CDR: Re: europe physical meeting

[Tom Vogt]

Tim May wrote:
> First, good luck on your meeting.

thanks.


> * we in the Bay Area have had numerous informal gatherings at coffee
> shops, outdoor seating areas, other public areas (a la '2600"). And
> this is with an attendance sometimes reaching 50.
> 
> (Which, in my crotchety opinion, is too high. Attendance over about
> 20 tends to make the event a lecture rather than a gathering.)

yepp, this is a meeting, not a congress. :)


> * agendas are seldom needed. We got by in the first, and most
> interesting, few years of the Cypherpunks will little or no agenda in
> advance. We sat around a table or on the floor and we talked.
> Sometimes someone got up and went to a blackboard, if available, and
> drew pictures.

I'd like to have a few agenda items as "starters". you know, to avoid
people sitting around, wondering "ok, I'm here - what now?". I'm fairly
sure that once things get started, any attempt at planning will go out
the window anyways.



> * too much of a formal agenda tends to encourage "guest speakers,"
> which, in my view, is _not_ a good idea. Sometimes a notable guest
> speaker is a good idea, but usually the result is that someone not
> part of the culture talks about what his or her company or
> organization is doing...things which are readily discoverable from
> Web sources.

agree on that.



> * and don't be afraid to discuss politics and political implications
> of technologies. 

we won't - if nothing else, I'll be heavily discussing the DVD/CSS
problem.


> In conclusion, I encourage you to just "hang loose." ("lose sein")

"locker sein" :)

we will. (I hope)