Tristan

  • Yes, providing you price it reasonably (Score:5, Insightful)

    by scotpurl ( 28825 ) on Wednesday June 05, 2002 @11:24PM (#3650198)
    Some other thoughts:

    Schedule it a half a year in advance so that I can book tickets and time off.

    Book it in a reasonably-priced hotel, or at least near reasonably-priced hotels (like $100/night or less). I pay for conferences out of my own pocket, which means I never attend conferences.

    Pick a city that's an airport hub, and central to the U.S. (Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis) so that airfares are cheaper, instead of the obvious and expensive cities like Boston, New York, and San Francisco. And when considering what's an expensive air fare city, think of flights out of smaller towns, not comparing L.A.-->Baltimore tickets.

    In short, do this so that the great unemployed can afford to go, and can make contacts. Don't do this as a moneymaker. I've chaired conferences before. I know what they cost, and I know how much money they can make. I also know how easy it is to make them affordable.

    If it works, make it an annual event, and pick the same location/city/weekend each year. We can then plan better, and "accidentally" be at a customer site, or on layover, in that city at the right weekend.
    • or at least near reasonably-priced hotels (like $100/night or less).
      Pick a city that's an airport hub, and central to the U.S.
      In short, do this so that the great unemployed can afford to go

      So, american unemplyed can afford to fly half way across a continent and stay in a $100 a night hotel?

      I thought I was a well off student because I can afford a $60 a night hotel once a term (work hard to afford that at about $300pw in holidays)

      I dont know about in america, but in the uk unemplyment benefit is designed to keep you with a roof over your head and food in your belly. And it barely does that. What kind of a pinko lefty place is America when you can blow 2 weeks benifit on a slashdot convention?
      • First, doubt I'd stay more than a night or two. I guess I should have added a weekend as a request (so I don't miss work), and so that I get the cheaper ticket for staying Saturday night at the destination.

        Second, the $100 a night sounds outrageous, until you see that most conventions I get flyers for have hotel rooms between $250-400/night. (Let's see, $500 round-trip ticket, $2,000 conference admission, 4 nights hotel at $250 plus tax to $300 -- yeah, I can afford $4,000.) The room shouldn't cost more than getting there. I can at least take one of the cheapo airport hotels the first night, and then move in to the conference hotel for a night, before leaving the next day. (How come hotels never offer discounts for staying more than 1 night?)

        Third, we're all ultra-nationalist, terrorist-fighting, god-fearing, flag-waving, hard-working, tax-paying, hyphenated-Americans over here. Welfare is evil, and we never take it, and farm subsidies and tariffs don't count as welfare. (You Brits will recognize the saracasm in there, but the Americans won't.) I wish it were more pinko leftist here. There'd be better foreign policy, fewer rights being violated, better, more consistent environmental policy, etc. etc.

        Fourth, I was trying to include students in my overly broad categorization of "the unemployed". So, yeah, I deserve that criticism. I'll make up for it. I wish the conference were run the way the American Association of Geographers (http://www.aag.org) runs their convention (excluding this year's convention in New Orleans, which is hopelessly fucked up). They pick a conference hotel, negotiate a reduced price, advertise the city a year in advance, and list the prices of, and distance to, all the proximal hotels. (I single out the New Orleans conference because this year they booked it late, during Mardi Gras week, didn't reserve any rooms, haven't published the schedule so that presenters and attendees know when they should be there...in short, you're just supposed to book a room for a week at $300/night, wade through crowds of urinating drunk people Mardi Gras celebrators, etc.)
        • at $250 you're still talking more expensive then places like the Hilton, Paddington, London.

          Surely it doesnt matter, most cities have some kind of cheap hotels within half hours walk, or a short tube/metro/subway journey. After 5 minutes search I found a double room for $70 near central park. Does it matter if the convention is at the ritz just down the road? how much do taxis cost in new york?

          Most conventions I read about are less then $150 for a 3 day bash. I guess some guests are greedier then others.

          Doesnt the U.S. have low cost airlines? Out of the holiday season I can fly across europe (to greece) for about $150. Get the right deal and you can fly for about $10-15 each way plus airport taxes (another $20).

          • After 5 minutes search I found a double room for $70 near central park.

            Uhh... you do NOT want to stay in that hotel. Believe me. Really, really cheap hotels in big US cities are not geared towards conventioneers. They're geared towards psychopaths and drug addicts who exchange their monthly disability checks for a cheap room. It's not exactly the kind of place you would want to bring an expensive laptop. Or cash. Or credit cards.

            how much do taxis cost in new york?

