OSCON 2014
Another year, another OSCON. Now that I’m approaching caught up, here’s a quick recap of that busy week.
It was a busy OSCON for me this time around. I had two talks to give, only one of which I’d finished writing before I arrived. Oops. Ah, well. They both went well and were well-received and -reviewed, so I’m a happy camper. The slides and my webcam videos of both talks are available on Internet Archive:
Because my current job is so variable, my session attendance was equally variable. I didn’t really focus on any specific things, instead giving preference to talks by people I know and respect.
And, of course, there was the evening of Perl goodness: rjbs with a whole hurricane of lightning talks (in lieu of the State of the Onion, since Larry’s recovering from eye surgery), then a dozen or so individual lightning talks. As usual, rgeoffrey ran a tight ship and kept the talks moving smoothly.
Really, though, most of my time was spent sitting or standing around and talking to people. So many people. So, so many people. I’m not even going to attempt to list them all, but it was all time well-spent. I’m grateful for the opportunity to meet and befriend so many amazing and inspiring people.
One thing that did not happen that week was productivity. Beyond talking (both on stage and off), I accomplished little of substance. Not only does that make this subsequent week more difficult, it’s also an opportunity missed. I could have done some excellent collaboration that week. So when I read rjbs’s OSCON trip report I was intrigued by his idea to set up shop at a table & just get shit done next year. I’d back that play. I have plenty of projects which need love and attention, so having a personal OSCON Hackathon wouldn’t go amiss. Thanks for the idea, Rik!
Overall it was a great trip but an exhausting. I’m honored that I was once again invited to speak and overjoyed to have spent so much time with so many great friends, both old & new. You’ve filled my head with knowledge and ideas and wowed me with your accomplishments. Now I just need to figure out how best to apply all my newfound inspiration.