[openbeos] Re: Waltercon 07

Hi Charlie,

Charlie Clark wrote:


Am 29.04.2007 um 21:11 schrieb Jorge G. Mare (a.k.a. Koki):
It definitely has the potential to attract new developers. But it would have to be though out and planned accordingly, quite differently from the WC and BG mindset.
Hold on! You're agreeing that WC and BG (surely a case where abbreviations aren't helpful) are essentially the same but not what you want? A synergy of the two which transcends geekdom? I'll be on the line to the strategy boutique first thing in the morning!
I am saying that both BG and WC share a small group get together mentality. Nothing wrong with that, if that's what you want.
It's really not about what I personally want for WC, but what would be better for the advancement of Haiku.
I believe that Haiku would greatly benefit if WalterCon graduated from the get together stage, and started reaching out to more people outside of the small circle of BeOS regulars. For that, WC needs to change. I am afraid many fail to realize this, just like they failed to realize how beneficial marketing could be every time the idea of marketing Haiku was brought up in the past.
It's a different crowd that you would be targeting, so it requires a change in approach. Nicholas Blachford puts it quite nicely, actualy: 

Missing a quote, I think.
Opps! Yes. This is what I meant to quote from Nicholas: "A developer conference should be more about "how" and "why", how this was achieved and why it was done that way."
We just need to make the WalterCon part of BeGeistert a "little more" structured and organized.
WC as a subset of BG may certainly seem practical. But then, I would not expect attracting many beyond the circle of regulars. So I go back to one of my initial statements: if Haiku wants to cater to a broader audience beyond the small BeOS circle...
... then it needs to have a product inside the wonderfully packaged cardboard box.
If you mean that Haiku should be a released OS (as opposed to being in development), then that's not necessarily true. Every marketing exercise, conferences included, can be custom tailored to the specific target audience, in line with the specific strategic goals that you may have at any given time (before or after a product release). It's a matter of tailoring the message and content.
All too often we hear how much Haiku needs more developers. The new approach that IMO Waltercon needs should be designed to address this need. IOW, Waltercon should be designed to pursue the growth of the developer community. That Haiku is not released yet is quite irrelevant in this context.
Until then let's paraphrase Mr. Ballmer "Bevelopers! Bevelopers! Bevelopers! and Cola-Coders, too!"
How about you wear a monkey costume and shout that at the next BG? That would make a nice presentation! :P 

Cheers,

Koki

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