            I have no idea, but I assume they're the same in New York as they are just about anywhere else -- figure a minimum of $10 to go a city block, and and extra $5 a mile or so in very low traffic areas.

            Doesnt the U.S. have low cost airlines? Out of the holiday season I can fly across europe (to greece) for about $150.

            Sure. If I plan far enough in advance, I can fly from Fargo, North Dakota to Minneapolis, Minnesota for less than $200, round trip. In fact, during "the holiday season" (which in the US is defined as the "four day weekend near Christmas"), fares usually doesn't go up significantly.

            • Fargo and Minneapolis are close enough that a bus trip wouldn't be much longer (considering checkin times, etc.) and would also be considerably cheaper. Heck, Fargo is practically in MN...
              • Fargo and Minneapolis are close enough that a bus trip wouldn't be much longer

                A Greyhound bus trip from Fargo to Minneapolis takes about 6 hours. Round trip costs about $60.

                A Fargo-Minneapolis plane trip, including check in, is usually about 1 hour, 45 minutes.

                So, flying on the plane saves about 8 1/2 hours round trip, but costs an extra $130. It also avoids the downright squalid conditions on the Greyhound bus, which is a big bonus.

                Obviously, saving a day of work is worth more than $130 to me, and way more than $130 to my employer, but it's an irrelevant comparison. Everyone I know just takes the three hours to drive a car the 200 miles Minneapolis. Round trip, it's still two and a half hours more than the plane, but at least the tiem isn't as horrid as the bus.
                • Gotcha - didn't realize the bus was that bad there (silly Rochester view on things). Heck, I could catch the bus in Albany, and end up in NYC, then catch another bus home (NJ) and it usually was less than 1.5 hours greater than the 3 hr drive (~160 miles and a $3.50 toll)... and considerably cheaper (~$20 Albany -> NYC, $5 NYC to a block from my house in NJ).

                  If the bus takes that long - I agree - screw it or drive yourself. I personally enjoy car trips - it is my time, my space.
        • I've attended the Cisco convention, Neworkers [cisco.com] in the past, and I've been impressed with the organizer's attention to detail. The did a great job of negotiating deals with hotels, providing local transportation to the show, great food, great entertainment, and, oh yeah, lots of informative conferences.



          And for the record, I would definitely attend a Slashdot convention. It would be very convenient if it was held in Michigan, as my company's plane flies there twice per week. But even if it wasn't, I'd make an effort to attend. I'd likely pay for it out of my own pocket, so I completely agree with scotpurl's suggestions regarding reasonably priced hotels, staging the convention in a city that is a major airline hub, etc...

    • Here's another thought:

      Hold it in Canada (Toronto). Why?

      • Flight cost not bad from most of Eastern US.
      • US Dollar currently buys something like $1.60 Canadian. Translation: stuff is cheap. A hotel in the downtown core will cost you $200 Canadian per night, but that's only $100 US. Sweet.
      • Any taxes you pay up here, we cheerful refund. I'm not kidding. People keep receipts and then send them to our version of the IRS. The difference is, our IRS (called the CCRA) actually pays you!

      (sings) Ohhhhhh Canada, our home and native land...

    • Pick a city that's an airport hub, and central to the U.S. (Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis) so that airfares are cheaper
      How about Detroit? It's another airline hub and Ann Arbor (and CmdrTaco [slashdot.org]) are nearby.

      I'd vote for Minneapolis though, I could stay at at home!
      • Agreed. Minneapolis would be great since I could save hotel money, but I'd consider (in order of preference) Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, and Salt Lake City as well. And no, I wouldn't buy tickets today, but if there were some cool speakers (Mitnick, that cool Senator we all like but whose name escapes me, Stallman, Linus, Bruce Perens, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs-- just some suggestions), maybe a giant LAN gaming session, some programming/techie special interest meetings, etc, I'd seriously consider going.
      • I'd vote for Minneapolis though, I could stay at at home!

        I Second that!

        Although, michigan would be kinda fun too... not THAT far from MN and much closer to the heart of slashdot :)
      • Yeah, count me in for Minneapolis, too - there's plenty of us down in Rochester (what with IBM and the Mayo Clinic)...
    • What is it with these hotels ? The most I've paid for a hotel room is about 70$US, and it was exquisite (indoor pool/sauna, 5 minutes from the main strip). I know these things can vary wildly from one neighborhood to another, but even in big cities I usually find something quite nice around 40-50$.

