I responded to Bess regarding question #1.  (A "yes, I am interested.")

> 2. What kind of format would folks like to see for this event?

My personal preference is not to travel with a laptop, plus I'm
old-school, so I would favor more of a lecture/presentation format.

> 3. Some folks on #code4lib feel that we should charge a registration
> fee, and some folks feel that we should not. The arguments in favor
> of a reg fee (think around $20) are...

I'd gladly part with $20 (and in cash, if that will reduce the red-tape)
to get an in-depth look at how Lucene works.

-- Michael

# Michael Doran, Systems Librarian
# University of Texas at Arlington
# 817-272-5326 office
# 817-688-1926 cell
# [log in to unmask]
# http://rocky.uta.edu/doran/

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Bess Sadler
> Sent: Monday, November 20, 2006 9:53 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [CODE4LIB] code4lib pre-conference: lucene and solr workshop
>
> Dear fellow code4libbers,
>
> In conjunction with the upcoming code4lib conference, we are trying
> to organize a one day pre-conference event around lucene and solr.
> (See http://lucene.apache.org/java/docs/index.html and http://
> incubator.apache.org/solr/ if you don't know what these words mean.)
> Erik Hatcher, one of the authors of _Lucene in Action_  (http://
> lucenebook.com/) has volunteered to lead it. This is an exciting
> opportunity for anyone who works with (or who wants to learn how to
> work with) lucene and/or solr, a webservices wrapper for lucene.
>
> My questions for the code4lib ad-hocracy are:
>
> 1. How many participants would we have for such an event? Attending
> would involve showing up for the conference a day early to
> participate in a full-day event. Please email [log in to unmask] if
> you would be interested in attending so we can gauge interest. The
> number of people who want to attend will help to determine the answer
> to question #2...
>
> 2. What kind of format would folks like to see for this event? If we
> have 50 people or less, it has been suggested that we have a half day
> lecture /  half day hands-on workshop, where people bring their own
> laptops and data sets and we try to get people up and running in
> their own context and with their own data. Think old-school linux
> install-fest meets Access hack-fest. Alternatively, if we have much
> more interest, we could either do just a lecture / discussion, or
> else we could break into groups if we can get more people to
> volunteer to be helpers. Erik, justifiably, doesn't feel he can serve
> as a hands-on advisor for 100 people. For the hands-on portion to
> work with a large group, we would need a significant number of people
> with wi-fi enabled computers to bring their equipment and their data,
> as well as enough people with lucene/solr experience to help Erik
> answer questions and troubleshoot.
>
> 3. Some folks on #code4lib feel that we should charge a registration
> fee, and some folks feel that we should not. The arguments in favor
> of a reg fee (think around $20) are that without a financial
> commitment people sometimes sign up for a workshop and then don't
> attend. Also, with a reg fee we could provide coffee / donuts /
> whatever. Arguments against a reg fee are that the conference
> organizers might not want to deal with it, we like to keep things as
> free and bureaucracy-free as possible, and since the room isn't
> costing us $$ and Erik is volunteering his time (everyone remember to
> buy Erik a drink when you see him) why charge $$ if we aren't paying $
> $? For what it's worth I was originally in favor of charging
> registration, but I have now changed my mind since Erik assures me he
> does not expect to be compensated (with money, that is. I'm sure
> he'll be getting lots of whuffie.)
>
> Please respond to [log in to unmask] to be counted in the tally for
> question #1, and please respond to the list to discuss questions #2
> and #3.
>
> Thank you!
>
> Bess
>
>
>
> Elizabeth (Bess) Sadler
> Head, Technical and Metadata Services
> Digital Scholarship Services
> Box 400129
> Alderman Library
> University of Virginia
> Charlottesville, VA 22904
>
> [log in to unmask]
> (434) 243-2305
>