Hi folks & friends,
I’d like to remind you to register for the current ConTeXt meeting (September 12–18 in Germany), we must close registration in about two weeks, and my list is still rather short.
https://meeting.contextgarden.net/2022/
If you registered early and got only an error message from the form, please register again. And please don’t think you could avoid a registration because everyone knows you’ll come (except Hans).
Otherwise it’s normal that you got no response from me (sorry!).
We have no Covid restrictions in Germany any more, even if the incidences are high, except that you must wear a mask in trains and are asked to in some other places. I’d ask you to test yourself before traveling.
It would be nice if you would register also for online attendance, just for my information. Since the regular online meetup would be during the conference, we will drop that.
Looking forward to seeing you soon, Hraban
Am 31.07.22 um 16:02 schrieb Henning Hraban Ramm via ntg-context:
Hi folks & friends,
I’d like to remind you to register for the current ConTeXt meeting (September 12–18 in Germany), we must close registration in about two weeks, and my list is still rather short.
https://meeting.contextgarden.net/2022/
If you registered early and got only an error message from the form, please register again. And please don’t think you could avoid a registration because everyone knows you’ll come (except Hans).
Otherwise it’s normal that you got no response from me (sorry!).
We have no Covid restrictions in Germany any more, even if the incidences are high, except that you must wear a mask in trains and are asked to in some other places. I’d ask you to test yourself before traveling.
It would be nice if you would register also for online attendance, just for my information. Since the regular online meetup would be during the conference, we will drop that.
Looking forward to seeing you soon, Hraban
Hi again,
Taco convinced me not to cancel the meeting due to a lack of participants, but I’d like to know why you (esp. if you attended previous meetings) decided not to come: * personal reasons (family etc.) * health (Covid, pox...) * financial (too expensive?) * ecological (avoid traveling) * time (bad date?) * place (too far? not comfortable enough?)
This might also affect upcoming meetings (2023 in Sibřina in September again, 2024 maybe earlier in Italy).
One person told me they wouldn’t attend conferences without mandatory face masks. (While it makes sense to wear a mask, I don’t think it does if you spend a week with the same people.)
Hraban
Dear Hraban,
Am 03.08.22 um 10:50 schrieb Henning Hraban Ramm via ntg-context:
Taco convinced me not to cancel the meeting due to a lack of participants, but I’d like to know why you (esp. if you attended previous meetings) decided not to come:
short answer. The meeting is in the holidays of my wife and she expects me to join her in a travel. ;-)
The long answer.
During the pandemic I stopped planning more than one month ahead. So the above mentioned travel isn't booked yet. For this reason I miss the early birds and maybe the booking of special things like a private room. (In fact I don't found information about accommodations on the website)
Before Corona I wanted to attend a meeting but didn't do it for two reasons.
1. I wasn't sure if I can follow the programe. Though I am not a bloody beginner, I am still at the basis of the learning curve. Many talks seems to be way above my understanding. (The same is true for the monthly video meetings.) But I am very interested in learning – I can even imagine that my cooperative would pay for it.
2. I always like to combine meetings with my passion to dance Tango. If a meeting is in a bigger city, chances are high that I could spend a couple of evenings in a local milonga. From Dreifelden to any milonga in NRW or Hessen I would need at least an hour by car.
In this year there are some things that might affect others as well.
Currently the first real life meetings starts again and I have to confess that it is not so easy to switch mentally to the pre-corona area. My cooperative will be present at the Bits&Bäume conference in Berlin and we are struggling to organize this. This sounds silly but all the processes of planning such an event must be restarted.
Corona isn't over and even boostered people have to lay down for at least one week and to stay away from work another one to recover from covid. So for that reason I am still very cautious – and I expect to take over more tasks at work when colleagues got ill from one day to another. So it is not a good time too stay away for one week to attend a meeting.
On the other hand I would really like to get into ConTeXt as I am convinced that it is the thing I need for my personal work and my work in my cooperative. So I would still like to attend a meeting.
What are the things I am interested in most?
I would like to take an intensive training.
