[EuroPython] Talk lengths

[John Pinner]

On 15/04/2008, Peter Bulychev <peter.bulychev at gmail.com> wrote:
> I think that we should make the schedule more flexible.

Unfortunately this does not work in a multi-track conference. It is
very frustrating for delegates who want to go to talks in different
tracks when they don't run precisely to schedule.

If you want flexibility, you run an unconference or barcamp, or, in
EuroPython, use Open Space.

> Of course, every
> speaker knows, how long is his presentation, but he doesn't know how many
> questions there will be.
>
> I've seen the following situation on several conferences: in the high point
> of the discussion the chairman said: "Ok, let's stop, it's time for another
> presentation" :)
>
> I think, that the power of the conferences like EuroPython is in their
> informality:
> if the topic is really interesting, it should be discussed.

That's why we have Open Space.

John
--

> 2008/4/15 John Pinner <funthyme at gmail.com>:
>
> >
> >
> > On 11/04/2008, M.-A. Lemburg <mal at egenix.com> wrote:
> > > On 2008-04-01 23:12, Dinu Gherman wrote:
> > >  > M.-A. Lemburg:
> > >  >
> > >  >> The comments on talk length are interesting... 30 minutes were
> > >  >> considered too short. I found 30 minutes a bit short as well
> > >  >> last time I did a talk in Vilnius. If you want to have discussions
> > >  >> and more time switching between talks, then 45 minutes are a lot
> > >  >> better, IMHO: 30 minutes talk, 10 minutes discussion, 5 minutes
> break
> > >  >> and switching.
> > >  >>
> > >  >> What do others think ?
> > >  >
> > >  >
> > >  > I assume, the average speaker likes to give longer talks and the
> > >  > average listener likes to consume shorter talks - a least for
> > >  > average talks.
> > >  >
> > >  > If you need prove that exceptional talks can be less than 20 min-
> > >  > utes have a look at ted.com, maybe starting here:
> > >  >
> > >  >    http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/92  (Hans
> Rosling)
> > >  >    http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/140 (Hans
> Rosling)
> > >  >    http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/229 (Jill Bolte
> Taylor)
> > >  >    http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/237 (Clifford
> Stoll)
> > >  >
> > >  > Thanks to Laura for pointing me to Hans Rosling's videos.
> > >
> > >
> > > Thanks, I like those TED talks as well, but their scope is different.
> > >
> > >  If you stick to the 30/60 schedule, please at least tell the speakers
> > >  (and the track managers) to leave 5 minutes at the end for switching.
> >
> > Yes, we really must start enforcing this.
> >
> > And there should be no problem scheduling a mix of 30, 45 and 60 minutes
> talks.
> >
> > John
> > --
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > EuroPython mailing list
> > EuroPython at python.org
> > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/europython
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Best regards,
>  Peter Bulychev.