[OSDC Israel] [Fwd: Rails Guidebook]

[Ori Peleg]

Here's an idea for OSDC 2007, from Dave Thomas's blog.

http://blogs.pragprog.com/cgi-bin/pragdave.cgi/Random/RailsGuidebookDone.rdoc

RailsConf 2006 is in its final day, and I just realized that I hadn’t blogged on
Rails Guidebook.

The Guidebook was a preconference event. For a day before the conference proper
started, attendees got an introduction to all the stuff that’d be hearing about
in the following days. It was a combination of a tutorial and a glossary. We
didn’t charge. Instead, the cost of admission was a contribution to charity.
The Rails community raised over $8,000

This is wonderful stuff, and Mike and I thank everyone who made it possible: the
Ruby Central folks who agreed to add a day to the agenda, Jay Zimmerman for
organizing the facilities, the core team members and other experts who turned up
to help, Mike and Nicole for doing all the Guidebook logistics, and, more
importantly, the folks who turned up and contributed.
A Challenge

If you’re already organizing a conference, adding a guidebook day ahead of it
isn’t a great incremental cost. So, here’s a challenge to conference organizers.
Let’s start a tradition of these types of charitable events. Let’s make a point
of sharing some of our success with others. Not only does it do some good—it’s fun.