Jerry’Weinberg’s consulting target is to be able to answer no to this question:

After I leave, is the client less likely to hire a consultant than they were before?

I am not less likely to book on RailsConf 2007. I suppose that sounds a bit of a left-handed compliment, but it’s not. It makes me a (probable) repeat customer. And it’s a good enough target for Jerry Weinberg.

The plenary speakers were excellent; the Q&A session with the core team was fascinating; some of the sessions I attended were pretty good too. I’ve come back with a lot of stuff to think over. There was something missing, though. There wasn’t the buzz that I expected; perhaps not a universal feeling, but from the conversations I had it wasn’t just me.

What was missing? It’s hard to pin down. I suspect that it was more us (the delegates) than them (organisers / speakers) though.

Tentative, is how I’d describe the atmosphere. It felt like a large gathering of outsiders. Maybe the (European Rails) community just needs to grow; maybe an on-campus location, sit-down meals together, and a few workshop sessions in the mix would have helped; maybe not.

Next year, Berlin.