      I was actually hoping to visit the 2600 con this year, just for fun. When I saw the room prices I said "forget it!". For the price of a double occupancy room down there, I could afford a luxury suite in Toronto/Montreal. For crap's sake, I just need a bed to sleep on. I actually keep an inflatable mattress in my car as a last resort. I'd rather sleep in the hatchback than blow 1/3rd of my monthly rent for 6-7 hours of sleep, especially if I'm spending all my time at a convention, amusement park or other. Crazy ? perhaps... Cheap ? I think not, money certainly doesn't grow on trees.

      One thing I like about some european conventions is when they reserve some camping space out in the great wide open. Bring a tent, sleep on-site, don't miss a single event. It's usually free with your con pass, or something ridiculously low like 10$. Best of all, you get to stay close to the others, so you can get together and play UT all night on your laptops, rather than isolate yourself in a huge hotel miles away.
    • Why bitch about the price of a hotel. Most major cities have a campground nearby. My wife and I love using that trick to stay in, say, Williamsburg for $10/day. Of course, you do need a tent, but you can pick up a decent one at Walmart for $40.

      Now, parking is another story...

  • Hell yeah, I'd be there, because they'd hand out karma like candy.

  • Never (Score:3, Insightful)

    by flikx ( 191915 ) on Wednesday June 05, 2002 @11:42PM (#3650252) Homepage Journal

    I'm sorry, but how someone could be proud to be part of a 'community' such as what is found here on slashdot is completely baffling to me. As such for most online 'communities' across the internet. How one can feel companionship from complete strangers that you have never met, will most likely never meet; and will furthermore most likely never want to associate with in real life is beyond logical comprehension.

    Slashdot has degraded seriously over the years, this sort of 'community' just does not scale. I'm not refering to serving horsepower here, as the software and hardware actually scales quite well. I'm talking about the fact that such a comminity [in a sense] could not possibly scale to the level that you really have personal attention and the true sense of belonging with your peers. Of course, one could theorize that the system is merely made up of many smaller communities contributing to the great hive of slashdot. This is where the problem arises though, is that these microsystems do not generally follow geographic lines. In the real world , communities usually only form through geographical constraints, unlike the online counterparts.

    What I am getting at, is that trying to bring real world contact and sense of community involvement over into the real world would more than likely end up becomming a dismal failure. The chances are slim that your microcommunity fits within a local geographical boundary; and if it does, then there may be some serious problems.

    • How one can feel companionship from complete strangers that you have never met, will most likely never meet; and will furthermore most likely never want to associate with in real life is beyond logical comprehension.

      You must be new here. By "here," I mean "the Internet" and possibly "the world."

      Have you never been a part of a physical gathering of members of an on-line community? I've been to a half dozen since 1994, and they've been uniformly fantastic. That's the most common reaction to such events. You should try attending one. They're really great.

      -Waldo Jaquith
    • Which reminds me, we should meet up at the Pie sometime in the next two weeks before I move to Boston.
      • Sure, I'm game. I go to the Pi a couple times a month or so, and I'm on campus every day of the week. Send me an email.
  • Actually I suggest three different conferences
    1. Slahdot Network Administration and Security Security conference
    2. Slashdot Internet and Web Services conference
    3. Slashdot Program and Design conference
    Of course they will all be in the same room at the same time, but that will be just a coincidence. Should make it easier to justify at least

  • Hrm.... (Score:3, Funny)

    by TheOnlyCoolTim ( 264997 ) <tim...bolbrock@@@verizon...net> on Wednesday June 05, 2002 @11:56PM (#3650299)
    All the trolls could bring printouts of goatse man and stick them in people's faces.

    We could mourn Stephen King together...

    Sounds like fun.

    Tim
    • C'mon, you know the trolls would be drawing messages on the bathroom walls. "For a good time, click on a goatse link" that kind of thing. Hey! I just thought of something! We could track down the goatse man and give him some kind of special trolling prize! Make him a special guest of the conference...

      or not...

  • Chicks

  • No (Score:1)

    by fini ( 571717 )
    Ok, Slashdot, I know, it's tempting, extending and leveraging the brand, opening new sources of revenue, and everything. And also it would be cool to have all those people meeting each other. But, no. /. audience is way too diverse and geographically stretched to be a real community. What would the /. convention be, beer bash cum Star Treck with Linux with anti-MPAA activism with cool science and bits of space exploration and the Mars Society on the top of it ? Sorry, but it would be a mess. Conventions are always a mess, but there it's just too much of a mess.

