[chef] Re: suggestions for upcoming community summit

[Jesse Robbins < >]

Hey everyone,

1) Bryan Berry took action & created a page to capture topic/session ideas 
for the Community Summit.  Check it out here: 
http://wiki.opscode.com/display/chef/Suggestions+for+Community+Summit

2) Bryan & a number of others suggested livestreaming and/or doing some other 
kind of real-time remote participation in the Summit.

The tl;dr here is that real-time remote participation in Open Space is 
challenging to do in a way that doesn't interfere with and dampen the dynamic 
and intimate flow of Open Space.

If you have never participated in an Open Space, this may sound strange.  The 
Opscode Community Summit isn't a conference.  There are no speakers, 
panelists, or keynotes.  There is no pre-set agenda and there is no 
"audience".  There are only fellow participants, a unique and incredible 
group of people gathered together in one place to work on something that 
matters to all of us.  

There are at least two challenges to livestreaming & real-time remote 
participation:

1) The space we create is a safe place for people to openly discuss complex 
and often confidential topics without worrying that someone will share it, an 
idea Tim O'Reilly calls the FrieNDA.  Livestream ing or recording sessions by 
default has the potential to change this, and in most cases just doesn't make 
sense to do as the facilitator.  If someone decides to propose a streamed or 
recorded session, host a call in show, or anything else they are fully 
empowered to do so.

2) The technology required for people to participate in real-time and at 
scale, which preserves the power and intensity of a face-to-face interaction 
and doesn't create friction that distracts from the experience... isn't 
readily available.  Many people find they close their laptops/ipads/etc 
entirely and focus on being present.  If people want to host questions on IRC 
or other means, they are fully empowered to do so.  

We will provide a wiki for participants to document sessions, issues, 
actions, conversations, and conclusions.  While we don't know what exactly 
what will happen over the two days of the Summit, there are some things that 
are guaranteed to happen:
        • The issues that are most important to people will get discussed & 
worked on
        • The issues raised will be addressed by the participants best 
capable of getting something done about them.
        • All of the most important ideas, recommendations, discussions, and 
next steps will be documented in a report which will be published to the 
entire community.
        • Participants will be deeply engaged, connected, and energized.

Hope this helps,

-Jesse

---
Jesse Robbins        | Cofounder & Chief Community Officer - Opscode, Inc.
e: 

 
 | p: +1-206-755-3739  | http://www.opscode.com
---