TITLE: Chairing Tutorials for OOPSLA 2006
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: January 16, 2006 12:46 PM
DESC:
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BODY:
After chairing the OOPSLA Educators' Symposium in
2004
and
2005,
I've been entrusted with chairing the tutorials track at
OOPSLA 2006.
While this may not seem to have the intellectual cachét
of the Educators' Symposium, it carries the responsibility of
a major financial effect on the conference. If I had screwed
an educators' event, I would have made a few dozen people unhappy.
If I screw up the tutorials track, I could cost the conference
tens of thousands of dollars!
The
call for tutorial proposals
is out, with a deadline of March 18. My committee and I will
also be soliciting a few tutorials on topics we really want to
see covered and from folks we especially want to present. We'd
like to put together a tutorial track that does a great job of
helping software practitioners and academics get a handle on
the most important topics in software development these days,
with an emphasis on OO and related technologies. In marketing
terms, I think of it as exciting the folks who already know that
OOPSLA is a must-attend conference and attracting new folks who
should be attending.
I'd love to hear what you think we should be thinking about.
What are the hottest topics out there, the ones we should all
be learning about? Is there something on the horizon that
everyone will be talking about in October? I'm thinking not
only of the buzzwords that define the industry these days,
but also of topics that developers really need to take their
work to another level.
Who are the best presenters out there, the ones we should be
inviting to present? I'm thinking not only of the Big Names
but also of those folks who simply do an outstanding job teaching
technical content to professionals. We've all probably
attended tutorials where we left room thinking, "Wow, that
was good. Who was that guy?"
One idea we are considering this year is to offer tutorials
that help people prepare for certifications in areas such as
Java and MSCD. Do you think that folks could benefit from
tutorials of this sort, or is it an example trying to do too
much?
Trying to keep a great conference fresh and exciting requires
a mix of old ideas and new. It's a lot like revising a good
course... only in front of many more eyes!
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