Aside from the core functions I would like to learn more about integrations as this is what we are trying to do at Hostsharing at the moment. This could cover small things like automated business graphics with different tools to printing from TEI-XML to setup a single source publishing chain with Pandoc. The problems are in the details. ;-)
Another topic:
If we want to promote ConTeXt it would be nice to have small meetings on bigger meetings like FOSDEM in Belgium or FrOSCon in Germany. (I was so bold to propose a workshop at FrOSCon and alas it was accepted!) At FrOSCon and FOSDEM you can get a developer room to make your own programe. That would be a good place for introductory workshops.
I hope that this is of some value for you.
Thank you very much for organizing the meeting in these challenging times.
juh
Hi JUH!
Am 04.08.22 um 08:48 schrieb juh+ntg-context--- via ntg-context:
Am 03.08.22 um 10:50 schrieb Henning Hraban Ramm via ntg-context:
Taco convinced me not to cancel the meeting due to a lack of participants, but I’d like to know why you (esp. if you attended previous meetings) decided not to come:
short answer. The meeting is in the holidays of my wife and she expects me to join her in a travel. ;-)
Well, the date seems to be untimely for several potential participants. But we decided on it about two years ago (you must book houses at least one year in advance; maybe no more). But other dates deter other people...
(In fact I don't found information about accommodations on the website)
On https://meeting.contextgarden.net/2022/location.shtml there’s a link to the venue’s website and the hint that we only single-book the bunk beds – i.e. it’s youth hostel style.
- I wasn't sure if I can follow the programe. Though I am not a bloody
beginner, I am still at the basis of the learning curve. Many talks seems to be way above my understanding. (The same is true for the monthly video meetings.) But I am very interested in learning – I can even imagine that my cooperative would pay for it.
Well, if no beginners attend, nobody will talk for beginners.
Yes, it’s often way over my head, esp. what Hans and Taco explain, but after the third time I start to understand ;) It’s like when I started reading challenging computer magazines like c’t in the public library as a 12yo and didn’t understand a lot but found it cool enough to continue. YMMV
OTOH we always had talks about not-so-advanced projects, and what you did with ConTeXt for Hostsharing would be worth a talk or three. (Just repeat your blog entries.) You’d be welcome also as a remote presenter.
- I always like to combine meetings with my passion to dance Tango. If
a meeting is in a bigger city, chances are high that I could spend a couple of evenings in a local milonga. From Dreifelden to any milonga in NRW or Hessen I would need at least an hour by car.
Sorry...
Corona isn't over ...
Yes, of course. I worry about that, too; can’t afford to be sick for a week or more...
On the other hand I would really like to get into ConTeXt as I am convinced that it is the thing I need for my personal work and my work in my cooperative. So I would still like to attend a meeting.
Well, you can start with the next online meetup in a week (August 10th).
While we often had in-depth discussions with Hans, or between Hans and Mikael, that was partly due to a lack of simpler questions. And since we usually were only a few guys, there’s enough space for your personal project.
What are the things I am interested in most?
I would like to take an intensive training.
Aside from the core functions I would like to learn more about integrations as this is what we are trying to do at Hostsharing at the moment. This could cover small things like automated business graphics with different tools to printing from TEI-XML to setup a single source publishing chain with Pandoc. The problems are in the details. ;-)
Yes, probably in the details manual ;-P No, not this time. But bring them up in the online meetup.
Another topic:
If we want to promote ConTeXt it would be nice to have small meetings on bigger meetings like FOSDEM in Belgium or FrOSCon in Germany. (I was so bold to propose a workshop at FrOSCon and alas it was accepted!) At FrOSCon and FOSDEM you can get a developer room to make your own programe. That would be a good place for introductory workshops.
I agree, but it’s also a matter of people, timing and other resources. I would have joined you at FrOSCon, but was occupied. And many other interesting conferences I can’t afford – financially and nervally.
