UK Smalltalk Meeting In London

Folks,

A few days ago, Bryce Kampjes announced in c.l.s that there will be a
UK Smalltalk meeting at the offices of JP Morgan in London on Friday
Oct 20th.

The current line up is for John Aspinal (of Solution Systems) to give a
demo of "Restore", his OO Relational mapping layer for Dolphin and for
me to talk about our Alchemetrics Trading Workbench also written in
Dolphin (and perhaps to show it engaged in some "live trading"). Since
both talks have a Dolphin focus, I thought it worth re-advertising the
event here in this group. Details can be found at:

http://www.xpdeveloper.net/xpdwiki/Wiki.jsp?page=SmalltalkUK20061020

Please note that, because of security restrictions at JP Morgan, if you
want to come you have to register on the Wiki at least two days
beforehand.

--
Best regards,

Andy Bower
Dolphin Support
www.object-arts.com

Andy Bower wrote:

> Please note that, because of security restrictions at JP Morgan, if you
> want to come you have to register on the Wiki at least two days
> beforehand.

I wonder what JP Morgan /do/ during those two days...

I would probably have gone along myself, but I'm not sure I like the sound of
that.

(Just musing; I know Andy has nothing to do with this.)

    -- chris

> I wonder what JP Morgan /do/ during those two days...
>
> I would probably have gone along myself, but I'm not sure I like the sound of
> that.
>
> (Just musing; I know Andy has nothing to do with this.)
>

I don't understand your questions or worries. If you phrase them more
clearly I might be able to answer you.

- Francisco
(from JPMorgan)

> I wonder what JP Morgan /do/ during those two days...
>
> I would probably have gone along myself, but I'm not sure I like the sound of
> that.
>
> (Just musing; I know Andy has nothing to do with this.)
>

I don't understand your questions or worries. If you phrase them more
clearly I might be able to answer you.

- Francisco
(from JPMorgan)

Hi Chris,

> I would probably have gone along myself, but I'm not sure I like the
> sound of that.

Ahhh come on - all reasonable sized buildings are like that in London - it
gives them a warm fuzzy feeling (actually its probably more about covering
your ass - if one of us turns out to be a nutter they will turn back to the
security guys and say well didn't you vet anyone... this way they can say
well we did get a list 2 days before and were working on it). Besides - JPMorgan
have been big fans of Smalltalk for a long time and the product they created
using it (10 years ago?) was seriously advanced for its time (and has aged
very well).

So come along - it would be nice to put some names to faces, and I know I
owe a bunch of you some beers for tips offered on this forum. For those of
you far away, we'll raise a glass and take some pictures.

Tim

Francisco wrote:

[me:]
> > I wonder what JP Morgan /do/ during those two days...
[...]
> I don't understand your questions or worries. If you phrase them more
> clearly I might be able to answer you.

Well, it was mostly just musing (as I said).

But not /entirely/ idle musing: I suspect that a US company (and a /bank/ to
boot !) might have different ideas from me about personal privacy, and what is
legitimate collection and use of personal information.  It's not a /huge/
concern, but the reflection does make me feel a little uncomfortable inviting
what might turn out to be such attention.

If, as someone suggested offline, it's just that they want to make sure they
have time to enter the names into some list somewhere then that's fine.  Or if
they want to check that the company actually exists, that (IMO) would be fine
too.  But, just for example, checking with that company whether the person is
actually employed by them would (IMO) step over the line -- unless, of course,
the person was claiming to represent that company, which is not the case here,
of they had stated in advance that such checks might be made, which is also not
applicable here.

I hope I don't come across as unduly querulous, and I have no intention
whatever of offending or inconveniencing anyone.  But I do believe that a
certain degree of vigilance in these matters is one of the prices one pays for
living in a complex world.

