Re: [Conlangs-Conf] Second Language Creation Conference - Pre-pre-registration!

On 5/1/06, Sai Emrys <sai@...> wrote:
> On 4/28/06, Jim Henry <jimhenry1973@...> wrote:
> > Two or three days would be better, assuming enough speakers
> > to fill out the program.  With a longer program you
> > could give the same speakers more time and give
> *nod* Could you suggest some events to hold during the conference to
> flesh it out more (other than just talks)?
For instance, in additional to presentations where a speaker
talks for a while and then fields questions, we could have
sessions where a moderator leads a discussion among the
participants about some topic of common interest.  Or
games -  maybe a high-speed compressed translation
relay, collaborative creation of a conlang (maybe in several
short sessions spread through the convention), etc.


> > If I can come I'll probably give
> > a talk about gjâ-zym-byn and my experiences developing
> > it, becoming reasonably fluent in it, and using it.
>
> Could you elaborate on this?
>
> It's the sort of thing that is a bit grayarea from my perspective as
> an organizer (rather than as a fellow conlanger per se, from which
> it's of course interesting and worth listening to). It may be
> interesting, but it would have difficulty being different enough to
> not flag the "but everyone wants to tell their own story, and I can't
> play favorites" thing. (This is the same reason I didn't allow any
> talks that merely describe particular languages - everyone wants to
> show off their own baby!)
OK, that makes sense.  What makes gjâ-zym-byn -- not
unique, but moderately unusual -- is that I've been using it
for long enough to become fairly fluent in it.  I gather this
is fairly unusual -- most conlangers seem to work on
one project for a while and move on to another, without
really attempting to become fluent in their conlangs; or
they design conlangs that are complex and irregular enough
that they can't readily become fluent in them.  If I give
this talk it would be about the design criteria that allowed
me to produce a language I could become fluent in without
its being boringly familiar, and my experiences in using it
primarily for journal-writing, talking to myself, prayer...
You can see a sketch of this at

http://www.pobox.com/~jimhenry/gzb/history.htm

> Unless of course this story is used as an example or leadin to some
> broader, or less obvious point - like perhaps what the obstacles /
> solutions are, etc. (I'm having trouble coming up with good examples.)
Yes, probably.  One lesson from my experiences may be that
if you want to become fluent in a language you're developing,
at some point you need to decide that already tested parts
of the language are stable and will not be tinkered with further.

> > I wonder if it might make sense to combine this conlangs
> > conference and the Esperanto League convention?  Or
> > the Lojban group's Logfest?  There might be cost benefits
> > in sharing space, as well as cross-fertilization between
> > groups with similar/overlapping interests, etc.
>
> I wonder how the community would take to that. I could see it going a
> few different ways, some useful and some just flame-prone.
It would have to be handled carefully.  I'll put out some feelers
at this years' Esperanto League convention and see what
people think about the idea of having our national or
some regional convention in conjunction with Logfest or
a Conlangs Conference.

How many people came to this year's conlang conference?
The typical number of people at a Logfest is about 10-15;
the typical number of people at an Esperanto League convention
is 50-100, with smaller regional conventions attracting 10-50 people.
If we're going to combine two conventions they
shoud be of similar size so one group doesn't overwhelm
the other.  Probably there would need to be two (at least)
separate programming tracks, with a few common
program items.

> > I have a similar document (about 70k) in Esperanto about
> > organizing the Esperanto League convention.  I've been working
> > (off and on)  on an English abridgement of it.
>
> If you get the English one done, please send me a link/copy.
OK.

--
Jim Henry
http://www.pobox.com/~jimhenry