Lessons learned from the Inaugural Event

[Reed Esau]

As we prepare for the second event in Colorado, it might be worthwhile
to review that which was good and bad from the first event, which we
agreed met our goals for a first outing. Here's the list from the
wiki page:

Some positives:
# [the Tivoli offered] coves for people to go outside and talk in
small groups
# lots of presentations, the presentations were all good
# this setting allows for people to grow their presentation skills and
give them an outlet to talk about what they think people need to
know

Some Negatives:
# The Structure needed to be more defined.
# Questions and Answers didn't have much time
# More BREAKS!
# Fixed and enforced limit for talks, perhaps 25 minutes
# Insufficient participation. Everyone should contribute, even if
it's merely getting up and putting an interesting question to the
group for discussion.
# Need to either reduce costs or improve skills in finding local
sponsors to cover the costs.
# Organizers shouldn't do talks. Two reasons: 1) too many
distractions to prepare properly 2) if there's an expectation that
organizers do talks, then it's one more barrier to organizing an
event. That goes against a core principle of barcamp.

Yep, I added the last one. In retrospect, it was a mistake for me to
agree to do a talk at the first event. Thus, I'll discourage any
skepticamp organizers from doing the same for the reasons stated
above.

As for all the other Positives and Negatives, we should keep them in
mind and our plans for this second event.