WOW!
What an experience it was to meet all the people I have been knowing through IRC..faceless people with random nick that has nothing to do with their name.. but brilliant minds who make a very open, inclusive, welcoming and a powerful project possible!
This was my first Flock and It has been the best conference/event I have ever attended.
Unlike other conferences where there are a lot of people presenting their own project and are distributed in groups, everyone in the Flock was connected to a single string, Fedora!
read for a brief summary of the event.
Where?
Radisson Blu, Radebeul - Dresden | Germany
When?
During the hottest time in whole Europe (which is not very bad)
August 7th to August 11th
A bit about the talks and presentations
Keynote ‘State of Fedora (Objectives & Editions)’ started at 9’o clock in which Matthew Miller, Brian Exelbierd, Stephen Gallagher, Dusty Mabe, Peter Robinson and Langdon White presented
- stats, successes, ups, and downs of the Fedora Project.
- About Flock and it’s value.
- About SIGs
- where as a community we stand and the areas we need to improve.
Combined, a very insightful and informative presentation.
I tried to attend as many talks/workshops as possible still keeping some time in hand to meet those amazing people in person and discuss a few ideas (or at least share a handshake). Every talk was full of discussion. The Attendees were not just there to listen and take notes, but to provide their input which I have never seen anywhere else. So many planning meetings, SIGs gathering and a lot of snacks during the tea break (thanks ARM for sponsoring it) made it a perfect event.
My schedule: https://flock2018.sched.com/siddharthvipul1
Other stuff
Flock didn’t just involved talks and knowledge sharing, but also candies. Credit goes to Justin for organizing the International candy swap event. Everyone brought what they thought authentic and local from their country including some weird ones to have fun. well, the weird credit goes to Göran and me. TBH what I took (Pulse candy) was not really weird, but like Indians, not everyone likes spices in their candy. Oh wait, this doesn’t mean that the candy that Göran brought wasn’t weird… It was scary! But that’s what made the event even more memorable. We had a lot of fun making people try it and waiting for their reaction.
Amazing Dominika Bula had organised a scavenzer hunt for us which was designed to make us explore the city center .
Then we went to Roller Coaster Restaurant which was different, thus awesome! Other fun things like game night, karaoke event, and eating everyday out with others, going for a walk in a biiiig group, laughing and enjoying (/me cries and gets nostalgic)
It was an experience that no one can say no to. I am definfitly loolking forward to attend more of such events.
Thank you Fedora for sponsoring my trip :)