What's a Usenix Conference like?

[Don Libes]

In article <23924 at bellcore.bellcore.com> mo at messy.UUCP (Michael O'Dell) writes:
>At the risk of being biased, I'll take a quick shot at this.

You're biased, Mike.  You left out some things I think are important.
(What?  You weren't thinking of me?!)

It really is helpful to know how to "do USENIX".  Here is how I do it:

Go to as many technical talks as possible.  Even though some appear
irrelevant to your interests, they really are worthwhile (and often
entertaining).  (If they are really irrelevant to your interests, why
are you there?)  Many talks are quite complementary to what appears in
the proceedings, so just reading a paper alone is half the story.

If at all possible you should stay until the end of the conference,
Friday afternoon.  (No, I am not speaking Friday!)  Friday's talks are
just as good as Thursday's, but many people cut out early on Friday.
I think that is a mistake.  (Plus, they usually close out the
conference with some good jokes.)  So you'll get home a little late
on Friday.  Tough.  (Hey, I live on the East coast!)

Don't plan on attending any outside evening dinner/entertainment.  I.e.
forget Anaheim.  (We're helped in this regard because there is nothing
to see in Anaheim except perhaps Disneyland.)  USENIX bofs are so much
better.  For example, the BSD bof is always exciting as they announce
what is/isn't going to be in the next release.  Even the standards
bof tends to be hilarious (in a sick sort of way).

Consider the Wednesday party your fancy dinner for the week.  USENIX
does a good job on these, and since it is the 15th anniversary there
will probably be something special (though nothing will top NCC when one
of the companies (Microsoft?) rented out Disneyland for the attendees).

I've always been annoyed that the pre-conference program goes into
lengthy detail about the tutorials but almost nothing on the technical
talks.  Because of that, you should read the Proceedings abstracts as
soon as you can (before you go to bed the first evening you arrive) so
you can decide which talks are of interest to you.  Many of the talks
are double-tracked, either by other talks, the misnamed "concurrent
sessions", WiPs, etc. and you want to make choices in advance.

Speaking of WiPs (Works-in-Progress), I think this can be really
worthwhile, but it's dependent upon people submitting stuff, so you
can't depend on it.  Last year's Baltimore WiPs was a total zero,
maybe due to lack of publicity, but I've heard some really great
things at WiPs in the past.  Hopefully, the WiPs chair will post a
list of WiPs in advance of the actual session.  (Right now would
be a good time!)

Plan in advance when you want to see the exhibits.  I've deliberately
left Tuesday free so I could see them.  Of course, for you it is too
late to juggle your schedule, and now you will probably have to skip
several sessions to do so.  (And don't forget to get your face saved.)

For this very reason, you should come to the conference on Tuesday,
even if you are not attending a tutorial.  Also, the bofs start
Tuesday evening.  If you are not attending a tutorial, there is no
reason to come on Monday, as nothing is open and there will be nothing
for you to do.  There is also a "conference orientation" Tuesday
evening which may very well cover stuff like I'm mentioning here, but
I've never been to one.

If it comes down to choosing a talk that might be worthwhile, or
seeing a product, go for the talk.  This is a technical conference,
after all!  Most of us can see products any time.  Plus a lot of
vendors set up hospitality suites with their products in the evening.
(I'll let someone else report on the hospitality suite scene.)

The ever popular "jobs" bulletin board is something that you may want
to check out.  If this interests you, come prepared with resumes or
job descriptions to post.  The funnier the better (at least for my
enjoyment).

It is also helpful to come with an agenda, such as getting a
number of questions answered.  This is an excellent place to
buttonhole technies whose companies otherwise never let them out of
the basement.  And after substantial quantities of alcohol have been
consumed at a hospitality suite, answers come much more easily.
And since dmr will be there, it is another opportunity to get a plaster
cast of his anatomy, or you can bring books to be autographed, etc.

Lastly, you can also take me out to lunch.

Don Libes          libes at cme.nist.gov      ...!uunet!cme-durer!libes