Comments on: FOWA Dublin - a Mixed Blessing

By: After FOWA in Dublin | Andy's Mind

After FOWA in Dublin | Andy's Mind — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:38:38 +0000

[...] Szinek’s laundry list of all organizational shortfalls. [...]

By: Gareth

Gareth — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:36:24 +0000

I think you are right about the cost versus what was actually delivered. It was annoying that the talks were not flagged before starting. Poor WI-FI and no coffee annoying too … it definitely wasn’y “Awesome” in some respects (to quote Ryan Carson). The content was good though …

By: FOWA Dublin 2009: Eoghan McCabe, Des Traynor (Contrast) - “Unconventional Web Apps” « socialmedia.net

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:13:19 +0000

[...] http://www.rubyrailways.com/fowa-dublin-a-mixed-blessing/ [...]

By: If there is a will, there is a way.. » Blog Archive » Review of FOWA Dublin

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:19:54 +0000

[...] Unhappy FOWA review by Peter [...]

By: Paul Klipp

Paul Klipp — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:28:16 +0000

You're right in every respect, but I wonder if you realize how much this posts reads like a rant about trivialities. I can tell you recognize the possibility that you've done just that, but you really should have told the rest of the story before submitting, in my opinion.

Everything you say is true, and yet, none of it really mattered in the end. It was a great experience. I got in a lot of really exciting networking, learned many lessons that I can put into practice immediately, and enjoyed exposure to a lot of new ideas. Sure I blew a few bucks on coffee and had to sharpen my elbows to circulate, but none of those things really mattered to me at the time, or after the fact.

I hope you shared your post with the Carsonified crew (in case they don't follow your blog, which they probably do) because these are all issues they can address in the future. I hope that when I organize a conference, criticisms like yours are the worst I get.

By: Web Tasarım

Web Tasarım — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:35:36 +0000

This is a great list…

By: Dafydd Vaughan

Dafydd Vaughan — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:32:54 +0000

As said by everyone above, alot of the issues relate to the venue and were quite dissapointing. I really enjoyed the majority of the content of the conference, but the lack of wifi and social space made things difficult. I hope that next time Carsonified run a event in Dublin (and hopefully they will!), some of these issues can be addressed.

By: Steph

Steph — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:03:10 +0000

Most of the issues you outlined above were related to the venue and I agree with you, it was a terrible venue. Sadly, Dublin suffers from a lack of any suitable venue with space for more than 200 let alone 400. The ideal venue is being built just down the river but that won’t be open till 2010. I spoke to Ryan Carson about it afterwards and he agreed that there were problems with the venue certainly and with the fact people had to pay for coffee and such along with other problems such as space. I wonder how much (if anything) the speakers were getting for giving talks, particularly the high profile ones like 37 Signals? Overall, I really enjoyed it. For €150 I got a lot out of the day. Tickets to FOWD in London is a £249 (just conference, non-early bird) or £495 (conference + workshops). I’d love to go but that’s just out of my league. I’d imagine the lovely venue in London is impacting on the ticket price and in my opinion, I’d rather have dodgy wifi and a packed room for a more affordable ticket price.

By: Naomi

Naomi — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:37:32 +0000

Totally agree with you about the general set up. I’ve been to the FOWD in London the past few years and it has been a completely different experience.
Disappointing day in that respect, but the speakers made up for it.

By: socialmedia.net

socialmedia.net — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:03:03 +0000

It wasn’t just you!

I posted something similar on Saturday:

http://socialmedia.net/2009/03/07/future-of-web-apps-dublin-great-speakers-poorly-organised/