    And also, dear /., no imperial overstretch please please please. Lots of good companies die like that and I want to have you around for a few more years. Other companies do the right thing and carry on minding their core business without grandiose delusions and nicely evolve this so precious core. Typical example : Dolby. If new revenue is what's you're after, you should rather consider selling/maintaining Slashcode to/for companies. No kidding. Internal customized /. could be a great product for knowledge sharing.

    And, if you really want to extend in meatspace, you should rather consider small conferences. With just a wiff of data mining, /. is a great marketing database to identify small highly motivated audiences on specific subjects, and doing things the right way (asking the permission first for instance), you may even succeed to do that without being offensive.

    My $.04678 (inflation is a bitch).
  • we could have an online convention... and call it "slashdot"

    Meeting in person sounds like a high school reunion... brag brag brag blah blah blah and a few lucky winners have sex only to find out that their partners have misrepresented themselves... He is not really a millionair and she is actually the goatsex man.

  • you've got to be kidding... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Bogatyr ( 69476 ) on Thursday June 06, 2002 @12:55AM (#3650539) Homepage
    The moment every panel begins, the room echoes to a deafening squeal of "FIRST POST!", the trolls argue and whine incessantly, the cops are called to settle the Linux/BSD rumble, anyone self-identifying as a Windows admin is branded "tool of Gates" with a branding iron improvised from a hotelroom coffeemaker, JonKatz is hung from the ballroom ceiling and used as a pinata, the hotel's network crashes under the load of Snow Crash-inspired gargoyles walking around transmitting live webcam footage from everywhere simultaneously - not to mention the raging hackwars across the hotel network and the perpetual Unreal/Quake tournament. Noo...
  • I would go to a local get together. What do you loose by going? But I am a broke college student so no big confrences for me.

  • I'd prefer a local event - I know there's other folks in the Baltimore area.

    I think it would be neat to have presentations or workshops that were decided upon in the same way as interview questions...let people submit their ideas, good ones get modded up, and somebody (who? haven't figured that out yet) picks a set from the 5s.

  • Trolling on slashdot might be fun, but only real men can troll ACTUAL face-to-face discussions!

  • If we're going to do this, do it right. :) (Score:5, Funny)

    by Restil ( 31903 ) on Thursday June 06, 2002 @02:12AM (#3650768) Homepage
    Find a small town, clearly too small to handle hundreds of thousands of conventioners.

    Don't make any reservations, and make no effort to alert the local authorities or businesses of any such gathering. Only announce the location at the last minute (but give general area ideas so people can choose to go or not).

    Everyone bring at least one computer, and if necessary a portable generator in case massive attempts at leeching power from elsewhere fail. Wireless networks might seem convienent here, but there would be a certain charm to actually running cat 5 cable all over the place.

    It'll be the first physical slashdotting. And after witnessing such an event, it might give some perspective to what the poor sysadmins have to go through when they're the unlikely target. :)

    Of course, I'm KIDDING!!!!! This would definitely NOT put geeks in a good light. But damn it sure would be funny. :)

    -Restil

  • On the other hand, it would be fun to hurl pies at him . . .

  • Tack it on another convention. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by UnifiedTechs ( 100743 ) on Thursday June 06, 2002 @04:01AM (#3650989) Homepage
    Why not hold a mini convention the same weekend as a bigger convention we are lickly to be at anyways? Didn't OSDN have a party the day of the linux convention in San Fran 2 or 3 years ago? I remember something like that, well I remember alot of free booze the rest is blurry....

    Anyways hold a get together one of the days of linux world, everyone would be in town anyways.(And for some people the company picks up the tab)

  • The If I ever meet you in real life I will kick your ass! trolls Ive seen would suddenly take on a new meaning.

  • Themes. (Score:5, Funny)

    by saintlupus ( 227599 ) on Thursday June 06, 2002 @07:43AM (#3651421)
    If so, what would be the theme and what talks would a convention like this have?

    1) JonKatz needs a good cock-punching.

    2) Why he needs it, cock-punching techniques for the new post-Columbine and post-9/11 world, the globalization of cock-punching, cock-punching from the middle east with a commodore 64...

    --saint
  • just to see Cowboy Neal and find what poll option there is for him that time. (I would, however, be disappointed if the poll sucks... so think about that)
  • Although I am in NZ, I wouldn't hesitate to come up for a long weekend for a /. meeting. Count me in...

