We experimented with the keynote format this year. Rather than daily 90-minute talks, we had 60-minute and 15-minute keynotes. The format seemed to work well.
The choice of keynote speakers and talks also seemed to work well. It's impossible to satisfy everyone, and foolish to try. I believe keynotes should not be music to everyone's ears, but should be challenging as well as informative. I think this year's mix of technical and general talks was successful. What do you think?
We also had short keynotes from our diamond sponsors (White Oak Technologies and Google). While I heard some grumbles of discontent, most feedback was very positive.
Should we change the keynote format further, keep this year's format, or return to the old format? Should we continue having diamond sponsor keynotes in 2009, or drop them, or modify them in some way? We'll be discussing these issues and more over the coming months.
I'd like to thank Noah Kantrowitz for wrangling details from keynote speakers.
Comments