There aren't many times that I cancel out of a conference (fortunately), so when I do I often feel a touch of guilt, even if I have to cancel for the best of reasons. (I'd like to think that if I have to cancel my appearance at a conference, it's only for the best of reasons, but obviously there may be others who disagree--I won't get into that.)
The particular case that merits this blog post is my lack of appearance at the JDD 2012 show [1] (JDD standing for "Java Developer Days") in Krakow, Poland. Don't get me wrong, I love that show--Krakow is a fun city, quickly establishing itself as a university town (hellooo night clubs and parties!) as well as something of a Polish Silicon Valley, or so I've been told. (Actually, I think Krakow has a history of being a university town, but the tech angle to it is fairly recent.) My previous trips there have always been wonderful experiences, and when the organizers and I discussed my attendance at this years' show back in the start of the calendar year, I was looking forward to it.
Unfortunately, my current employer took an issue with my European travels, stating something to the effect that "three trips to Europe in five weeks' time is not a great value for us", and when coupled with the fact that there was a US speaker going to the show (that I helped get to the show, ironically) that I didn't particularly want to be around and that I'd be just walking off the plane from London before I'd have to get back on the plane to get to Krakow.... *shrug* It was just a little too much all at once. Regretfully, I emailed Slawomir (the organizer) and told him I was going to have to cancel.
Any one of these, I'd have bulled my way through. Two of them, I probably still would have shown up. But all three.... I just decided that the divine heavens had spoken, and I should just take the message and stay home. And let the message be very clear here, there was no fault or blame about this decision to be laid anywhere but at my feet--if you're at JDD now and you're pissed that I'm not there, then you should blame me, and not the organizers. (But honestly, with Rebecca Wirfs-Brock and Adam Bien there, you're getting some top-notch content, so you probably won't even miss me.)
And yes, assuming I haven't burned a bridge with the organizers (and I think we're all good on that score), I sincerely hope to be back there in 2013; Polish attendees and conference organizers are off the hook when it comes to making a speaker feel welcome.
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