    D

  • Ok, I'm not being fake or anything here, but I had a devil of a time trying to find enough to do in Vegas last year at Comdex aside from gambling. (and don't try to tell me all of you guys are any different.) Besides, a meal is expensable, but a $100 straight up on #17 black is definitely not (at least according to our CFO.)

    At least at a slashdot show, there would be plenty of fun things to do, and I wouldn't have those IBM quacks trying to shoo me off their laptop-internet-connection even though I'd just walked up to it. Sheesh! can't a geek check his mail?

    I like the idea of running the convention parallel with another one.. That way, I can make it a legit business expense!

    Alvin...
  • ...and I'd just as soon keep it that way.

  • No (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Etyenne ( 4915 ) on Thursday June 06, 2002 @08:51AM (#3651668)

    Four years ago, I would have answered a resounding "Yes!". Today, I would answer an uninterested no.

    Slashdot has becomed the shadow of it's former self; it is now a little more than a news outlet for me. It was'nt always the case. It had been a real community a few years ago. Notice my UID; I have been reading Slashdot for a long time ... back when CmdrTaco was actually taking part in the discussion.

    If you want to see a real community in action, I suggest you check out Kuro5hin [kuro5hin.org] for the political/social stuff and ArsTechnica discussion forum [infopop.net] for the technical stuff. These are real community in my mind; not glorified news outlet. They are not the only one; just two good examples.

    • I'll have to agree with you. While my UID is almost double yours (or it is, too lazy too actually look), I've been around long enough to know that a convention would not be the same fun as say a BBS get together in the old days. It was possible back then to actually know everybody on the board.

      Plus, I recall sitting in the spare bedroom of many a sysop looking at the boxes of 5 1/4 floppy disks of games and more games. Unless CmdrTaco is going to let me in his house AND take me to the hosting location, I'm really not interested.
    • I agree w/ you for the most part (hey we have very close UIDs).

      But k5? Yuck, what a bunch of pretentious, self-righteous pricks over there. (not everyone, of course, but a lot of them)

      • Re:No (Score:1)

        by iago ( 4917 )
        I prefer to use the term 'pseudo-intellectual' extremists for the K5 folks.

        But shit, thats just me.

        Hey, its another 49xx user!

    • Re:No (Score:2)

      by Peale ( 9155 )
      I, too, have a low SDID, and would agree with you. They're simply too busy counting all that VAL money.

  • You'll need a draw, something like free beer and a chance to win an uber-karma account with +3 for posts.

    Also, do you have any idea of what goes on down Score: -1 and Score: 0 ? I only slum down there when I moderate.

    Let me tell you, some of those posters give me the creeps.

    I don't think I'd want to risk meeting them in person.

    You'll definitely need some bouncers at the door.

  • Maybe... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Telecommando ( 513768 ) on Thursday June 06, 2002 @09:15AM (#3651820)
    Can I attend the same way I usually read Slashdot, in my underwear at 5AM with a cup of coffee in my hand?

    On second thought, maybe a virtual conference would be a better idea.

    • wow, that would be one huge sausage party...there would probably only be Kathleen Fent, and a handful of girls in attendance...

    • maybe a special VIP room for people who have hit the 50 point karma cap...

    • instead of wearing name tags, we could all wear tags with our login name (or AC), and our slashdot id...

    • maybe we get a couple of karma points just for showing up...

    • least attended event of the show: Jon Katz lecture on the post 9/11 ramifications of karma whoring...

    • the bad part though...CowboyNeal would almost certainly be a dissapointment in person....
    • >instead of wearing name tags, we could all wear tags with our login name (or AC), and our slashdot id..

      It is important that the cards have the ID# on them, otherwise we might never be able to figure out who is the real Bruce Perens ;-)
    • maybe a special VIP room for people who have hit the 50 point karma cap...

      That'd have to be a pretty big room.

  • I'm guessing not. Unless I happened to be in the area at the time. And it was free. And there wasn't anything better to be doing at the time, like stare at my toes.

    Honestly, I enjoy Slashdot: The Website quite a bit. I also find the idea of Slashdot: The Convention to be utterly terrifying.

  • Yes. (Score:3, Funny)

    by bellings ( 137948 ) on Thursday June 06, 2002 @10:51AM (#3652384)
    I will most definitely attend.

    I trust that VA Software will reserve thousands of rooms at an expensive hotel, and reserve an expensive convention hall for the event. Also, I hope that VA Software spends tens of thousands of dollars on expensive, nearly nude booth babes, and pays for expensive and interesting guest speakers. It would be cool if there was some expensive entertainment as well -- some modern bands would be great. And I hope there's some really expensive, cool swag given away. Oh, and I hope VA Linux charters some planes as well, flying from most major cities in the US and the rest of the world.

