[LispSea] creating a Lisp seminar in Seattle

[Daniel J Pezely]

While our list was unavailable, I exchanged email and telephone
calls with a few people...


First, a quick summary of LispSea:

	Programmers here want training, and software development
managers need answers to the usual questions about minimizing
risk, where to find future employees, etc.
Our charter: "promote, nurture & expand Lisp in Seattle"


Monthly presentations can be useful, but what's really needed:

Create a 1-2 day seminar with programmer versus business tracks.


	One and a half days would be ideal, similar in format to
other local events that you might be familiar with, such as the
Microsoft Meltdown where they cater to local game developers.

It would offer various levels of training, much like an
interactive version of the available Lisp movies as well as a
crash-course for those finding that merely possessing a book or
.mov isn't enough.  Also address deeper topics: forums on
porting/portability of your code, optimization, mixed language
interop, etc but from the perspective of programmers at bottom of
the food chain.


	No, this isn't to replace the International Lisp
Meetings.  Each serves a different purpose, a different crowd.
This is more for the cross-over programmer and dev managers who
want to be on the leading edge.

	Yes, it's a lot of work.  I've helped with producing
niche events at SIGGRAPH, NAB and others as well as having been
the token programmer in an expo booth at various trade shows.
So... I have a good idea of what I'm getting myself into here.


I'm not so much asking whether you /like/ the idea or not...
Some believe that seminars are a waste of time, and if you're
one, this isn't for you.

I'm asking those who would consider attending such a thing:
What would you like to see at such an event?

-Daniel