[Koha-devel] KohaCon11 hackfest: discussion

[Koustubha Kale]

On Mon, Mar 28, 2011 at 3:40 PM, MJ Ray <mjr at phonecoop.coop> wrote:
> Paul Poulain wrote:
>> Le 26/03/2011 05:44, Koustubha Kale a écrit :
>> > So is there a consensus emerging here about splitting the hackfest and
>> > running in parallel?
>> About splitting yes, about running in parallel, i'm still not convinced.
>
> OK, so we have a consensus on part of it!
>
>> Let me explain
>> My main concern here is: if we run in parallel will put more pressure on
>> experienced developers: we can't be at the same time teaching & hacking.
>> So I'm afraid the success will heavily depend on how many experienced
>> devs there will be ! And I think/suspect that this number won't be so
>> high...
>
> Firstly, you can't have more than a few experienced developers
> teaching at the same time.  The others are being disruptive
> (typing and talking) or being disrupted (being quiet).
>
> Secondly, let me go to the place where we've not dared: if it looks
> like there won't be enough experienced developers at the hackfest,
> should the conference look to use some sponsorship money to pay enough
> expenses to attract more?
>
> Would users like that?
>
> Would any experienced developers hate it or want to put any
> restrictions on payments?  (Like: all are offered the same amount.)
>
> How do we define experienced developers anyway?
>
>> I've another concern: having some rest. In USA, we didn't stop at all.
>> Same in NZ. In France, we had a full week-end for visiting (well, not
>> me, as I was at home), and started the hackfest on monday morning,
>> highly motivated & rested.
>
> I feel that the plan in NZ was much better than the one in France.
>
> A weekend is long enough that funders will see it as a natural break,
> an opportunity for people to attend one part and not the other, but
> not long enough to travel far.  I think it is better to keep the event
> together and let people visit things before or after.
>
> Mentioning France brings another thing to my mind: what ways can we
> have for people not physically there to take part in the hackfest?
>
> How was that for people in NZ?  I think Nicole's blogging and the IRC
> were pretty good for the little bit of time when I was not physically
> there, available and had an internet conenction, but how was it for
> people not there at all?
>
> Thanks,
> --
> MJ Ray (slef),

Changing the main conference dates is no good. We already have over
100 registrations from 16 countries. The dates have been well
publicized in several mailing lists.

To run parallel sessions, arranging for two large rooms with wi-fi
should not be a major problem. For expert people ( a limited few, mind
you, due to bandwidth) we can provide video conferencing ( both inward
and outward ) even during Hackfest. Its an additional cost but I am
hoping we will get enough sponsorship.

Here is what I suggest :
1) We break for a day after the main conference on Thursday 3rd November.
2) We start Hackfest in two separate nearby rooms one for teaching /
getting started sessions the other room for experienced developers to
hack together at peace. The experienced developers take breaks turn by
turn to deliver sessions / guidance in the first room. This goes on
for two days Friday 4th November and Saturday 5th November.
Experienced developers who can not be physically present but would
still like to participate in the hackfest, we will try to accommodate
through video conferencing. Frankly I don't know how thats gonna work
for hacking together, but atleast they can deliver some guidance /
tips to the newbies. End of day two of hackfest i.e. on Saturday 5th
November,  the developers who can not stay more can leave but they
would still have had two days of hacking together.
3) Those developers who can stay more are free to continue hacking
again from Monday 7th November for as long as they want. I am sure we
will find a place for them to work for as long as it takes.

How does that sound?

Regards,
Koustubha Kale
Anant Corporation

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