Attendees Meet and Greet
We know that as well as hearing great talks many people attend YAPC so that they can meet others who contribute to Perl, whom they may never have met in person before, and to socialise with members of the Perl community.
This year we will be starting the conference with a meet and greet session. We want everyone to get the most out of their time at YAPC and we are hoping that by setting time aside specifically so that people can introduce themselves to people they don't know that our conference will get off to a fantastic start.
Looking forward to speaking to you soon!
A blog about YAPC Europe
I organized a newbie event at YAPC in Madison, and it was certainly low rent and designed to be that way.
I cajoled a bunch of Perl's big names to have lunch with four YAPC newbies each. People signed up on a poster board by the organizers' desk, which also served as the meeting place for everyone.
The name and the newbies met at the time they signed up for and took the Perl name to lunch.
Easy peasy. Not only do a bunch of newbies have a shared experience and some people they know, but they got to have lunch with a person they probably never thought they'd be able to approach.
It's a bit more structured than an informal mixer where you hope a room full of introverts have might trouble kicking off conversations. It's a bit more intimate and a lot less intimidating. I'd like to see that sort of thing at every big Perl event.