Front page | perl.perl5.porters |
Postings from September 2000
perlsocial.pod
Thread Next
From:
rspier
Date:
September 4, 2000 19:43
Subject:
perlsocial.pod
Message ID:
14772.24023.368328.728426@rls.cx
I had started writing this a few months ago, and found it this
evening while trying to clean out $HOME.
'perlsocial.pod' - kind of a mini guide to meeting other perl-people.
It needs a little work, and I'm not even quite sure if it's
appropriate to include, but since it might be, I figured I'd put it
out there.
-R
=head1 NAME
perlsocial - Socializing with The Perl Community
=head1 OVERVIEW
First and foremost perl is a programming language. But around this
language a community has formed. You won't find the same kind of
community around C, Python, TCL, or Java. The Perl Community is
special.
"Perl people" get together socially. For many it is a rare occasion
to get out of a cubicle and see sunlight. But most "perl people" live
full and rewarding lives, having varied interests and talents.
There are several organizations / events at which you can find and
meet perl people.
B<NOTE:> This document is about meeting perl people for the purpose of
fun (and some education.) It is NOT about getting tech support --
while some of the organizations / events are also places you can get
help, there are better places to go.
=head1 DETAILS
=head2 Perl Mongers
Perl Mongers (http://www.pm.org/) is the primary Perl Advocacy and
Social organization. It coordinates user groups around the world.
(At the time of this writing, July 1, 2000, there are 291 groups.)
Different Monger groups do different things. But they are all good
ways to meet other perl programmers in a social setting.
=over 4
=item * Technical Talks
Many groups hold technical talks. These events tend to be about an
hour long, and someone presents on a perl (or computer) related
topic.
Often groups are able to invite a "perl guru" to give a technical
talk, but this isn't necessary. Anyone can give a talk.
=item * Social Events
These events range from a monthly dinner, to a happy hour, or even
bowling.
=item * Special Events
This is the "everything else category" and consists of things from
cleaning out a members basement, to bike-a-thons.
=back
=head2 YAPC / YAS
"Yet Another Perl Conference" (http://www.yapc.org/) is organized by
the Yet Another Society. YAPC is a grassroots conference generally
held in the Eastern USA to provide a cheaper lower-key conference for
those who cannot attend TPC. (see below.) The conference admission
fee is around $75, and housing is generally less than $25 a night. As
of this writing, there are also plans to hold a YAPC::Europe
conference. It is generally held in mid-June.
Because all the presenters at YAPC are volunteers, it gives it a
different feel.
As with any conference, there is lots of opportunity to meet people
and do fun things with them. (Not all of these events are directly
affiliated with the conference, but may be organized by individuals.)
YAPC 19100 included talks and tutorials from many perl luminaries, as
well as many interesting talks from "normal people". (Just like you
and me.)
Socially, there were several parties, a paint-ball game, a Quizzo game,
and random casual discussions at 1AM with the people whose names
you'll recognize: Larry Wall, Randal Schwartz, Mark-Jason Dominus, and
others.
YAPC is a blast. It's cheap, fun, and easy to get to. (If you're on
the East Coast.) Attend it if you can.
=head2 TPC
The Perl Conference (http://conferences.ora.com) is organized by
publisher O'Reilly and Associates. It is part of the ORA Open Source
Convention, which is a _big_ conference. Admission is around $800,
and tutorials are extra. It is held in California in mid-July.
=head2 Perl Whirl
GeekCruises.com (http://www.geekcruises.com) organizes cruises for
programmers. The most recent PerlWhirl (perl cruise) went from
Vancouver to Alaska in May 2000. The next Perl Whirl is tentatively
scheduled for early 2002.
The cruise is half vacation and half conference. Everyone who went on
the past cruise enjoyed it, including the couple who got married on a
glacier.
=head2 #perl
"pound perl" (http://pound.perl.org/) on the Eris Free IRC Network
(http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/networks/servers/efnet.html) is the
largest perl channel on IRC.
(For more general information on IRC, visit (http://www.irchelp.org))
It is _not_ a help-desk. (Some other #perl's on other IRC networks
are.)
Discussions on #perl range from perl (of course) to the weather in
Bangalore, and back from z to a. This is a neat place to just hangout
and chat about whatever.
But read the rules first, or the regulars will, for lack of a better
term, "beat you."
=head1 AUTHOR
Robert Spier <rspier@cpan.org>
--
Thread Next