Like it or not, it is the MySQL Conference and Expo
The conference that many of us just went to is called the MySQL Conference and Expo, but a lot of people don’t call it that. They call it by the name it had in 2006 and earlier: MySQL User’s Conference. In fact, some people say (or blog) that they dislike the new name and they’re going to call it the old name, because [... insert reason here...].
I call it by the new name that some people dislike so much. Why? Because it is a conference and expo, not a user’s conference. There’s no reason to pretend otherwise. The conference is organized and owned by MySQL, not the users. It isn’t a community event. It isn’t about you and me first and foremost. It’s about a company trying to successfully build a business, and other companies paying to be sponsors and show their products in the expo hall. Times have changed.
I’m not saying any of this is bad. Being successful in business is a good thing, and having sponsors and partners is fine too. I’m just pointing out that trying to make it be a user’s conference, just by calling it one, isn’t going to work.
If community members want a community conference, we’ll have to make one. MySQL/Sun cannot do this for us, because then it wouldn’t be a community conference.
There’s a simple test of whether people want this: if it happens, then the community wanted it badly enough to do something about it.
The PostgreSQL East 2008 conference I went to a few weeks ago was a great example of how this works. And the attendance fee was $75, not thousands. A conference doesn’t have to be expensive.
Who wants a conference by, for, and of the community?
it was the ‘MySQL Users Conference & Expo’ before. the only thing new is dropping the ‘Users’.
jim
23 Apr 08 at 8:24 pm
Hi!
I would love to help you in what ways I can. A user’s conference is an excellent idea!
Cheers,
-Brian
Brian Aker
23 Apr 08 at 8:40 pm
I wasn’t able to go this year because my new employer didn’t want to pay the thousands of dollars it would have cost to send me. I’m all for the community conference. Anyhow have great organizational skills and a bit of time on their hands?
Tom Krouper
23 Apr 08 at 8:42 pm
There was already some buzz going around for such an idea.
Sponsors are not a bad thing, they need not have an effect on the program or the community focus. It just needs to be clear. OSDC in Brisbane did this, and had pretty much 50/50 attendee and sponsorship funding. Attendee cost was approx $300 which included food during all days, and conference dinner for everybody.
It can be done.
I think it’s important to not have this be an anti-MySQL (company) thing, that’s not the objective. But it would, by its existence, fundamentally change the MySQL conf and expo. The attendee makeup will change beyond what it is now already.
It’s good to consider this too.
Arjen Lentz
23 Apr 08 at 9:21 pm
By the way, I call it “MySQL Conf” because it’s nice and short. As someone else noted, the “Users” bit was dropped earlier… and the expo was added. But it’s just an unwieldy name to use casually, that’s the only reason. I otherwise have no objection to using the full name, a name is what it is.
Arjen Lentz
23 Apr 08 at 9:23 pm
Baron,
We have had a few “unconferences” around MySQL over the years and I think they fit your definition. Many MySQL employees participated, but the events were not specifically organised by the company behind MySQL, they had no exhibitors, and they didn’t cost a lot (in fact, they were free as in free of charge).
I will here and now express my support for such events. But although I represent the corporate entity behind MySQL, I hope that you and others don’t see my support as an attempt to change the notion of “by, for, and of the community”.
Marten
Marten Mickos
23 Apr 08 at 9:27 pm
Baron,
I’ve been thinking about this same thing for the last couple of weeks, since I couldn’t attend this year. One of the ideas I’ve been brainstorming is creating a user conference in Second Life. I was thinking it would be database agnostic, meaning we could do not just MySQL, but all the other open source databases as well. There would be different tracks for each database, all organized much like an in person conference.
Plenty of technical details to work out, but this could be a global user conference running 24×7 for as many days as we’d like. It could be very cost effective too, since there’s no flying around, staying/eating in hotels, etc. Simply attend from the comfort of your own computer, wherever you are in the world.
