TITLE: Hello from Montreal
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: December 09, 2006  1:08 PM
DESC: 
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BODY:
<A HREF="http://www.oopsla.org/oopsla2007/">
<IMG SRC="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog-images/oopsla07-small.jpg"
     ALT="OOPSLA 2007 logo - embrace the beaver!"
     ALIGN="right"
     WIDTH="250"></A>

Bienvenue de Montr&eacute;al!  My previous post was written
on the plane to Quebec for the December
<A HREF="http://www.oopsla.org/oopsla2007/">
   OOPSLA'07</A>
planning meeting.  This year, I am communications chair for
the conference, which means that I have a diverse set of
responsibilities defined around "getting the word out".
(Don't worry; I won't turn this blog into a conference
shill.)  This includes the design of the advance and final
programs, as well as helping to shape the content and
organization of the web site.  I'm part of a team consisting
of a graphic artist and a person focused on advertising,
which is good, given my lack of skills in the former and
lack of feel for the latter.

My big challenge this year is to find a way to communicate
the rich diversity of our program -- and it is richer and
more diverse than any computing conference I know of -- to
the people who should be at OOPSLA next year.  We have all
been talking about this for a couple of years, but now it's
my job.  How do I help attendees, especially newcomers,
navigate their way through the conference?  Someone this
morning likened OOPSLA to Paris, a wild circus of ideas
and events that can educate and enthuse and enlighten and
entertain most anyone who cares about programs and the art
of programming.  It's a provoking analogy that I'll have
to explore.  For example, how do we help potential attendees
find us as a "vacation spot" and plan their trip?

As when I
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2004-08.html#e2004-08-17T13_25_28.htm">
   attended SugarLoafPLoP</A>,
I find the change in local language to be surprisingly
disorienting -- even in a place where almost everyone
speaks English as well as I.  This exposes my parochial
upbringing and my rather limited travel experiences as a
professional.  It probably also says a lot about a
self-insularity that I need to break out of.
<A HREF="http://hillside.net/europlop/">
   EuroPLoP</A>
and
<A HREF="http://www.ecoop.org/">
   ECOOP</A>
are calling me!

Given that I'll spend a total of a couple of weeks over
the next year among the Quebecois, I think that I should
try to learn a little French beyond "oui", "merci", and
"non parlez-vous Francais".  When I went to Brazil, I
set the too-ambitious goal of learning some conversational
Portugese.  This time, I will set the less imposing and
more achievable goal of learning some vocabulary and a
few key phrases.  (My colleague Steve Metsker says that
he sets the goal of learning 50 words in the local tongue
whenever he travels to a new land.)  At least I can learn
enough to show Montreal residents that I respect their
bilingual culture.

<A HREF="www.ashrae-mtl.org/ images/mont-royal_vue_1.jpg">
   <IMG SRC="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog-images/running/montreal/mont-royal.jpg"
        ALT="the view of Montreal from Mont Royal"
        ALIGN="right"
        WIDTH="250"></A>

I am not running ready to write a new installment of
"Running on the Road" yet, but I am looking forward to
starting my research.  After a long few weeks at the office,
three hard days in a row on the track, and a long day of
travel, this morning found me resting peacefully.  The
great news about our location in downtown Montreal is
proximity to the running trails along the Fleuve
Saint-Laurent and in the wonderful Parc du Mont-Royal.
I plan to run tomorrow's 12-miler on the trails of
Mont Royal -- not climbing the mountain, but on a trail
that circles near the base.  Then Monday I'll try the
trail along the St. Lawrence.  My May visit will give me
more opportunities to explore the possibilities.
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