John Duncan wrote:
> 
> Wow, this has really, truly gotten out of hand.  You know, everyone can have
> the most conveniently located Squeak meeting, provided only one person is
> expected to attend.  What I was hoping for was to aggregate, in a reasonably
> geographically-centered location, a large portion of the people who thought
> SqueakEnd was a really cool idea but for whom getting out to Santa Barbara
> was just not going to happen.
> 
> You know, if there is consensus from the GATech people, for example, to
> drive up to Boston to have SqueakEast there, as well as our guy in Michigan,
> and the people in Florida, hey, great, let's have it there.  I just figured
> that Pittsburgh is a great place to do it for a few reasons:
> 
> 1. Relatively central location from Midwest, Canada, Northeast, southeast.
> 2. I can get my hands on some university space
> 3. Hotels are much cheaper than NY or Boston
> 
> But, I'm sure you'll find that on the east coast we're not quite as densely
> packed into one area as they are out west.  We have no Silicon Valley,
> rather there is Boston, NYC, the Research Triangle, Atlanta, etc.  All of
> these places are significant in the high-tech industries.
> 
> I just think that if this whole thing fragments into SqNY, BaySqueak, Squeak
> Triangle, Peach Squeak, etc., then the people who go to each individual
> place are people who could have simply called each other up and asked if
> they wanted to hang out at a coffee shop with their laptops.
> 
> I've been in discussion with the people at Stage3, and Jeff Pierce said he'd
> be interested in dropping by to work with interested people on Squeak Alice.
> Of course, if the whole thing fragments, it'll be just Jeff and me, i.e.,
> not worth it because i'm not as sophisticated as other people who could show
> up.
> 
> *Sigh*
> 
> I don't know what to do...

John,

All is not lost!  Having one unified SqueakEndEast is a great idea.  For
many on this list, we are just faceless names that periodically post (or
lurk) on this list.  The first SqueakEnd, and your idea of a SqueakEast
served as a catalyst for others to get together, not only to discuss
Squeak, but to finally meet each other.  A strong desire for numerous
people to join together is always a positive thing.

For the same reason that many of us did not attend the first SqueakEnd,
is the same reason for not attending a SqueakEnd is Pittsburgh: money or
time.  The goal should be to have one massive gettogether in Pittsburgh
this year, maybe Atlanta the next, Boston after that, etc...
Having one bigger meeting also has the advantage of perhaps having
someone from Squeak Central attend.

Your reasons for Pittsburgh as the ideal location are great.  I propose
that we keep that location for a possible SqueakEast location.  However,
we should encourage as many people as possible on this list to meet
face-to-face.  I never spoke or even replied to an e-mail from Carl,
Chris or David, but they work *minutes* away from me.  I had lunch in
Lexington yesterday and in Lowell today.  We are that close.  How much
Squeak can we discuss during a Chinese food lunch in Burlington?  Not
much, but I would love to meet some fellow Squeakers.  Your coffee shop
analogy is not such a bad thing after all.

Regards,

Ivan

-- 

Ivan Brusic                          |  "Computers are nothing but a
perfect
E-mail: ibrusic at wsicorp.com          |   illusion of order" - Iggy Pop