Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!ucsd!sdcc6!sdcc7!muller
From: muller@sdcc7.ucsd.EDU (Keith Muller)
Newsgroups: comp.org.usenix
Subject: Re: suggestions for future conferences
Message-ID: <1188@sdcc7.ucsd.EDU>
Date: 11 Feb 89 20:46:12 GMT
References: <8902090223.AA01916@decwrl.dec.com> <1989Feb9.210123.19047@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: University of California, San Diego
Lines: 24

The nature of the technical session is clearly driven by the papers that get
submitted. I spents months calling around and sending letters to "coerce" people
into submitting papers. In several cases this worked as couple papers in
the conference only appeared after these kinds of "strong armed" efforts were
executed. Admittedly some of the flavor might be blamed on who I tried to tap
for papers, but I was limited to those areas of research which I was familar
with.  I also suspect that the members of the program committee acted in a
similar way.

The actual format of the conference was chosen AFTER the papers were reviewed,
not before. So it was the content of the papers that determined the conference,
not any decree made by USENIX or the program committee.

As you see, people should not feel that they have little control of the
flavor of a conference. Through papers that they submit or through people they
encourage to submit papers, the conference is formed.

The bottom line here is that USENIX members should encourage anyone they know
who is doing work that might of interest to the USENIX community to submit
papers to future conferences. Without these papers, the conference will become
just another trade show.

	Keith Muller
	Co-Chairman Winter 1989 USENIX