BOF schedules [was Re: User demands]

[Ruth Milner <rmilner@aoc.nrao.edu>]

Esther Filderman wrote:

> [Having the reception at the Museum of Flight was nice, but it cut into
> available BOF times, causing too many good BOFs to be at the same time. ]

Receptions have always been exclusive on the schedule, and nearly always
held somewhere else, at all the computer conferences I've ever been to
(not just LISA). I think the point is to get everyone together for a purely
social event. I for one would be really peeved if BOFs I was interested in
were scheduled at the same time as the reception.

I do agree that there doesn't seem to be enough BOF time, though, really
only 2.5 evenings. There were lots of rooms available this year, and I
don't think they were ever all taken, but that many in parallel does make
it difficult to choose. There are more hostil^H^H^Hpitality suites than
there used to be, too, mostly confined to the same evenings.

So, what to do? The trouble is that a fair number of LISA attendees (what
fraction?) don't come for tutorials/workshops, so starting BOFs sooner
misses people; and many leave on Friday, so Friday evening is even worse
(plus those who are left are conferenced out by then anyway). What about
lunchtime BOFs? Running later (assuming 10-11pm isn't late enough :-) )?
Any other ideas we can come up with for next year's organizers to consider?

Ruth.
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Ruth Milner                             NRAO                 Socorro NM
Assistant to the Director -       rmilner@nrao.edu          505-835-7282
  Computing                                             FAX 505-835-7027