TechMeetup Edinburgh: Visual Profiling, Biometrics 101 and Outside In Development

[Dale Harvey]

Hey All

TechMeetup Edinburgh is on the 8th floor of Appleton Tower, Wednesday 14th March from 6:30PM

For this month we are changing it up a little old school and having 3 shorter talks, much thanks to the speakers who are:

Mike Borozdin and Robin Smith on BDD and Outside In Development

Artur Jonkisz on Visual Profiling

Peter Craig on Biometrics 101

Due to popular demand, we are going to try having shorter gaps between the talks and finish up a bit earlier, leaving more time for discussions and catching up afterwards.

As always there will be beer(+ soft drinks:) and pizza, and a lot of thanks to our sponsors SkyScanner and Edgecase and new sponsors ScottLogic, who make that possible.

See you all on Wednesday

Thanks

Dale

[Dale Harvey]

And of course thanks to Infomatics Ventures for providing the venue :)

[Chris Bainbridge]

+1 on shorter gaps between the talks, it seems the gap only needs to
be long enough for a toilet break and time to grab another drink.

I was wondering if there is any chance of discussing the bit of
TechMeetup where we go around the whole room and everyone introduces
themselves? I know a few comments have been made before, regarding the
time it takes, and that it obviously takes longer as TechMeetup gets
more popular, and that now there are so many people it is actually
getting difficult to see and hear everyone. However, I also realise it
is probably a good ice breaker, and people might actually find it
useful as a means of identifying people they want to talk to. So, are
there people who find it useful in that way? Would it be just as
useful to have people who only have something to announce take part
(job seekers/offerers etc.), either by raising a hand, or lining them
up at the front (to counter the "I can't see/hear you problem")?
Personally, I would prefer to use that time for talks, and to have
more talks, if that is possible. Another idea would be a quick
rotating "X min talk" format that would give people the opportunity to
say something interesting without the overheads/mental block of having
to prepare a proper talk with presentation slides etc.

On another random idea, some of the more interesting talks I have seen
have been when there is a similar topic, so there is more discussion
and debate been the talk presenters, and it allows talks to progress
(e.g. talk 1 covers basics of topic X, good for beginners, boring for
experts, talk 2 covers something more specific that is interesting for
beginners and experts can learn from etc.) Maybe we could even vote on
the topics/talks. There's quite a wide skill base in TechMeetup
Edinburgh, and for popular topics there are probably several speakers.
And to be honest, having multiple speakers on a topic not only
presents some more diverse opinions, but also reduces the impact of a
single bad speaker.

I'm just throwing these ideas out there. It is entirely possible that
the format has evolved to what it is for some good reasons.

[Douglas]

Tech Meetup isn't getting more popular, the numbers have been fairly
consistent since the start. I make a count every month and the average
attendance is between 60 and 70. We had 98 when we were at Amazon and
35 when there was a competing attraction with loads of freebies a year
or so ago.

I like the introductions. For those of us working on our own, there
for the first time — there are always quite a few of them — or looking
for a job, it is good to know who is there, someone there may be able
to help you out.

The problem with arranging speakers in skill level of the talk is you
are dependent on which speakers you can get on a specific night. Some
nights several people will be available to talk, some nights you
struggle to get two speakers. I have found almost all the talks
interesting and have learned something from them, even subjects I
didn't think would be interesting in advance. Some talks have led me
to reassess what I am doing and change course completely.

On Mar 9, 12:05 pm, Chris Bainbridge <chris.bainbri...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> +1 on shorter gaps between the talks, it seems the gap only needs to
> be long enough for a toilet break and time to grab another drink.
>
> I was wondering if there is any chance of discussing the bit of
> TechMeetup where we go around the whole room and everyone introduces
> themselves? I know a few comments have been made before, regarding the
> time it takes, and that it obviously takes longer as TechMeetup gets
> more popular, and that now there are so many people it is actually
> getting difficult to see and hear everyone.
>

> On another random idea, some of the more interesting talks I have seen
> have been when there is a similar topic, so there is more discussion
> and debate been the talk presenters, and it allows talks to progress
> (e.g. talk 1 covers basics of topic X, good for beginners, boring for
> experts, talk 2 covers something more specific that is interesting for
> beginners and experts can learn from etc.)
>

[Michael Roberts]

Agreed on the shorter gaps.

