DrupalCampNYC 4 vs DrupalCon 2008
Hooray, we're about 2 weeks away from DrupalCampNYC 4.
I sorta had a good time at DrupalCon 2008. If it weren't for the overpriced convention center, marketing sermons slyly disguised as sessions, stale presentations that I've seen a few times now, and inflated attendant pricing, I would say it was awesome. I don't think I'll be attending another DrupalCon unless it's an excuse to expense a trip to Europe.
Now, I have DrupalCampNYC to look forward to. A place exclusive of the dearth of marketing. A place where I can sit down with other developers , users, and ne'er do wells, share my experience and ideas, and learn from theirs. Best of all... It's free... Free of costing you money, and free of marketing.
So what does that mean...
1) everyone can attend including the folk working for underfunded causes, the brilliant students with great ideas, the total noobs. In other words the community, not just the Drupal professionals.
2) The sessions you want may not be right on, but they will be informative and informal allowing for more direct participant interaction with the presenters. I know this setting is better for my informational needs. You won't have marketing centric sessions like adobe folks evangelizing flex, telling you how it does browser interaction(history + deep linking) without JS. (adobe just bundled the js in flex, js is still required, you aren't free of it, you just get adobe's sanctioned version of everyone else's hacks.)
3) You won't see a logo or brand on everything you look at... If you're a New Yorker like me, you become sensitive to this bombardment at some point, and enjoy escaping it. Business still happens, but between the people involved in it.
If you wish to show appreciation for my Drupal Development...
Comments
My feelings somewhat reflect
My feelings somewhat reflect yours. If it weren't for the fact that Boston was only an hour and a $20 round trip bus ride away from where I call home, I probably wouldn't have gone.
Yet, I don't feel particularly disappointed... perhaps since I anticipated a lot of it and braced myself for the blow.
I sorta knew that the lecture style sessions were likely going to result in me reading the latest blog entries on my Google Reader account instead of paying attention. I sorta knew that I was going to be staring at an ad for some sponsor every five feet. I sorta knew that there were probably some sessions that were going to be things I already knew and had seen twenty times, some sessions were going to be more like big ads than useful information, and some sessions were going to be genuinely interesting, and there were probably some that I was going to regret that I missed.
To be perfectly honest, the whole reason I went was to socialize... and that for me, ended up being worth the money spent to go.... but maybe it's something I value slightly differently because I don't live in the city and opportunities to meet up with other Drupal folk which are at times and dates that I can go to don't exactly happen regularly. I have to take what I can get....
It all could have been worse, I remember thinking as I was walking across that little enclosed glass bridge that went over the main conference floor, "Man, am I glad to be with the Drupal folks... I could be bored standing down there being forced to run around in a business suit and high heels!"
I have to say, if I hadn't been at DrupalCampNYC2 and 3, I probably wouldn't have had such a good time at Drupalcon. This was something that was really distinct to me when I was comparing notes about my day with my roommate who had never met any other Drupal folks before... Since I already had met people at DrupalCamp, I had a rough idea coming into it of who I could go hang out with the whole week. My roommate didn't know anybody... and all the people she knew from online were the "Drupal rockstars" who were mostly too busy to just hang out. I'm sure if I hadn't already knew people, I would have been a lot more overwhelmed and lonely at Drupalcon.
That said, I'll be Fung Wah-ing it to NYC in a week from now. See you then! ;)
Birds of a Feather
I had similar impressions, although I mainly hung out in the extemporaneous BoF sessions, which felt a lot more like DrupalCamp to me. I missed DrupalCampNYC in the summer (although had attended the previous two camps), as I had to move to PA that weekend. I'd planned to attend this one, but the dates kept getting pushed, and this particular weekend is during a launch for a client, so sadly, I can't attend this spring either.