SPUG: OT: OSCON 2007: Wherefore not The Damian? I beseech thee!

Damian Conway damian at conway.org
Wed Jun 27 17:49:26 PDT 2007


Adam Monsen wrote:

> I was devastated to hear that my very favorite speaker, Damian Conway,
> will not make it to OSCON 2007 this year. 

I'm truly sorry to hear that, Adam (though, of course, deeply gratified to be 
held in such esteem, especially by someone who can actually use the word 
"wherefore" correctly ;-)

I was bitterly disappointed to have to cancel my summer speaking tour this 
year. In particular, I was distressed to be letting down those people like 
yourself who look forward to my presentations.


> Apparently the new "Advanced VIM Scripting" tutorial speaker will be
> Steve Oualline. Does anyone know this person? If so, are they a good
> speaker?  Is there any chance that Steve has torn apart Vim scripting
 > as completely as I'm sure The Damian has?

I've never met Steve and I've never heard him speak or teach.

Steve does know a great deal about Vim, having been involved right from the 
early days. But knowing and teaching aren't the same thing. I simply can't 
tell you how effectively he will be able to impart his undoubtedly expertise 
on others. The only even vaguely useful information might be the user reviews 
for his book on Vim:

     http://www.amazon.com/Vi-iMproved-VIM-Steve-Oualline/dp/0735710015

I *can* tell you that he is not working from my syllabus, and that the drafts 
of his syllabus that I have seen have had quite a different focus to mine: 
broader in scope (including some non-scripting related topics) but less 
detailed or intense. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean you 
definitely shouldn't expect it be a "Damian-style" class.


> I'm just trying to figure out if I should ask for my money back. I
> paid out of pocket and it wasn't cheap!

I'm certain O'Reilly will happily refund your money, if you prefer not to take 
the class now that I'm not teaching it. If you decide on that course and 
experience any difficulties, please don't hesitate to contact me directly and 
I'll do my best to help sort it out.

Damian



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