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• Not that easy. (Score:1)

  by andy.sh (8643)

  It is arguable. Those who are visible most of others are visible because they are active. Yes, sometimes such people might sit silent in the room instead of loudly commenting something, but if the comment is funny, why not?

  As for talks - everyone has an opportunity to submit a talk for the conference. If several people do that year by year, that is good, not bad. If there will be more new speakers, it will be possible to make a decision whose talks should be rejected. In fact, there were not too many talks
  • Re: (Score:1)

    by Aristotle (5147)

    I agree. There are two issues at play here:

    • The pool of speakers is not unlimited. Submitting a talk proposal takes courage and commitment. So if you see some faces a lot, it is much more likely to be these are the people with the courage and commitment to propose a talk or several talks.

      And if someone is a good speaker, should they refrain from submitting a proposal just because they gave a talk the year before? That makes no sense at all.

    • The organisers of the conference are under some pressure to provid
    • Re: (Score:2)

      by bart (450)

      things can turn into an old boys’ club.

      You've hit the nail on the head: that is precisely what irks me. It feels like an old boys' club.
      • Re:Not that easy. (Score:1)

        by Grrrr (8807) on 2008.08.20 6:23 (#64516)

        Well, as htoug has mentioned, pretty much everybody who has submitted a talk got to talk. There was one exception, where a talk was rejected because it was obviously a commercial pitch.
        So if you have any hard feelings about the conference being an old boys' club, please consider submitting your own talk next time. If your submission will have any merit, I am sure you'll get your slot, and thus make your first step towards becoming an old boy yourself (just kidding).

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