Some basic observations and principles
Mostly obvious, still, I have seen them ignored in conferences
-
Resist Schoolyard Peer Pressure
Only because other conferences are doing it, you don’t have to – the benefit to your conference and its community matters. A few times I received suggestions for changes in ECRTS motivated by “but the other conferences are doing it”. This sounds to me like schoolyard peer pressure ala “all the other kids have sneakers…
-
Don’t try to fix the symptom
Conferences are complex with breathtaking numbers of dependencies. Resolving a tiny symptom, with a possibly easy fix, can cause much bigger issues to bubble up. What was a small issue can turn into much larger one when fixed in isolation. Whenever we see a need for change in a matter, we should have a look…
-
Conferences become good because of the boring stuff
We are tempted to think that conferences become good because of great ideas, novel concepts etc. While that is important, they can only work if the ground work is done well, the boring stuff not visible to the outside. Anyone can have a great idea, it takes dedication and commitment to lay the ground work…
-
Nothing happens on its own
Everything needs someone behind it making it happen, at least checking that it is on the way. Even if it did happen before or is obvious.