RIP Software Development Conference

I am behind the times. Not in the loop. Uninformed.

Techweb killed the SD conferences. These were the "Software Development" conferences that I liked. (So much that I would pay my own way to attend them.)

Techweb killed them back in March, shortly after the "SD West 2009" con.

Here's an excerpt of the announcement that Techweb sent to exhibitors.

Due to the current economic situation, TechWeb has made the difficult decision to discontinue the Software Development events, including SD West, SD Best Practices and Architecture & Design World. We are grateful for your support during SD's twenty-four year history and are disappointed to see the events end.

Developers remain important to TechWeb, and we encourage you to participate in other TechWeb brands, online and face-to-face, which include vibrant developer communities:
...
Again, please accept our sincerest gratitude for your time, effort and contributions over the years. It is much appreciated.

The full text is posted on Alan Zeichick's blog.

The SD shows were inspirational. They brought together people with the one common interest of writing software. The shows were not sponsored by a single company, nor did they focus on one technology. People came from different industries to discuss and learn about all aspects of software. As one fellow-attendee said: the conferences were "ecumenical".

While I'm saddened at the loss (and bemused at my ignorance of their demise), I'm disappointed with Techweb's approach. Their announcement is bland and uninspiring. The brutal utility of the message tells us of Techweb's view of its mission: running conferences efficiently (and profitably). Their announcement can be paraphrased: "SD was not profitable, so we killed it. We've got these other shows; please spend money on them."

In contrast, the O'Reilly folks have a very different mission: building a community. They run conferences for the community, not as their means of existence. (They also publish books, host web sites, and run other events.) If a conference should become unprofitable, then it becomes a drag on their mission of building community and I would expect them to cancel it. But here's the difference: I would expect O'Reilly to provide another means for people to meet and discuss and learn, and I would expect O'Reilly to phrase their announcement in a more positive and inspirational light. Something along the lines of:

We've been running the (fill in the name) conference for (number) years, bringing people together and building the community. In recent years, the technology and the environment have changed, and the conference is no longer the best way to meet the needs of the practitioners, presenters, and exhibitors. We're changing our approach, and creating a new (whatever the new thing is) to exchange experiences and learn from each other. We invite you to participate in this new aspect of our community.

OK, that's not the perfect announcement, but it's much closer to what I want from conference organizers.

I'm not a marketing expert; I'm a programmer. But I know what I want: Someone who listens. O'Reilly does that. I'm not sure that Techweb does.