henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (02/14/89)
In article <726@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU> ins_ajbh@jhunix.UUCP (JABBA) writes: >It would also be nice to have soda in the morning instead of the >disgusting coffee-like liquid usually available... I think there was soda available in the mornings, actually. What I'd like to see would be things like milk and orange juice as well. Some of us want neither caffeine nor bubbly sugar water. -- The Earth is our mother; | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology our nine months are up. | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu
mvp@v7fs1.UUCP (Mike Van Pelt) (02/15/89)
In article <1989Feb14.144709.13582@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: <In article <726@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU> ins_ajbh@jhunix.UUCP (JABBA) writes: <>It would also be nice to have soda in the morning instead of the <>disgusting coffee-like liquid usually available... <What I'd like to see would be things like milk and orange juice as well. <Some of us want neither caffeine nor bubbly sugar water. And some of us want both caffeine _and_ bubbly sugar water. (Mountain Dew! Jolt!!) -- Mike Van Pelt Will your long-winded speeches never Video 7 end? What ails you that you keep on ...ames!vsi1!v7fs1!mvp arguing? -- Job 16:3
dave@csd4.milw.wisc.edu (David A Rasmussen) (02/15/89)
From article <1989Feb14.144709.13582@utzoo.uucp>, by henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer): > In article <726@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU> ins_ajbh@jhunix.UUCP (JABBA) writes: >>It would also be nice to have soda in the morning instead of the >>disgusting coffee-like liquid usually available... > > I think there was soda available in the mornings, actually. What I'd > like to see would be things like milk and orange juice as well. Some > of us want neither caffeine nor bubbly sugar water. There was limited soda. I would have liked to see some tea. No brewskis, eh? -- Dave Rasmussen c/o Computing Services Division @ U of WI - Milwaukee Internet: dave@csd4.milw.wisc.edu Uucp: uwvax!uwmcsd1!uwmcsd4!dave {o,o} Any opinions expressed are my own. Now, for a limited time, they can be yours too, for the incredible price of only $19.95.
hubcap@hubcap.UUCP (Mike Marshall) (02/15/89)
Just in case they think we don't appreciate them, I thought the coffee and danishes (my last usenix was this summer's SF) were great! -Mike Marshall hubcap@hubcap.clemson.edu
dyer@spdcc.COM (Steve Dyer) (02/16/89)
In article <4429@hubcap.UUCP> hubcap@hubcap.UUCP (Mike Marshall) writes: >Just in case they think we don't appreciate them, I thought the >coffee and danishes (my last usenix was this summer's SF) were great! However, unlike last Summer's danish, the San Diego pastries disappeared immediately as the conference attendees swarmed out of the hall towards the tables like so many locusts. Short, polite people (like me) who didn't have a goon running interference for them missed out. I'd recommend at least one refill. Oh, also, could someone tell the hotel staff not to reclaim the coffee and cups until the next session starts, please... Thanks. As long as we're bareing our tritest refreshment pet peeves, I *HATE* tutorials whose teachers are so self-absorbed that the classes run 20 minutes into the break, leading to a variation on the paragraph above. -- Steve Dyer dyer@ursa-major.spdcc.com aka {ima,harvard,rayssd,linus,m2c}!spdcc!dyer dyer@arktouros.mit.edu
fuat@cunixc.cc.columbia.edu (Fuat C. Baran) (02/17/89)
In article <4429@hubcap.UUCP> hubcap@hubcap.UUCP (Mike Marshall) writes: >Just in case they think we don't appreciate them, I thought the >coffee and danishes (my last usenix was this summer's SF) were great! > >-Mike Marshall hubcap@hubcap.clemson.edu The food was ok, though the waiters guarding the tables were incredibly obnoxious. I saw one attendee get yelled at for peeking under the covers before the "10:30 sharp" coffee break, and another had his coffee cup confiscated because he dared to pour himself a cup before the official break time... --Fuat -- INTERNET: fuat@columbia.edu U.S. MAIL: Columbia University BITNET: fuat@cunixc.cc.columbia.edu Center for Computing Activities USENET: ...!rutgers!columbia!cunixc!fuat 712 Watson Labs, 612 W115th St. PHONE: (212) 854-5128 New York, NY 10025
roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) (02/19/89)
