The whole basis for the conference was new. Could we attract enough self-professed newcomers who would be willing to trust us to introduce them to "what patterns is all about"? Could we at the same time attract enough patterns experts to tackle a hot topic for a couple of days? Although it could be argued that both of these approaches are necessary if the patterns movement is to grow and make sense of the multitude of patterns that appear at PLoP each year, we weren't sure how it would all turn out.

Well, perhaps we were lucky or maybe there is a special patterns god who was smiling on us but it did work! We had 64 attendees, 30 newcomers, 11 trainers/leaders and 23 hot topic participants. The response was overwhelming! The newcomers learned a lot about patterns and the hot topics participants made some progress in their respective domains. All the hot topics are planning future meetings.

Arizona provided beautiful weather. The horses were fun. Walking back from the cook-out was indescribable — so many stars! It was great ordering from a menu! The accommodations were spacious and our hosts at the Wickenburg Inn did their best to make sure our visit was enjoyable.

The Hillsiders (they who sponsor all PLoPs) have decided it's a "go," so let's all come back next year! I hope the newcomers will write a pattern for PLoP and I hope to see books on domain specific hot topics patterns out soon!

"PLoP '98 was held on my birthday, what a great present!", said conference chair, Linda Rising.

1998 Reports

Hot Topics List

1. A ChiliPLoP Report
2. Configuration Management
3. Elementary Patterns
4. Newcomers Workshop
5. Organizational Patterns
6. TelePLoP Summary