Get Together With Birds of a Feather at DrupalCon Chicago!

Posted by Greg Dunlap on January 12, 2011

This year, DrupalCon will again be providing room for "Birds of a Feather" sessions, or BoFs as they are more commonly known (it is commonly pronounced 'boff'). These sessions allow ad-hoc groups to meet and discuss a particular interest, how to scratch a particular itch, or really any topic that is on their mind. The format is unstructured and the topics are all over the map. This is what makes them great.

BoFs are really an excellent way to address issues that may have a more narrow interest than regular conference sessions, or to get together a group of like-minded individuals to talk about common problems. For instance, the museum and library BoFs have always been popular places to hash out industry-specific issues and vent about internal struggles. The LGBT BoF has in the past provided the opportunity to address common concerns. We won't say that no topic is off-limits, but it is safe to say that any topic within the bounds of the Drupal Code of Conduct is safe for discussion.

In Chicago we will have six rooms for BoFs. Three of the rooms will have whiteboards and round tables with a capacity of around 50 people, while the other three will be setup more classroom style with projectors and large sticky-pads and a capacity of around 30 people. Best of all, the BOF rooms will be open 24 hours a day throughout the entire conference! Perfect for those late nights when your group stumbles back from the bar itching to write some novelty modules.

You’ll be able to sign up to schedule rooms and timeslots at the conference. If you are constrained to a particular time you will want to get your requests up early! However, you can get a head start on planning by posting a discussion in the BoF forum on the DrupalCon website.

With so many rooms available for so many hours, no topic or interest is too narrow. We could see "Sam Boyer presents Rocky Horror Picture Show as a one-man show every night at midnight." I hear that my colleague Johan Falk is interested in discussing "Using Rules, Views and Panels to feed your cat while on vacation". The options are unlimited and we can't wait to see what everyone comes up with. BoFs are what YOU make of them and if there is one thing we can always rely on, it is that the Drupal community never disappoints.

Comments

getting up to date with BoFs digitally?

Posted by Gábor Hojtsy on Wed, 2011-01-12 14:29

So I hear the hotel for the conference is *huge*, and we will be all around. Also, many people would book rooms elsewhere I guess. So the idea is that interested parties would need to stop by each rooms' schedule board multiple times a day to see what's up with the rooms? From previous experience, BoFs are usually even scheduled midday, and you probably hear about them after they were done.

Any plans for making this digital, so people could check the schedule on their handhelds, phones, tablets, laptops, etc. without needing to ensure you physically stop by at each room's schedule board multiple times a day?

It's not the death star

Posted by Cary Gordon on Mon, 2011-01-24 16:03

The hotel isn't that huge. In fact, even though we have plenty of space, the layout seems much more compact than it was in San Francisco.

We did have a very hi-tech solution in San Francisco. Every so often, I would go down to the lobby, snap the BoF whiteboards and post/tweet the image. It could have benefited by having more publicity, but it did work.

I am sure that we will have even more ways of keeping up-to-date in Chicago.

I agree strongly. Using a

Posted by Peter Wolanin on Wed, 2011-01-12 14:46

I agree strongly. Using a forum to organize BoF posts was a major #fail at the last couple Drupalcons. A onle DnD scheduler/display for BoFs was supposed to be part of the requirements for the contract for the Drupalcon site, so I want to make sure we get it.

Forums are for discussion, not scheduling

Posted by George DeMet on Wed, 2011-01-12 22:10

To be clear, we're only asking folks to use the forums for pre-conference discussion of what kind of BoFs they might like to participate in at DrupalCon Chicago, not for actual scheduling.

Further details on how to schedule your BoF will be announced closer to the conference, but we are committed to a solution that is as streamlined and as easy-to-use for as many people as possible.