2015 DevOpsDays TO observations

[MC] Observations from Toronto:

• Hosted at the Glenn Gould Studio, a recital hall-style auditorium at the CBC studios. Open spaces were in several adjacent conference rooms. AV in the auditorium was excellent, although the projection system was incompatible with one speaker's older-model MacBook. Venue staff were oddly insistent that no one stand in the auditorium at any time. I'm assuming this is due to fire code or some such, but it was a bit weird, especially when late arrivals were ushered to their seats in the middle of presentations.

[JM]

Yes, we need a spare laptop ready to go with Powerpoint/Keynote,etc in case of failure. Poor Waldo spent 20 minutes on stage trying to fix the thing and no one backstage had a backup for him.

• Sponsors, lunch, and other break times were in the lobby outside the auditorium, which became very crowded and frankly uncomfortable as a result. The venue staff closed the auditorium during lunch, probably to keep food and drink from being brought in, but this made things worse. People spilled out into open space rooms and even onto the sidewalk out front. Far from ideal. I don't think we will have this problem at USPTO as there is plenty of space.

[JM]

Single buffet line for 300 people was bad idea. More lines the better!

• TO organizers did not print shirts. Instead, they had tote bags and collapsible water bottles. Sponsors were giving out plenty of swag, so the tote bags were probably welcome. It's very rare, at my size, that I get a conference shirt that really fits, so not a big deal for me if they weren't offered at all. Others might disagree.

• Standard DOD format, with a slight schedule twist: three keynotes, then lunch, then ignites, then the fourth keynote, followed by open spaces. I'm split on this: on the one hand, the fourth keynoter being after lunch and ignites feels like someone drew a short straw, but on the other hand, that person gets the benefit of the energy boost that comes with ignites. I didn't hear anyone complain.

[JM] I liked the format for the reasons MC stated. I also like that they provided wireless lapel mics for hand talkers like myself.

• Open spaces seemed well-attended, with typical levels of participation (many listeners, some talking a little, some talking a lot.) I get the sense open spaces were new to many attendees. I think this will also be the case at our event, so we should be sure to explain well on the first day and encourage participation.

[JM]

I'm wondering how we can prevent people from being shy. It's usually easy to identify those who are comfortable speaking after the first 10 minutes of an open space. Perhaps we need encourage the "talkers" to encourage the non-talkers.

• Organizers posted a Google Docs map of the open space rooms with a listing of which sessions were in which place, then posted the link to that map on their Twitter. Very handy; we should do this.

[JM]

Yeah this was cool. The building was a bit cavernous. The more navigation tools we have the better. Maps, arrows, etc.

• Catered breakfast and lunch were on par with other events. Snacks were provided between open spaces. All-dressed potato chips are tasty 😄

• Wi-fi was above average in the auditorium, but didn't quite reach all the open space rooms.