USENIX conferences

[Deborah Scherrer]

                  Scheduling and Content of USENIX Meetings
                      A Message to the USENIX Membership

                          Alan Nemeth, USENIX President


     At the Summer '84 Salt Lake USENIX conference, we took a survey of atten-
dees to get input on a number of topics related to the conferences.  For exam-
ple, most people felt that a printed conference proceedings available on-site
was very useful.  For this reason, the Dallas conference organizers worked
very hard to produce a proceedings, and we intend to continue the practice.

     Among others, the following policy issues were covered in the survey:

 1. Should USENIX hold one or two conferences per year?

 2. Is it desirable to hold one USENIX conference jointly with /usr/group?

     A majority of those surveyed answered "yes" to both questions.  However,
both questions may have been tied together in many minds:  it was assumed that
if two conferences were held yearly, then one of them would be held jointly
with the /usr/group UniForum show (which is held yearly each winter).  In
response to the survey and the general direction of the UniForum show, we
developed the idea that UniForum would be a huge UNIX trade show/conference,
and USENIX could have one of its technical meetings at the same place (thus
minimizing travel time and expense for the many attendees who want both kinds
of information).  Our conference would be a bit shorter, so as to easily coex-
ist with UniForum.  The other (summer) USENIX conference would be longer, and
would have its own vendor show.  The vendor show would be smaller that Uni-
Forum, with a different focus.

     In order to hold a joint conference, both organizations must agree to the
following:

 1. Registration procedures and policies.

 2. Division of revenues and expenses.

 3. Show/conference management procedures.

 4. Promotion.

 5. Allocation of hotel, conference, and exhibit space.

     As the two organizations have somewhat different goals and methods, it is
not surprising that there is opportunity for controversy and dispute.  In past
years, there have indeed been a number of disputes.  These disputes have been
sharpened and intensified by internal debates within each organization about
their respective rolls in the community.  Both organizations have been adapt-
ing to changing conditions and goals.  Finally, meetings of any size (e.g.
1500 or more) must be planned and scheduled with long lead times.  It is not
easy to find good facilities.  Hotel and convention facilities must be booked
well in advance, with severe financial penalties for cancellation.  (If we had
decided to cancel the Dallas conference after the hotel contract had been
signed, we would have been liable for on the order of $100,000 in damages.)

     In line with the survey results, the USENIX Association held its Dallas
conference at the same time and in the same city as UniForum.  It was not pos-
sible to reach agreement with /usr/group to allow simple cross-registration in
both conferences, although complementary registration to the trade show was
arranged.  There was also some geographic separation of sites (with shuttle
bus service or a seven minute cab ride).  Our conference seemed to go well.
Although the USENIX conference and UniForum were separate events, our confer-
ence was designed to be non-competitive, concentrating on the more technical
aspects of UNIX systems.  We also shortened the conference by one day.  This
reduced the overlap of sessions, thus making it more convenient for our
members to also attend the UniForum show.

     As noted above, to have a fully-integrated joint conference, there must
be good agreement on all major issues, and this agreement must be reached well
in advance.  We were not able to reach a suitable agreement with respect to
the Winter '86 UniForum show in Anaheim.  Again, we could not resolve all
issues related to a full joint conference.  We did explore repeating the Dal-
las setup - separate conference, but in the same city at the same time.  How-
ever, all suitable hotel space was already booked by UniForum.  A hotel would
have to release /usr/group from its contract, and replace it with USENIX.
/usr/group stated that the hotel space could not be released to USENIX.  (It
appears that the same may also hold true for 1987.)  Therefore, we were faced
with three alternatives:

 1. Cancel the Winter '86 USENIX meeting.

 2. Hold the meeting at the same time in the closest city with a suitable
    facility, in this case Los Angeles or San Diego (nothing closer is avail-
    able).  Commuting times from USENIX to UniForum would then be at least one
    hour, and perhaps two hours.

 3. Hold the meeting at some other time and place.

     We chose option 3.  No option is entirely suitable.  Our membership has
stated a preference for two meetings a year.  Option 2 seemed incredibly
inconvenient for attendees of both meetings.  Option 3 causes extra time and
travel expense for persons desiring to attend both conferences.  Many people
find it hard to budget even one conference per year.  A second conference can
sometimes be slipped in as a trade show involving sales activity, but three
conferences (one /usr/group, two USENIX) may be just too much.

     Since it is clear that not everyone will attend every conference, our
solution is to provide a smaller, more specialized winter meeting, and a
larger, more general summer meeting.  Our current thinking is that the winter
meeting will focus on specific topic areas, and may in fact consist mostly of
workshops rather than general sessions.

     Accordingly, we have scheduled our next winter conference for January
15-17, 1986 in Denver, Colorado, thus separating it by three weeks from the
UniForum show to be held February 3-7, 1986 in Anaheim, California.  Our next
summer conference is scheduled for June 11-14, 1985 in Portland, Oregon.

     Our members should note that, although /usr/group and USENIX will not be
meeting jointly in Anaheim, relations between the two organizations have been
steadily improving.  The direction of each organization has been changing, and
some of the conflicts of the past no longer apply.  It is possible that joint
conferences will be held in the future.  We would appreciate continued com-
ments from the membership on our conference directions.