fuat@cunixc.cc.columbia.edu (Fuat C. Baran) writes: > I saw one attendee get yelled at for peeking under the covers before the > "10:30 sharp" coffee break, and another had his coffee cup confiscated > because he dared to pour himself a cup before the official break time... Considering that the people who didn't get out of the conference rooms until 10:30:01 were sometimes reduced to hunting for something to eat or drink because there wasn't any left, I think confiscated early-bird coffee wasn't such a bad idea (if somewhat draconian in its implementation). Actually, much more of a problem than the (probably unavoidable) rush of 2000 lunging for coffee and danish were the people who got out fast and grabbed 2 or 3 danishes (yes, I saw of people with stacks of danish on their plates). Considering that after all these years we still havn't figured out an efficient and fair way to schedule CPU time, I'm not surprised we havn't figured out an efficient and fair way to distribute coffe and danish either. My pet peeve was that there wasn't any lemon for the tea. Whoever ran the catering was obviously a coffee drinker! BTW, the box lunches on Monday and Tuesday were a good idea. They weren't the best, but the time saved was well worth it. Most people were done eating lunch this way before they would have even been seated if they had to look for a restaurant to eat in. -- Roy Smith, System Administrator Public Health Research Institute {allegra,philabs,cmcl2,rutgers}!phri!roy -or- phri!roy@uunet.uu.net "The connector is the network"
avolio@decuac.dec.com (Frederick M. Avolio) (02/20/89)
I suggest that rather than reinvent the wheel -- there's an old cliche, eh? -- the Usenix planning folks should talk to the DECUS Board and find out how all of this is handled at DECUS. DECUS has been handling 4000 -- 7000 people at conferences for a while now. The breaks work. The coffee is even pretty good. :-) But the point is, it all seems to work well. Apologies if this has been suggested already. Fred
ed@mtxinu.COM (Ed Gould) (02/22/89)
>I suggest that rather than reinvent the wheel -- there's an old cliche, eh? -- >the Usenix planning folks should talk to the DECUS Board and find out how all >of this is handled at DECUS. DECUS has been handling 4000 -- 7000 people at >conferences for a while now. The breaks work. The coffee is even pretty >good. :-) But the point is, it all seems to work well. I have to disagree. Having been to several DECUS incarnations, I haven't found that the breaks really work any better than at Usenix. From my experience, they're worse: I've *never* gotten to a coffee-between- sessions break before the pastries were all gone. I've only sometimes made it to a "continental breakfast" before a tutorial - even when I was teaching - before the interesting stuff was gone. The real answer to the problem of vanishing pastries is politeness! People need to realize that there are a limited number of Danish available, and that if the trays are full it's because the bulk of the attendees haven't gotten out yet. Use a bit of restraint: take only one until others have had their chance. -- Ed Gould mt Xinu, 2560 Ninth St., Berkeley, CA 94710 USA ed@mtxinu.COM +1 415 644 0146 "I'll fight them as a woman, not a lady. I'll fight them as an engineer."
rcd@ico.ISC.COM (Dick Dunn) (02/22/89)
> The food was ok, though the waiters guarding the tables were > incredibly obnoxious. I saw one attendee get yelled at for peeking > under the covers before the "10:30 sharp" coffee break... There's no call for them to have been obnoxious about it, certainly--there is never a call for rudeness in service professions. (There are other ways to deal with the inevitable pushy people.) However, there's a problem here which is at least slightly addressed by holding off the goodies until the break really starts--i.e., the end of the last presentation before the break. That is the commotion created by people bopping out early to be sure they don't have to wait for their cup of coffee. By promoting the idea that the refreshments aren't available until the break, you improve the situation inside the (inevitably very large) hall. It's bad enough as it is with the constant coming and going through the doors to the hall. No sense encouraging it. There's a fair contingent of folks devoid of social graces (there, was that subtle enough?) at USENIX. -- Dick Dunn UUCP: {ncar,nbires}!ico!rcd (303)449-2870 ...Just say no to mindless dogma.
libes@cme.nbs.gov (Don Libes) (02/23/89)
Several people have noted that they liked the fruit at the hospitality suites. Well how about fruit at the morning/afternoon breaks, then? It's cheaper for USENIX and healthier for the attendees. I'm not asking for much - let me suggest spending 1/10 of the danish funds on fruit the first day, and adjust for following days based on what is left over. While I'm at it, spend 1/10 of the soda funds on fruit juice (100% please, none of this "cocktail" stuff). Don Libes libes@cme.nbs.gov ...!uunet!cme-durer!libes