I like the introductions, I think it might get really tired really quickly if only people who wanted to announce are hiring, are looking to be hired, interesting other announcements was discussed. Saying that, there is definitely a bit of a hard to hear people - I think the problem was compounded last month because everyone stayed standing so it was very hard whereas I think previously, most people sat and the person talking stood (or didn't if they didn't want to).

I think 2-3 talks is a good number, more than that and it might become hard to find speakers and have enough time to really digest the content.

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[Tianzi Hou]

Hi Guys,

I'm a newbie for this meetup but I'll attend this meeting at Wednesday
anyway. :)

I do have a idea about this introductions....
Say When people go to a club or a bar for a party, they always bind a
colour belt on the wrist
used to indicate whether he/she can drink alcohol legally.

How about we 'borrow' this idea used to the identity stuff?

Say
I'm a freelancer, I'm looking for a job ---- RED belt
I'm an entrepreneur, I'm looking for a funding ---- BLUE belt
I'm running a company, I'm going to recruiting ---- WHITE belt
I'm just passing by ----
BLACK belt
etc, etc, etc...


Tianzi

[James Baster]

Hi all,

Some personal thoughts on this;

(But first, thanks for caring enough about Tech Meetup to offer
feedback - comments really are always welcome.)

For introductions, we have experimented in the past with different
ideas but despite the problems of time and volume we always come back
to the current setup. We just found nothing has worked as well for
getting conversation going.

I would emphasise that introductions were never intended to be solely
about jobs; and if you want to talk about a certain technology or
situation I would really encourage you to mention that. (My current
introduction would be that I'd quite like to talk to anyone with
experience in working with Lat/Lng and the UK's EPSG:27700 projection
at the same time, for instance.) For that reason, Tianzi, I personally
wouldn't like to try the wristbands idea but thanks, and welcome to
the group!

On the talks, we do sometimes try to plan themes but all our speakers
are unpaid and so we can't be demanding about when they come; if
someone can do a great talk and is free one month we just grab them
for you! (I did try to write more about what I think makes a good TM
talk but it just became a long ramble; maybe I'll try again later.)

If you want to do a talk or know someone who might, please do get in
touch; even a 5 minute talk can be interesting and informative.

All that said, I won't actually be at the next round of Tech Meetups
as I'm away on a work trip to South Africa - isn't life terrible? Have
fun, and see you soon!
James

[Dale Harvey]

Yeh Agreed

The introductions can take a long time, particularly for those that turn up every month, but I consistently hear from new people that it helps them take part / be introduced and talk to the right people, since meetups naturally tend towards a clique I like anything that makes them welcoming to new people. They are definitely not for just jobs

We have in the past has a suggestion website for new talks, I would quite like to open the process up a bit more, and improve the general discussion around techmeetup topics and between techmeetup members, As James said, feel free to talk to any of us about this, I will be at techmeetup on Wednesday at least :)

Cheers

Dale

[Aaron Bassett]

How about if you have nothing in particular you want to say, or are going to say "My name is X, and I'm an alcoholic" (which *never* gets old /s), then you could politely shake your head or motion to the next person in line? That way we can keep the introductions moving along at a brisk pace?

To help with finding particular people you want to speak to, perhaps a member's directory could be added to the site? Where anyone can register and create a basic profile (with mugshot) listing their key interests, which city or cities they normally attend, etc. This could help new and old members alike identify people who they might be interested in talking to.

cheers

Aaron

-----------------------------------------------------------

Aaron Bassett
Senior Developer

E: aa...@thisislevelup.com
W: www.thisislevelup.com
T: 0141 333 6577
@: www.twitter.com/thisislvlup

[John Hewson]

A members list with email + gravatar would be minimal hassle, and seems like it could be pretty effective?

John

[Douglas]

Apart from the fact no one would look at it, hardly anyone would add
to it and it is rapidly out of date.

[Aaron]

Create/Update it automatically?

Grab members based on Twitter/Facebook/Foursquare posts?

I know I would use it. On several occasions someone has asked me something I've wanted to give them more information on later, but can't remember their name or twitter handle.

