I won't Go to FOSDEM next year
I don’t think I will be going to FOSDEM next year.
Last year, in 2013, I was lucky enough to get a seat in the Python track by grabbing a chair one talk earlier than planned. 3 talks went on with the room overcrowded in a sickening heat and I congratulated myself for coming extra-early - the previous talk was not that bad anyway.
Following another track, I was lucky to be able to sit or stand against a wall in yet another full room. So the idea was not to move too much around. Cherry-picking your sessions can be hazardous as your forfeit your seat (or even your spot in a corner of the room).
Yet I was happy to contribute financially.
This year, I got lazy and I arrived only 15 minutes before a Go talk, in the middle of the morning. What was I thinking ? Sorry sir, no seat left, and this year you can’t enter the room. I understand that; it was probably unsafe to let so many people in last year.
By the time you’re facing a closed door, it is too late to join the Python track. Same scenario as last year, the room is packed full of people.
At this point, I didn’t want to take a chance on my third choice and to queue a half hour only to realise that people are not leaving the room after the current talk is over. And I suspect this is a vicious circle : the more entries are denied, the more people stick to their seat.
FOSDEM is obviously the victim of its own success and has managed to outgrow its venue - no less than a university campus! But I’m getting too old for this.
Slightly disappointed, I went back home. I still have presentations to catch up on Parleys.