Community Leaders' Weekend at JavaOne

The plan is to do it on the Saturday May 3rd just preceding JavaOne and (if needed) part of Sunday, exactly like last year.

Note that JavaOne again starts on Tuesday the 6th, not Monday, this year.

The NetBeans Software Day is on Monday the 5th.

CommunityOne will also be taking place Monday the 5th

Set-up in the Pavilion will again be Sunday and Monday.

• Location: Sun Microsystems (SF07), San Francisco Offices 500 Howard Street, San Francisco (a Sun office with a nice open space, a mile or so from Moscone).

Please go to the security desk and ask to be buzzed in.

See the notes below about Agenda Ideas for this year, and note the exciting proposed Un-Conference format!

Community Leaders Registration 2008

Please add your name to this list if you will definitely plan to attend for at least 5 hours between 9am and 5pm on *Saturday, May 3, 2008*
(Breakfast starts at 8:00AM.)

SUNDAY Update We will not have meetings on Sunday because there are other events planned, such as the GlassFish Unconference which starts Sunday and continues Monday at CommunityOne.

Confirmed Attendees

Ready to Lead

We will set the agenda as a group on Saturday morning, following the Un-Conference format proposed below. Listing a topic that you plan to propose for the agenda here is an option, not a requirement. If you have passion around a topic but not all the answers, sign up here to lead a discussion on that topic. If you have information you are willing to share, list it here also. If you are looking for ideas of how you might contribute to the day, check the next section.

• java.net NEXT, in three parts. (Marla Parker)
  • Part 1: more direct voice for the community. This is work that Chris and I have started already and I'll add a link here as soon as I document what we are doing (oops, better get on that....). In a nutshell, we are recruiting "contributors," which we originally called "stringers," a journalism term, to do a tour of duty of a few months sending potential front page content to contributors at jn-editorial dot djn. Each contributor has a particular focus, expertise, or new interest in a community or set of projects. Our goal is to work up to 6-10 such contributors at any one time, each sending one or more content submissions (which may be as little as a url with or without comment) per week. No more than half the contributors should be Sun staff at any one time.
  • Part 2: what should java.net become now? This question is discussed within Sun and periodically comes up outside of Sun with the JUG Leaders, Java Champions, and most recently the java.net Bloggers. I want to start this conversation in person and then continue it in a new public forum on java.net, with a few of us committed to active participation in the discussion so we can make some progress and avoid the radio silence that would kill the discussion. This will be a good opportunity to expose some of our key policies that are a real strength but are not very widely understood.
  • Part 3: new java.net presentation layer. Plans come and go and come around again for new infrastructure for java.net. If/when we migrate to a new infrastructure, there would be an opportunity to create a new presentation layer for java.net, or we could invent a new user experience even if CollabNet continues to provide the dev.java.net infrastructure, using methods similar to NetBeans^?.org, which has always had its own user experience although it is built on top of CollabNet.
• Future direction of the CollabNet platform. (Ken Mugrage)
  • Ken is the Director of Engineering for SFEE at CollabNet. He will speak to the future direction of the product and features that are of particular interest to the java.net community.
• Advanced Search in CEE (Shilpa Vora)
  • What CEE searches work? What CEE searches don't work?
  • Shilpa will take down a list. For the ones that work, add to Tips&Tricks page. For the ones that don't work, determine why.
• Project Page editing in CEE (Eric Renaud)
  • Tutorial on how to use project pages in CEE
  • Demo of JUG and FOSS templates
• Demonstration of knowledge sharing project (Shilpa Vora)
• Obtain suggestions on monthly tutorial and Q&A sessions (Shilpa Vora)
  • CN would like to begin a tutorial and Q&A series on specific topics to improve knowledge of features of the CEE platform
  • When should these tutorials take place? What frequency? Who should attend? Would all participants be able to use webex?
  • Suggested topics include Branding, Advanced Search, Project specific roles, Project page editing, etc.
  • Solicit further suggestions from CLs
• Should we change the project create version control system from cvs to svn?
  • there is no way to switch the default, we would just switch cvs off and turn svn only on, and put a note saying that if you really need cvs instead, to ask the community manager for it and we'll set it up for you.

Ideas for Sessions

These ideas have no committed leader for our face-to-face meeting as yet.

• Value of the Community?

• java.net wish list

• Add your ideas here

Proposed Format - The Un-Conference!

The Un-conference format has been in the press lately as Open Space or Mashup Camp. General consensus is that this could drive a very dynamic, interactive event, well-suited for our group!

There are some wonderful quotes about this format at the Open Space site but the comments that caught my eye and made me think about our group were:

• ...open space is based on the belief that we humans are intelligent, creative, adaptive, meaning- and fun-seeking. It sets the context for such creatures to come together knowing they are going to treat each other well. When this happens there is no limit to what can unfold.
• Open Space conferences have no keynote speakers, no pre-announced schedules of workshops, no panel discussions, no organizational booths. Instead, sitting in a large circle, participants learn in the first hour how they are going to create their own conference. Almost before they realize it, they become each other's teachers and leaders.
• Open Space is ... more highly organized than the best planning committee could possibly manage. It is also chaotic, productive and fun. No one is in control. A whirlwind of activity is guided from within by a handful of simple Open Space principles.

These principles are defined as:

• Everyone who comes to an Open Space conference must be passionate about the topic and willing to take some responsibility for creating things out of that passion.
• Whoever comes is the right people.
• Whatever happens is the only thing that could have.
• Whenever it starts is the right time.
• When it is over it is over.
• The Law of Two Feet: If you find yourself in a situation where you aren't learning or contributing, go somewhere else.

The Proposal

We will run this year's Community Leaders Weekend as an Un-conference. Everyone attending should bring some thoughts on topics. Sign up on this page to attend. The rest of the details, we will work through together Saturday morning!

Looking for the 2007 Meeting? Go to CommunityLeadersWeekend07 Looking for the 2006 Meeting? Go to CommunityLeadersWeekend06 Looking for the 2005 Meeting? Go to CommunityLeadersWeekend05