I’d be willing to organize such an event, with the help of experienced Second Life users/members to assist with the technical details. This would clearly meet “by, for, and of the communityâ€.
– Mark
Mark Schoonover
23 Apr 08 at 10:16 pm
It’s a great idea, but I’m not in a place where I can devote time into being a core organizer of a conference. I can provide logistical support if needed. Conferences do take a lot of time and effort to plan and carry out, and many require cash up front.
Also, I am part of Technocation, Inc., a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to provide educational resources for IT professionals. Being a volunteer for a not-for-profit lets you in doors that might be otherwise closed; let me know if you want official backing.
I also do not believe that you have to take the corporation out of it to be a successful conference that focuses on users. Sun heavily sponsored the New England Database Day, http://db.csail.mit.edu/nedbday08/ as did other companies.
I do have plenty of opinions on the matter as well, so if there’s a list, sign me up. :)
Sheeri K. Cabral
23 Apr 08 at 10:36 pm
Actually, the idea is pretty good – if there is enough people willing to donate of their time to help organize it.
I know for sure that I can help out, I’ve got prior experience in doing such things, so it would be fun. I’ll say like Sheeri: “sign me up. :)”
A conference for users, by users, would be absolutely lovely :-)
Nicklas Westerlund
23 Apr 08 at 11:16 pm
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Baron.
Indeed I think the conferences represented interests of MySQL corporate entity rather than users which needs to know the dark side as well.
As MySQL User I would like to see presentations such as “Migrating from MySQL to PostgreSQL” (not other way around) – to know what pains people had with MySQL and how other solutions solved them etc.
Peter Zaitsev
23 Apr 08 at 11:57 pm
http://groups.google.com/group/oursql-conference
Arjen Lentz
24 Apr 08 at 1:47 am
Baron,
as Marten mentioned we have also participated in “un conferences” like the MySQL Camp that we put on twice, once in the bay area and once in New York. Those didn’t cost anything and though they had MySQL participation, we simply got the ball rolling.
Also the MySQL Conference (by whatever name!) is actually jointly operated by MySQL and O’Reilly. While it is a business (O’Reilly wants to make money off it) we try to run it on a breakeven budget for MySQL, and sometimes we make money and sometimes we don’t. The name change occurred a couple of years ago and this was based on a suggestion from O’Reilly to showcase the expo. The focus has not changed though and we very much see it as a conference for our users, as well as our partners, our customers and a showcase of what we’re working on.
But we’re thrilled if there are other events that also pop up to meet the needs of our community of users.
–Zack
ZUrlocker
24 Apr 08 at 2:08 am
Thanks everyone for your comments. A few follow-up comments, all with “IMO” appended invisibly:
I encourage you to join the Google Group Arjen mentioned.
Sponsors are good. There were sponsors at the PG conference. What’s important is where the initiative, responsibility, and authority is vested.
I’m not anti-MySQL, but we as a community are too dependent on MySQL. It’s not healthy for anyone. I think MySQL’s management recognize this, which is good.
The un-conferences I’ve attended (MySQL Camp 1 and 2) were organized by MySQL, and Camp 3 never happened partially because everyone waited for MySQL to organize it.
I wouldn’t be interested in a virtual conference. I’m virtual all year; I want to meet people for real. No offense, but I won’t go near Second Life :-)
To Zach’s point, I think the community will need to take responsibility to meet their own needs.
More about community in later posts. I’ll close this comment by saying the best thing that happened when I attended the PostgreSQL conference was that it brought the MySQL world into sharp focus for me. It was really eye-opening.
Xaprb
24 Apr 08 at 9:33 am
I have been involved with a couple of attempts to organize virtual events, always involving people that spend large amounts of time on the computer anyway. They were not fun for me, and I agree that meeting and talking to real people is the real need. We all need to get away from the monitor more, and interact with people more.
Nathaniel
24 Apr 08 at 9:58 pm
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