Help Choose the Speakers and Talks for Dev Days 2011 [London]

Question

We need your help to pick what speakers and talks you want to hear at Dev Days 2011! We're looking for 3-4 people (for each city) to join our Curriculum Committees - this group will be responsible for selecting the topics being covered and the speakers giving those talks.

This role has a lot of responsibility (since you'll be picking all the content for Dev Days). Ideal members should be heavily involved in the SO community, know the topics that people will find interesting, and have the time over the next month to put in at least 5 hours a week discussing options with your fellow committee members. Also, please only nominate yourself for the committee in the city that you are planning on attending Dev Days.

So, if you're interested in joining the curriculum committee, please submit your name as an answer below, along with a couple of sentences about why you'll be a strong addition to the team. You can also vote up people who you think would be good (the top 4 vote-getters aren't guaranteed to be the ones we select, but it will certainly weigh heavily in our decision).

Look forward to seeing you all at Dev Days 2011!

Answer 1

I am putting myself forward because:

1. I have been an active participant in SO for a long time, and think I have a feel for what interests the community. I answer questions in a relatively narrow band of topics because that's my specialism. I read much more widely.
2. I was the chair of the UK Oracle User Group Development SIG for many years, so I have prior experience of selecting speakers and assembling agendas.
3. I have spoken at conferences and SIGs many times, so I know what it's like from teh other side of the podium.

Answer 2

I'll be happy to help if there is need. I've been a speaker on a number of conferences in Europe and in the US, like SD West, all of the Borland Conferences, and many smaller events. Even if I'm mostly focused on Delphi, I have experience in many Web technologies and follow trends. Might also be interested in speaking, would there be a match between my expertise and the conference topics.

Answer 3

I think I could be quite helpful here:

• I organized the London Global Stack Overflow Meetup earlier this year.
• I have been active in the London BarCamp community for the last five years.
• I have been active in convention organizing (mostly SF conventions) for over 20 years.
• For two years I was the head of registration for a 1400 person convention, including it's first running year (which presents extra problems)

• I have also been involved in programming in a number of different conventions, including being the head of Programming for 500+ person convention held in the London Docklands last year.

• Most importantly, I understand that all of the above experience might be completely irrelevant to what needs to be done for this event :-)

Answer 4

I'd be happy to help. I'm mostly a lurker on SO - I read a lot but hardly ever comment - but I think I know what people would find interesting. I'm also a local Londoner so can also help with anything that requires physical presence.