--

Aaron Bassett
Founder / Developer

www.thisislevelup.com
twitter.com/thisislvlup

[Phil Leggetter]

+1 for the members list.

There are so many people at the meetup that it's difficult to find and speak to people with similar interests - which is what we try to achieve with the intros.

I'd definitely recommend against creating yet another login/profile system. Why not just use an existing system and just have the option to join/leave the group. If there is demand we could add tech meetup specific features later.

All I think we need is a mini profile/bio, with a list of interests.

My preference would be:

1. gravatar - http://en.gravatar.com/site/implement/profiles/

2. Twitter - grab profile description and use oAuth

On Monday, 12 March 2012 22:01:59 UTC, Aaron Bassett wrote:

Create/Update it automatically?

Grab members based on Twitter/Facebook/Foursquare posts?

I know I would use it. On several occasions someone has asked me something I've wanted to give them more information on later, but can't remember their name or twitter handle.

--

Aaron Bassett
Founder / Developer

www.thisislevelup.com
twitter.com/thisislvlup

On 12 Mar 2012, at 21:04, Douglas <...> wrote:

> Apart from the fact no one would look at it, hardly anyone would add
> to it and it is rapidly out of date.
>
> On Mar 12, 8:14 pm, John Hewson <...> wrote:
>> A members list with email + gravatar would be minimal hassle, and seems like it could be pretty effective?
>>
>> John
>
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[Sam Collins]

Good chat.

If it's a members list, while people will join - people probably won't leave so it'll just build up into a list of anyone who has ever attended. This becomes less useful over time.

Does it make more sense to have an optional RSVP for each event, using something like Lanyrd?

Lanyrd uses Twitter auth and you can even tweet @lanyrd with #techmeetup to say you're going.

Just another angle to argue :-)

Sam

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[Douglas]

The problem with having an online list is you don't know who is going
to be there. The mailing list for this group is 641 people, if they
all turned up at once we wouldn't have room. There is the second
problem of recognising someone. You know Walter Bampot is coming and
he knows everything there is to know about your problem, how do you
recognise them? Very few people photograph accurately, so how do you
spot your new best friend from either a very old inaccurate picture or
no picture? Aside from either asking everyone if they are your
intended or yelling out loud in the hope he hears you, how do you make
contact?

The other problem with the FourSquare/Twatter/Gravatas/Linkedin/
Facebook/Crimewatch sites is not everybody uses them or declares their
intentions on them. Almost every month I get asked about barcodes, yet
my knowledge would go unnoticed if you relied on a website to know
about me as I am not on any of them. With the open outcry method you
know who is there and what they are up to.

On Mar 13, 11:30 am, Phil Leggetter <phil.legget...@gmail.com> wrote:
> +1 for the members list.
>
> There are so many people at the meetup that it's difficult to find and
> speak to people with similar interests - which is what we try to achieve
> with the intros.
>
> I'd definitely recommend against creating yet another login/profile system.
> Why not just use an existing system and just have the option to join/leave
> the group. If there is demand we could add tech meetup specific features
> later.
>
> All I think we need is a mini profile/bio, with a list of interests.
>
> My preference would be:
>

> 1. gravatar -http://en.gravatar.com/site/implement/profiles/

> 2. Twitter - grab profile description and use oAuth
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Monday, 12 March 2012 22:01:59 UTC, Aaron Bassett wrote:
>
> > Create/Update it automatically?
>
> > Grab members based on Twitter/Facebook/Foursquare posts?
>
> > I know I would use it. On several occasions someone has asked me something
> > I've wanted to give them more information on later, but can't remember
> > their name or twitter handle.
>
> > --
>
> > Aaron Bassett
> > Founder / Developer
>
> >www.thisislevelup.com
> > twitter.com/thisislvlup
>

> > On 12 Mar 2012, at 21:04, Douglas <. <dgmccal...@gmail.com>..> wrote:
>
> > > Apart from the fact no one would look at it, hardly anyone would add
> > > to it and it is rapidly out of date.
>
> > > On Mar 12, 8:14 pm, John Hewson <...> wrote:
> > >> A members list with email + gravatar would be minimal hassle, and seems
> > like it could be pretty effective?
>
> > >> John
>
> > > --
> > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> > > Groups "Tech Meetup" group.
> > > To post to this group, send email to techm...@googlegroups.com
> > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to

> > > techmeetup+...@googlegroups.com

[Phil Leggetter]

I think the point of the online list is:

1. Who are the members of the group (name, interests) - and want to be known as members

2. Who is going to the next meetup

3. Who is at this meetup

4. Who was at the last meetup

If there's an existing system out there that offers some or all of this (Lanyrd - as Sam suggests, Foursquare, Twitter etc.) then those who want to use this can. I think that those that are PRO this are just looking for an agreed strategy. Once it's generally agreed it would be good if that strategy could be encouraged by the organisers to help the community interact and engage.