    -- chris

Tim,

> Ahhh come on - all reasonable sized buildings are like that in London - it
> gives them a warm fuzzy feeling (actually its probably more about covering
> your ass

Makes you wonder why they don't ask all visitors for next-of-kin information --
just in case of accidents ;-)

    -- chris

Hi,

I want to emphasize that this meeting is not organized by JPMorgan. It
is organized by me and Bryce Kampjes. The fact that we both work in
JPMorgan is just a coincidence.

I don't know many people or companies in London that could offer a
venue to host a Smalltalk meeting. So, I decided to ask my manager and
he kindly agreed to cover the costs.

Back in April, we organized our first UK-Smalltalk meeting in Pinesoft
offices [1,2]. They are a small company so there were no security
issues at all. We received very good feedback from the people attending
that meeting on a Saturday. And they told us to organize more events
like this.

Some people like to meet on a weekday, and others coming from further
away prefer a Saturday. That's why we are extending this event to
Saturday 21st.

Just to be clear, nobody except the "standard procedures" in JPM
corporation requires "a full client and company name list, at least
24hs in advance". Please understand that this sort of event are not
very common or usual in JPM. The meeting will be held in the same place
where JPM customers are received. When arriving at the 7th floor, you
will be escorted by a nice lady to the presentation room. Everything is
very formal in that floor. You will be treated with the same respect
and honour as an institutional investor.

Now, the most important thing: afterwards drinks. Shall I make a
reservation in one of the nearest pubs? Or would you prefer to be more
espontaneous and drop anywhere.

Last but not least, we are looking for a venue for the next meeting -
end of november, probably. It doesn't have to be central London.
Anywhere on the UK would be fine.

Please, do come to the meeting: Friday or Saturday. And don't forget to
bring your cool stuff with you.
- Francisco

[1]
http://www.xpdeveloper.net/xpdwiki/Wiki.jsp?page=SmalltalkParty20060408
[2]
http://lists.squeakfoundation.org/pipermail/uksmalltalk/2006-April/000020.html

> But not /entirely/ idle musing: I suspect that a US company (and a /bank/ to
> boot !) might have different ideas from me about personal privacy, and what is
> legitimate collection and use of personal information.  It's not a /huge/
> concern, but the reflection does make me feel a little uncomfortable inviting
> what might turn out to be such attention.

JPMorgan is an Investment Bank, not a retail Bank. The list will go to
the security guy and afterwards scrapped or forgotten. I can delete the
entries in the wiki if you want.

Exactly. You have to worry about the proper use of your personal
information. JPMorgan has to worry about who is entering their
buildings.

- Francisco

> So come along - it would be nice to put some names to faces,

Exactly. That's the idea.

> and I know I
> owe a bunch of you some beers for tips offered on this forum. For those of
> you far away, we'll raise a glass and take some pictures.

Yep. And for those not that far away, we expect you on Saturday.

http://www.xpdeveloper.net/xpdwiki/Wiki.jsp?page=SmalltalkUK20061021

Cheers,
Francisco

Hi Francisco,

> I want to emphasize that this meeting is not organized by JPMorgan. It
> is organized by me and Bryce Kampjes...

Nicely clarified - and thanks for arranging this (I hope this sways Chris).

> Now, the most important thing: afterwards drinks. Shall I make a
> reservation in one of the nearest pubs? Or would you prefer to be more
> espontaneous and drop anywhere.

My only request would be that we can have a pub with "real beer" (i.e. Bitter
- like London Pride or Adnams Broadside etc). With it being a Friday, how
late will the meeting go, as I'm not sure how soon the pubs clear out in
that area? There is the Old Dr Butlers Head around there - that does have
a room upstairs (http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/37/3767/Old_Doctor_Butlers_Head/Moorgate)


Tim

Francisco wrote:

> The list will go to
> the security guy and afterwards scrapped or forgotten. I can delete the
> entries in the wiki if you want.

Many thanks, Francisco. (and there's need to mess with the Wiki on my account.)

I've put my name down for Friday -- see you (y'all) there.

    -- chris