Calm Between the Storms
Last weekend was LUGRadio Live and next weekend is Star Wars: Celebration Europe. It’s a busy and expensive month, yet again!
LUGRadio Live 2007 was a two day event, up in Wolverhampton, organised (with a lot of help from fans) by the chaps behind the LUGRadio linux podcast. As ever this wasn’t a corporate event, this is run for Linux and Open Source fans by Linux and Open Source fans.
This is the third such event now, the first (two years ago – it’s an annual event!) was only the one day. Last year it became a two day event and this year carried on that format. Unlike last year I decided to only do one day this time. Most of the significant (to me, at least) activities were happening on the Saturday, so it was an easy choice between that and the Sunday.
It was, as ever, a good event. It felt like a similar number of people as last year, perhaps a handful less, certainly not another big jump over expectations as the last two years have given with attendee numbers. It appears to have found its level in that regard. I doubt the torrential rains over most of the past month helped attendance any. Ironically that weekend was the most sun we’ve seen in what feels like months!
Anyway, I’ll be doing a proper write up for the next Staggering Stories Update (due 23rd of July). In the meantime I just want to lament the loss of another LUGRadio presenter. A few weeks ago, founding LUGRadio team member, Matt Revell, announced he was leaving the show. Now another member of the team, Ade Bradshaw, has announced his retirement – live on stage. In fact I wasn’t quite sure what he’d said at first and I don’t think I was alone. As I recall, it wasn’t until Aq complained about our lack of reaction that I really knew what I thought I’d heard was true! Oh no, not another one, was my immediate thought. Both Matt and Ade have cited lack of time as the reason. As someone who every few weeks must do a Staggering Stories Update I think I know how they must feel. In my case it isn’t so much the amount of work (though that can get to me at times) it is more the unrelenting schedule – even if updates are a month apart, as these days, the constant beating of that drum does get to you! It also makes me wonder about our own podcast efforts. Right now, for me at least, it isn’t too demanding – the evening before the recording I shift kit around and setup. Then there’s the evening of the recording. Then an evening of listening to the result (and listening to it at least twice more before the update, once to check the MP3 encoding and once for the Ogg Vorbis version). It’s certainly a lot tougher on Tony, who is right now editing down the second podcast. LUGRadio is every two weeks, we are a once a month podcast. Will once a month get to us as their fortnightly ones have? Unlike the LUGRadio team, we don’t have any obvious pool of replacement people. We’ll just have to see how it goes. But back to those LUGRadio chaps. Both Matt and Ade will be missed. When LUGRadio returns after its summer break it may feel like quite a different show. Probably no less entertaining but not quite the same, nonetheless.
Onto next weekend, then. Friday is the first day of the Star Wars Celebration Europe convention. Finally my ticket has arrived and there are also now some details on what to expect. It appears there are effectively 3 stages with events during the 3 days. Looks like there is some interesting stuff going on, too. I was beginning to worry that it might be little more than a hall full of stands. Here’s the three main stages and their events:
Hopefully there are no extra fees in regards to any of these stages – being a George Lucas inspired event I wouldn’t be surprised! With luck I will be able to blog sometime over the weekend to give you my initial impressions. May the mysterious sauce be with me!
It was great to see you, even if briefly, are you guys coming to PodcampUK this september as well then ?
um….’PodcampUK’? Is this for fat, wheezy people who tend to have a note from Matron nine times out of ten, to enable them to catch up with the others? Sounds horendous 😛
I think we may be planning to go to the ‘Dalek’s Masterplan’ mini-con and stage play thingy in October…..anything else we just take our chances with….
I’d never even heard of this PodcampUK thing until now. Who knows, maybe next year but I doubt this year. Hopefully we will have found our feet by next year!
Yes, it was good to see you at LUGRadio Live, Nik. I’m kind if sorry I didn’t see more people I knew there. Oh well, maybe next year for that too!