Saturday, May 30, 2009

Sock Summit - a minor rant


What in the name of Elizabeth Zimmermann is wrong with some people? I just finished reading Yarn Harlot's blog posts about Sock Summit registration and the problems/triumphs associated with it and I swear to you the top of my head almost exploded.

Stephanie and Tina have accomplished the impossible. What they've done with the Sock Summit is nothing short of miraculous. Do you have any idea how hard it is to put together a conference? I know of organizations that have been brought to their knees by the logistics involved in bringing together one or two hundred like-minded people for a weekend. I know of organizations that have wisely handed off those same logistical nightmares to professional conference planners because the details and disasters are beyond the ken of mortal men and women.

And this is with some organization capital backing them.

Things go wrong. Servers crash. Websites get all pissy. Not everyone gets the class or room or rate he or she hoped for. That's life. It isn't the fault of the conference coordinator. It's just the luck of the draw.

I'll say it again: Stephanie and Tina are miracle workers. The Sock Summit is going to be the knitters' Woodstock. We'll be talking about it years from now (and pretending we were there too.)

If you don't know the details, visit Yarn Harlot and read her fascinating, exasperating, amazingly clear-headed and even-tempered account of what happened. And send up a cheer for Stephanie and Tina and the Sock Summit.

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5 Comments:

Blogger rho said...

You said exactly what I was thinking

12:51 AM  
Blogger Chris said...

No kidding! I was amazed and impressed at how well she handled the whole thing in her post.

12:52 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I also posted a comment on the Harlot's blog. I was shocked that fellow knitters could be so vile to one of thier own. i myself had similar problems when registration for Stitches East opened uo May 20th. Did I complain that XRX servers were swamped and not operating from 10am-11am. NO! I simply sat at my computer with the phone in my ear hitting refresh and redial alternately until I got through around 11am. Seriously, Tina and Steph singlehandedly created the Sock Summit without the experience and $$$ of XRX and people should be on their knees thanking them for all their hard work rather than cursing them.
Holly in CT

11:37 AM  
Blogger Penny said...

I KNOW.... seriously!

I'd already read Stephanie's post... and couldn't believe she had to write it. I put a comment on too - not that she'll have time to read it; telling her what an incredible thing it is she's doing.

I'm very sad at the fact that ANYONE got hate mail over something so beyond possible to predict. sigh.

1:34 PM  
Blogger Maura Anderson said...

This whole incident really upset me. It's one thing to be frustrated, mutter to yourself, maybe say a few vile words, directed at the ghods of technology, in the privacy of your office but why in the world would you flame the poor people who tried so hard to get this going?

Stuff happens. Tech stuff ALWAYS happens.

I sent mail to offer some help if they need it. I've run big conventions and they've done amazing things with this.

*grumble*

4:54 PM  

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