A confession to (un)conferences and serendipity
As the year to come keeps getting more crowded with conferences, I must admit I am generally fond of them. And it doesn’t really matter what role I get to play: initiator (GIS Conferentie), organizer (GIN Congres), presenter (e.g on Beyond the Open Map), or just attendant participant (FOSS4G).
So what is the attractive part? As much as I appreciate the virtual world of weak social ties, nothing beets meeting up with real people, sharing ideas and thoughts, and getting feedback at the same time. And the whole preparation that comes with it. But as much as I do like the planned part of a meet-up, I sometimes get much more out of the accidental hallway meetings…
Looking ahead (as many adhering to the Julian calendar seem to do): presenting at Infographics 2012 (titled Cut the crap!; honestly!), leading a session on the European Digital Agenda at GeoSpatial World Forum (do come!), attending GIS Tech (a day of learning), participating in the Esri User Conference (still one of my favorites…). I hope to contribute to a few others as well, but have not yet received a firm confirmation.
And it looks like we actually might have an unconference this year in Amsterdam! Get ready to get serendipetised! Although great hallway meetings really are not that much of a coincidence at meetings like those…looking forward to see this unconference unfold!