Watch the 2009 Linux Plumbers Conference (Linux.com)

Hi, I wan't to say Thanks, Plumbers Folks! It was my first LPC and I
enjoyed it very much, including the scenery of Portland. It was an amazing
piece of work, did some things go wrong? surely. But I think it's quite
ignorant for anyone to talk about the parts that need improvement first
before thanking the staff and volunteer's for their hard work.

Now to some business :)

I have no concerns of the slides or videos that much since I was there and
took notes when needed, and I'm not very qualified to help with video or
audio problems! My main gripes actually fall on the presenters in most
cases than the conference organizers. I do understand they put much time
into their presentation, and it is a conference designed to inspire
questions answers and help, but damn.

A few simple rules really:
1> speak up! even with a mic there, many presenters talked either away from
the mic, or too quiet for it to even pick up enough! If you sat anywhere
from the middle of the room back, it was hard to hear the talks. Again, 1
mic should be enough, pick the damn thing up if you have to and just speak
into it if you can't talk loudly enough. One good example of some good
volume on a speaker would be Steven Rostedt. Sure he may not have been the
beacon of preparedness, but the man was loud, clear and got his point
across.

2> If someone in the audience is too damn lazy to use the mic that was
graciously put in the middle of the isles for them, then as a speaker you
should repeat the damn question into the mic so everyone is clear on what
was asked! Not sure what is so hard about that, some people did it, or did
it half of the time. Keith Packard should have been a guideline for this,
he is very good at presenting, even to throw in some rocketry shots to mix
things up and keep his audience attention! He even knew enough that no one
wanted to hear Jim Getty's mumble about the good ol' days during the small
amount time he had to speak, and gave him a hint to shut the hell up!

3> So I think that's it, speak up, repeat questions, throw in some
surprises...we're all excited to hear the talks and the speakers should be
excited to give them!

Now for the hosts!
1> I like donuts, but maybe an omelet station where you pick out veggies to
throw in an omelet a chef will cook up right there on the spot might have
been more helpful to my belly than multiple donuts until I found the small
corner the fruit was located :) Either way, great job on the food and
coffee!! I felt like my teeth rotted away the instant they came in contact
with some of those donuts haha.

2> This one I'm not sure how to solve, because I lack the project planning
skills, but it does really blow when there are two talks you think you can
provide input in and my body only allows me to be in one place at a time.
Good luck with that one!

3> Not sure who's responsible for this one! There were a few talks I wanted
to see and had to do some micromanagement of my time, and when I arrived in
the room the talk was over before the starting time on the website!

4> wireless, hmm not sure open wifi was the right choice...people should be
prepared to have some sort of security on wifi when going to a conference
IMO. Sadly, I think it would be beneficial to everyone if some certain
traffic was blocked so that http traffic could have prevailed better, at
least during peak hours of the conference. Though I guess as nerds mainly
everyone could have subverted that. meh. Anyway, I'm not really there to
use the internet, rather to see the talks. But just bringing it up as a
suggestion.

5> I might be able to think of other things, but I've got to be somewhere!
So damn good job, someone's got to step up to the plate, and everyone who
participated in organizing, helping, and funding are hero's in my book. I'm
grateful for such an event!

Jonathan