Falanster at Solit: what's the salt of IT?
IT-conference in Soligorsk has taken place the third year in a row. It speeds up and attracts more and more IT guys and everyone who is interested in technology and gadgets.
Hosting such an unusual event at school building creates a pretty curious and aesthetic climate: it's associated with studying, childhood, barefaced enthusiasm and desire for inventions. You are again diving into this atmosphere, or more like it covers you.
On Saturday morning the Falanster team reached the destination, and metsalt mountains and nice freezing weather met us on the approach to the town.
Registration: at the entrance friendly stuff explain the registration procedure, hand out event programs and meal tickets. They a bit embarass us with their extra-friendliness, until we understand that they are school teachers.
Following the guides, at first we go to the gathering place. Participants and other IT geeks are already there. Keeping in a spirit of tech-geek-style, the wi-fi password is a qr-code.
Now we find a moment to look around and examine the place: quite old and shabby three-storeyed shool building with cracked floors and some walls. The amount of pictures of pseudo-landscapes captures and sticks. Yay, that's an exhibition! Works of local artist actually remind drawings of school kids.
The "art" on walls amazes: the guide signs are not pinned, but drawn as well. In the lounge the walls are "decorated" with the portraits of famous people (Prokopovich, Philaret, etc.). The common Board of Students with Honors is surely here as well.
Solit is a program-guide around the school with a rudely made design layout. It perfectly fits for challenging tech geeks' minds and reminds a board game
There are plenty of reports and topics. They are all quite specific and narrow, considered mostly for unique interest or a specialist. However, some of them are oriented on an ordinary person who wants to receive a common view of the topic.
All speakers want to make a report, to explain the topic, to be heard. Special attention is paid to foreign guests: the guy from the US Aleksey Kozlovski, speaking about professional growth; the Russian IT market expert Nick Puntikov; German expert Friedrich Boeckh.
Drupal programmer listen to Aleksey Medvetsky, reporting on Opendata, and agitate for an incentive. The idea is to create a web-resource with open data related to rewards and reward recipients in Belarus with a function to analyze statistics and understand who is in favor in Belarus today. The web-site creation is open and clear, so that everyone can join and actively start working.
The workroom (teacher's lounge is used for that) is the place where all energy concentrates and different ideas are suggested (like transpor analyzing, city navigation, the indicative system for hackerspace financial soundness, etc.). Although, since the discussion is too hectic, the enthusiasm is lost. Falanster IT group starts working on the project "Rewards.by".
Lunch break. Walking in, we feel nostalgia for a school dining room. The service is incredible: teachers, maybe even head teacher, serve out bowls of soup and side dishes. The forks are with tiny holes the porpose of which stays in secret for us. For a dessert we get a real compot (a hot beverage of stewed fruit) with a pretzel. It is a fabulous lunch for no more than 15 thousand Belarusian rubles.
Reports again. "Open Source and social institutions". Mikhail Volchek talks about important advantages of open systems, that are so simple, but still to unfamiliar for the majority of users. He suggests this system to use as a platform for the educational service and local authoritites. The speaker, as an active member of Drupal club, makes some promotion of Drupal and the club and invites for participation in creating mutual projects.
In another room the report is presented by the cooordinator of the club "Falanster Themis", Marina Kostylyachenko. Choreographic classroom with chair looks solemn. The absence of mirrors confuses a bit; it's helpful to look at yourself from a side. The report topic is "Copywriting in Belarus: the tendencies of development and alternatives". The subject is broad, and the audience is big. Does an author have rights and what are they? The alternative exists - Creative Commons License.
Till the very evening work doesn't stop in workroom. Mapping and once again mapping is to be done! Besides, participants work on statististics graphics. From a ballroom we hear the sounds of concert, guitar and jazz. The contrast of delight between audience and the scene amazes: spectators are quietly enjoying storms of energy flushing from the scene. It seems quite hot there and absorbs the audience into a trance state.
The first day is over. Some participants sleep over at the tourist camp with creeking beds; some head to the "Alesya" hotel with sulky staff. Everyone needs a rest before the second day at Solit fest.
Second Day. The same pretzels that seemed to be baked on Friday, but are still vanila-sweet and yammy. The rightest device today is a fork, but on Sunday the dining hall is closed, and everyone takes out some home-made snacks. Reports. The discussions go on. Time flies.
The evening sneaks unnoticed. The results' presentation: the "Rewards" project is in a process, and everyone is welcome to join. The participants have risen a number of ideas that invite people to take a part in their development. The final speaker Dmitri Goryachko thanks to participants, Falanster, speakers, sponsors, administrative staff and a soundman. The last question is: "Has everyone learned how to SOLIT?!"
Solikorsk meeting encouraged participants with ideas and demonstrated the state of IT business in Belarus.
