Anthere wrote:

Hello Mike,

Apologies, but it was unclear to me whether there is a wiki page set up for the 2007 hacking days. If there is no such page, can you set up one so that it is easier to follow plans and discuss programmes ?

One feedback I had from hacking days 2006 was that it was necessary to have more cool time in small groups, and less "academic-type" presentations in front of 20 people. In short, they need not only a room with some presentations going on, but also a nice and cosy place to sit, with drinks etc...

Indeed there was a strong feeling that the hacking days were overproduced last year, with too many outsiders, too heavy scheduling, too many talks.

The hacking days are meant to be informal and, hopefully, productive. :) Some really nice points did get made in the middle of it, but I and others found the overall experience rather frustrating. In contrast, in 2005 we really weren't organized enough, and while there was good socializing which helped build team spirit we didn't come out with much directly productive.

My recommendation: don't invite too many people, don't have lots of talks. Talks would be more appropriate for a tech track during Wikimania proper.

A few small workshop-type sessions to let people strategize, socialize, roadmap, experiment, and accept tasks to work on for the coming months would be a lot nicer, and would better justify having a distinct "hacking days" period before/after the main conference.

-- brion vibber (brion @ pobox.com)