How do you make contact? You communicate e.g. I'm going to TechMeetup tonight. @WalterBampot - are you going? If so, would love to have a chat about X

If somebody isn't on Twitter, doesn't want to use Lanyrd, won't share their email address, has a photo that doen't look like them etc. then they're probably not interested in the online list/thing or just like the introductions we do at the moment.

I don't think anybody is suggesting entirely replacing the current intro system. Maybe the current system should be more opt-in because saying "I'm Fred and I'm here for the talks" is a waste of time.

I would use both the online system, before, during and after a meetup. I'd also introduce myself in the standard way.

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> > > --
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> > > We're on Twitter:http://twitter.com/techmeetup

> > > techmeetup+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

[Bruno Panara]

How about we shave a few minutes off the breaks tomorrow and have a 10-minute debate about this at the actual techmeetup, maybe with one of the organisers moderating?

It seems pretty limited to me that a handful of people (who are the most active members on the list anyway) are debating something that is actually more relevant to the people who will be there tomorrow. 

If everybody comes up with a 1 minute description of a problem/idea, tomorrow you can talk about it, see 'audience' response, and judge based on that.

my 2 cents, b.

-- 
Bruno Panara

www.brunopanara.com
phone - +44 7726 760817
skype - ergelo

vox.io/brunopanara
twitter - @brunopanara

[Gianluca Trombetta]

This is starting to sound like a real pain for a startup to solve.

Problem: people want to recognise each other at conferences/meetups.

Solution: private/organization checkin + augmented reality app to see
profiles and bios of people in the room :)

It can work well with eventbrite or similar products.

--
Gianlu

[Bruno Panara]

my suggestion is really simple - since we have a lot of downtime from talks why don't we just have a twitter stream on the projector with a #techmeetup hashtag and people can intro themselves and connect there?

-- 
Bruno Panara

www.brunopanara.com
phone - +44 7726 760817
skype - ergelo

vox.io/brunopanara
twitter - @brunopanara

[Michael Roberts]

I like some of these suggestions but crucially not everyone uses twitter - I realize a lot of people do but not everyone does and the same is true about any other platform that could be suggested.

Anything that makes interacting more difficult (ie - any technical means of introductions) will be off putting for some people, I like the introductions, they can get a bit tiresome - especially with the same people every time saying the same things but I personally think that's a price worth paying for the benefit of new people.

[John Hewson]

Douglas

I'm willing to bet that of the regular attendees you're in a reasonably small minority - lets do a show of hands tomorrow...

John

[Gianluca Trombetta]

Sorry to revive this thread but I just came across this on hacker news:

http://arshadchowdhury.com/740-how-i-built-a-business-in-a-weekend/
http://rollcallme.com/

It may work for the techmeetup.

gl

--
Gianlu

[Dale Harvey]

No bother, reminded me to chip in

The intros have been a long running issue, we have tried it without them, we have tried using an online directory, we have actually had companies founded to solve this problem (they soon realise solving this problem didnt make money and moved on to more lucrative things :)

One thing, and I think we have talked about / tried in the past and forgotten about is to do the introductions earlier, prior to the pizza ie: start at 6:30, 6:45 intros, 7pm pizza, Since we start at 6:30 the new people are more likely to turn up early, there will also always be a bunch of regulars who turn up at 6:30, there will likely be a few less people so the intros will be quicker, and the people that are really tired of the intros can turn up @ 7PM for pizza and talks :)

Also as for the online directory, its definitely a good idea, just not a replacement for intros, so well, lets do them :) I think we can revive a Royal Hackers Society one weekend and do a bunch on the website, will email later with details

Cheers

Dale