The dangers of success
XP Days Benelux 2008 was a success, as evidenced by all the smiling people in the conference pictures and the positive feedback about the conference and the sessions.
But…
- Many people couldn’t participate because the conference was sold out. We cap the number of participants to (on average) 30 per track, so that the sessions can be interactive with participation from all attendees.
- Many participants were frustrated because choosing one session meant not being able to attend a session in the four other tracks.
- Good sessions improve when they’re run again as the presenters incorporate feedback. We do have a collaborative session proposal refinement system, but after the XP Days it’s done.
- How can we reach more people? If we grow the conference and allow more people we will either dilute the experience (more participants per track) or need to add more tracks. With more participants, the organisation becomes more complex. There is a greater risk that the participants will split in groups of people with similar interests and backgrounds so that there’s less exchange of ideas.
- The organisation of XP Days is done by volunteers. We all have a limited amount of time we can invest.
How can we solve these problems and make the XP Days even better?
Mini XP Day – XP Days greatest hits
Mini XP Day is a one day event where we rerun eight of the most liked sessions of the previous year. It’s a second chance to participate in these sessions.
There are only two tracks, so participation is limited to 60. Such a small event requires less effort and time than a full XP Day conference. For example, there’s no session improvement and selection process to go through.
The preliminary program (two sessions have not yet been confirmed) is now online.
So, here’s you chance to go to four great XP Days sessions.
Don’t wait too long to take it.
Pictures by Xavier Quesada