    Uhh... this is going to be entirely free, isn't it? You see, like most of the people who read Slashdot, I'm only 15 years old, and I work at McDonalds. I don't really have any money.
  • So that they can flame me in person ??
  • ...is to get involved more in local geek-related events. Just last week I went to the UK Palm user Group meeting and had a great time. Except that for once I felt I didn't have enough gadgets on my belt... ;-)

    Head off to these, support them, and while you're there mention slashdot if you like.

    I suspect thought that a slashdot meeting in meatspace might kinda miss the point of an on-line community if you see what you mean.

    One thing though, it is sooo wierd introducing yourself with your nick instead of your real name.

  • See, we used to be unable to share information with and get opinions from collegues easily, so we'd all get together once a year to have a chance to interact with our peers.

    Now, there's the Internet. We get to interact with our peers on a daily basis. Slashdot is a good place to do this WRT technology news.

    Of course there are still conferences around, but most of them focus on in-depth sessions around narrow subjects. You can't do this well on the Internet, often because you're distracted, and often because the people who know are too busy to write about it. These conferences have increasingly fewer survey sessions, since the organizers know you've already read about that stuff on the Internet. You also have a networking benefit, since you get to meet others in your field face-to-face.

    So, what are the in-depth sessions going to be at a Slashdot conference? Yeah. So, that leaves you with the ability to network with other people who probably aren't in your field. (What they have in common with you are that they read news.)

    Therefore, the whole event devolves to the after-conference party. So, just do that. Have a Slashdot Party. Setup monthly parties in various locals, like the Mozilla parties or 2600 meetings. Interested people will go. But, outside of Woodstock, most people won't travel very far for a party.
  • I'd like to meet some Slashers. But I was hoping it would take the form of a convention or something. (Break off into related groups. Debate, talk.) Something formal like.

    In this part of the country, a local meet would probably turn out to be kinda lame. [Central US]

    What would be even better is if it was something educational and related to my work (Solaris admin) that I could convince the company to send me to.

    Yeah, I'd definately like to do a Slash thing.
  • I have always thought it would be good to have regional "Slashdot gatherings" held in low-cost hotels in low-cost places. I speak at LUGs fairly frequently, and most of the Slashdot readers I've met in person were good people, well worth knowing.

    The ideal would be one-day or two-day things, probably on Saturday only or Friday/Saturday, not too intense, all in one room, with some sort of minor door charge if we can't get corporate sponsors to pick up the tab, plus whatever the hotel we choose charges for supper for those who want to have supper as a group Friday evening.

    The schmoozing and meeting/greeting would really be the big attraction, with everything else secondary. Lots of places to sit and chat, that sort of thing. Mucho network access, preferably both wired and wireless, go for an attendance limit of 300 or fewer so it's convivial instead of showlike.

    - Robin
  • In Philadelphia we have a Folk Festival that has been running for 40 years. Bascially 40,000 pile onto a farm for a long weekend. Since its in the middle of po-dunk PA, a few thousand folks camp in the field Next door. (Trailers and RV's are allowed.)

    I mean, pop up the folk singers and toss up a few talking heads. Replace the smootie stand with some ultra-caffinated beverages, and throw up some wireless internet (oh wait, they already do that...) and you have something cheap and OH so scalable.

    Special discount for folks who try to pass their hatchbacks off as "Heavy Camping".

  • This is a brilliant idea. Why hasn't it been suggested so gracefully before?

    I think we should try an annual Slashdot Convention in rotating cities so that different people can go each year (face it, air travel is expensive and we live in a big country!).

    But, after the annual OFFICIAL convention, smaller local conventions should be held so that what was shared at the larger convention can be shared to all those that couldn't go.

    This could become like a fraternity with smalled chapters in each major metro area or region.

    Let's do it!
  • I've been doing Ask Slashdot for somewhere close to 5 years....

    No, you haven't. Slashdot was first announced in late 1997. I can't remember exactly when, but at least I know the year. I was reading Chips n Dips prior to that.

    Ask Slashdot didn't appear as a regular feature until considerably later.

  • I discussed this with a few friends a long time ago about how cool it would be if we could meet some of the people ehind slashdot kinda like Defcon.

    alas, we never thought to post it I guess cause we felt like nobody would give a hoot.

    looks like we were wrong

    so yeah, organize it, I can guarantee 5 people from ohio!

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