crunch@well.UUCP (John Draper) (01/21/88)
**** THE PROGRAMMERS NETWORK'S FIRST GATHERING ****
**** A PROPOSAL AND/OR IDEA ****
From John T. Draper
Programmers Network
*** FEEL FREE TO PUT THIS ANY OTHER PLACE ***
I was thinking of sponsoring a Mac Hack event to bring Mac Hackers
together for a 2 day Mac Hacking extraveganza. Before I go through
the trouble of organizing one, I want to get some feedback from other
Mac Hackers to find out what kinds of activities I should have, and
how much I should charge. I also want to provide accommodations for
"out of town" attendees, food, Equipment, and Speakers. I have a
number of prominent people who have volunteered to speak. So what
say?? Would you come to one of these gatherings??
One thing I would DEFINITELY want to do, is to have people RSVP to
me, and get the names of the people wanting to attend, so this will
give me an indication of how much FOOD to get, and the other necessary
things that MORTAL Mac Hackers will need to survive 2 days of intense
NETWORKING.
I don't want to add a lot of STRUCTURE to it, because when you get
people together that have the same interest, there is going to be a lot
of Networking and Information exchange. I want to try and facilitate
and encourage this to the MAX. A very good friend of mine (Craig
Larson, wo co-founded the Programmers Network) and lives the Bourne
Mansion in Pacific Heights has volunteered his 4 story mansion. We
have 3 of the 4 floors The place was built in 1896, and survived
the 1906 earthquake. It's located in San Francisco next door to
the Itialian Consolate. I have already gotten 4 major software
developers who say they would want to attend. So, if you're
wondering how to do OTHER STUFF on the Macintosh, you would
certainly find the answer. Or, if you're an IBM'er (booooo!!!) and
just converted over to developing on a Mac (Yea!!!), then THIS would
be the place to be.
I also won't be providing ENTERTAINMENT, because that would interfere
with all the NETWORKING expected to take place. Instead, I have
provided for NON OBTRUSIVE music to enhance Networking activitys.
If you're a LIGHTWEIGHT and must sleep like the MORTALS, there will
be a quite comfortable place where you can park your body. Then your
brain can go back out and network with the others, and your body can join
you later. Plus there will be other stimulating liquids like Coffee
and JOLT to keep you going.
How many people that attend depends on the responses I get (of course).
I just want to know how many people would LIKE to attend a gathing like
this, and how much they can PAY to get in. I don't want to be greedy,
but would like to cover the COST of one of these Nerd Gatherings. Hmm!!
must think of a NAME for this shindig... So WHAT SAY FOLKS, Would
you RSVP to one of these Nerd Partys?? Or just pass it off as "Oh hummm!!
just another Mac gathering!!!". I'll post this on the IBM conferences and
groups in the hopes of converting them into Mac Programmers.
As I have mentioned earlier, Craig Larson wants to LIMIT the size
of this gathering to a reasonable level, thus the RSVP. Craig lives
in a RESPECTABLE part of town, in a Mansion thats a historic landmark,
and Mac programmers are RESPECTABLE aren't they?? If you are from out
of town, perhaps looking for a reason to visit San Francisco, we'll
do the best we can to get you here. NO!! We can't pay for an airline
ticket, but we'll give you transportation information to help you
get here without problems.
Getting EQUIPMENT is another problem we have to solve. In an attempt
to promote people to bring their OWN Macs (SE's and Mac+'s are ALWAYS
welcome), and removable hard drives, they sould NOT have to pay anything
to get in. But if you are FILTHY RICH, and have lots of $$$ to throw
around, fell free to give some to my Attorney, so he can help me prove
my innocence relating to a nasty incident that confisgated all my
equipment. Noo!! Just kidding...But then...
The main theme of this party is INFORMATION EXCHANGE on MACINTOSH
programming, and marketing trends affecting programmers and Software
Development. We're NOT interested on what you're working on, only
interested in what MAC related problems you have, and how we can
help you solve it, and give you an opportunity to personally meet
your other networkers.
We'll try and supply you with DISKS, but you have to PAY for them,
so we can afford to host this "Gathering".
Again, We're strongly encouraging people to bring their OWN macs or
at least hard drives of the stuff they are working on. If you have a
Mac II and want to bring it, we will treat you VERY well. We'll
also try and treat ex-IBM people NICE and help them get started
developing Mac software as quickly as possible. Should PRESS be
invited?? Probably not!!!
So, finally, I should ask everyone in NET LAND the following
additional questions:
*** How much would you be willing to pay to get in???
*** If you live far away, would you try and attend???
*** Who would you like to meet there???
*** Could you bring your Mac??
*** What interests you??
*** Prominent speakers??
*** What kind of food??
Because a lot of people still work the 5 day week, we should have it
ALL DAY SATURDAY, and SUNDAY at some "Yet to be announced" time.
Mail your responses to:
John Draper - Programmers Network
UUCP: ihnp4!ptsfa!well!crunch
WELL: crunch
BIX: crunch
Portal: John Draper
US Snail: 310 WestLine Dr. B210
Alameda, Ca. 94501
(415) 769-1268