Title: The Wall - Your Letters etc.

Hi James, I must admit that I was a bit annoyed when I got the new C Vu issue: I missed the letters. My letter about the ACCU conference was meant for publication, and I assume that Robert Pauer's letter was also for publication; my answer to that definitely was. All of them were before the deadline and I think that letters always should go to the next possible issue (I know several publications which even publish letters when the arrive after the official deadline), even if a full article has to be postponed for that. I have attached these letters again and hope they will be in the next issue

Detlef Vollmann

Well, what can I say? Mea culpa. This is one of several glitches in the transition of C Vu from the outgoing, highly experienced editor to the incoming novice. Just as you have been appreciative of feedback from those who responded to your article, so I appreciate you telling me when things go wrong. The intention is for the letters page to be a lively, timely part of C Vu. Please do bear with me while I try to get it back to "normal." It won't take long.

James

The first ACCU conference I attended was the C & C++ Developers Forum in September 1998. That conference cost me 100 Pound for two days and was an exceptional value for money. The ACCU Spring Conference 2002 is going to cost me £446 for four days, and though I will probably come, I'll not recommend it any more to others. Though I'm sure it'll be still quite good value for money compared to commercial conferences, there are a number of other events organized by non-profit organizations (like ACM, IEEE, the Swiss group on Object-Oriented Systems and Environments, Java User Group Switzerland and others) that compare much better.

I don't know what caused the price raise, but I have a feeling it has to do with all the famous names on the speakers list. And though I like to meet all these people at one place, I don't think that it really adds to the overall quality of the conference. Maybe even on the contrary: I'll miss more than I can attend. I'm not a marketing guy. Perhaps all those names are necessary to attract a lot of people. But I'd like the ACCU Committee to evaluate whether a cheaper and perhaps even smaller conference with less famous names would not serve the ACCU membership better.

Detlef Vollmann

Answer (from Francis):

I saw your letter because for now both James and I get copies of everything sent to <editor@accu.org>. The cost of the event has nothing to do with the quality of the speakers. Even if all the speakers were unknown purely UK experts the cost would be much the same. Though the travel expenses would be less, the number of people coming would be much fewer and so the costs would be spread over fewer attendees.

That first event was done on a shoestring budget (and if you remember, it coincided with a WG21 meeting in the UK). In effect the organiser donated a lot of unpaid time. These days the speakers contribute their (unpaid) time.