AFAIK other active ConTeXt users were focused on TeX conferences (and I don’t know who contributed talks on ConTeXt subjects besides Hans and Taco), and in every discussion about “promoting ConTeXt” we come to the conclusion that it’s not really worth the effort – like “if it’s for you, then you will find it”. And we want to keep our playground cosy ;)
Some of us made the experience that they couldn’t pierce through the prejudices of old LaTeX folks. And well, let’s face it, the state of our documentation is still not very inviting. There’s a lot of it, but it’s often hard to find what you need, even for me, who’s not afraid of sourcecode, and ConTeXt changed a lot over the years. (Yes, my book is coming along... But I’m not sure how good it solves beginners’ problems. And it’s only in German, of course.)
I hope that this is of some value for you.
Thank you!
Hraban
On 8/4/2022 8:48 AM, juh+ntg-context--- via ntg-context wrote:
- I wasn't sure if I can follow the programe. Though I am not a bloody
beginner, I am still at the basis of the learning curve. Many talks seems to be way above my understanding. (The same is true for the monthly video meetings.) But I am very interested in learning – I can even imagine that my cooperative would pay for it.
There's often plenty in-between time for more personal discussion and help. The be together in the room evening sessions are also a good oportunity.
And ... from my end I put things on the program that are new or under development but when someone asks for a topic ... also, just present something and those present will kick in.
Currently the first real life meetings starts again and I have to confess that it is not so easy to switch mentally to the pre-corona area. My cooperative will be present at the Bits&Bäume conference in Berlin and we are struggling to organize this. This sounds silly but all the processes of planning such an event must be restarted.
Yes, one needs to get in the mood again. But last years meetings nevertheless went on and were quite nice (they are also anchors in development for me). And it helps to mee users (those we've seen in person have some advantages later on I guess).
Hans
----------------------------------------------------------------- Hans Hagen | PRAGMA ADE Ridderstraat 27 | 8061 GH Hasselt | The Netherlands tel: 038 477 53 69 | www.pragma-ade.nl | www.pragma-pod.nl -----------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Hraban,
but I’d like to know why you (esp. if you attended previous meetings) decided not to come:
A not-useful answer:
* The flight would take 14 hours each way (biggest reason) * The flight would cost more than 2 months of rent
* It would be a bad idea for me to miss a full week of classes
-- Max
On 8/4/2022 10:22 AM, Max Chernoff via ntg-context wrote:
Hi Hraban,
but I’d like to know why you (esp. if you attended previous meetings) decided not to come:
A not-useful answer:
The flight would take 14 hours each way (biggest reason)
The flight would cost more than 2 months of rent
It would be a bad idea for me to miss a full week of classes
last year we experimented with some remote attendents but also decided that we would only mix that wilt a real meeting with a threshold attendance ... personally i will not sit behind a screen and present something staring in a camera .. it simply works better with real people there ... i don't know what is planned for this year wrt remote
Hans
----------------------------------------------------------------- Hans Hagen | PRAGMA ADE Ridderstraat 27 | 8061 GH Hasselt | The Netherlands tel: 038 477 53 69 | www.pragma-ade.nl | www.pragma-pod.nl -----------------------------------------------------------------
Am 04.08.22 um 14:32 schrieb Hans Hagen via ntg-context:
On 8/4/2022 10:22 AM, Max Chernoff via ntg-context wrote:
- The flight would take 14 hours each way (biggest reason)
- The flight would cost more than 2 months of rent
Understandable – I won’t ever fly overseas for a conference.
- It would be a bad idea for me to miss a full week of classes
last year we experimented with some remote attendents but also decided that we would only mix that wilt a real meeting with a threshold attendance ... personally i will not sit behind a screen and present something staring in a camera .. it simply works better with real people there ... i don't know what is planned for this year wrt remote
We will do the same as last year, use BigBlueButton for sharing the presentation and camera & microphone for the presenter, sometimes an additional camera for the room or showing stuff. (No recording, no general room camera.) Someone will watch the chat and relay questions. We’ll project remote presenters to the screen and use speakers. Discussion between local and remote participants is always a bit difficult, we’ll try again with microphones.
But, also like last year, we have only a household DSL connection. That doesn’t limit remote participants, but the locals should not use the system as well. I also can’t guarantee that everthings works – last year we had big problems with the local DHCP/router.
Hraban
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Hans Hagen -
Henning Hraban Ramm -
juh+ntg-context＠mailbox.org -
Max Chernoff