Boston Area Haskell Users' Group

Purpose and Goals

The purpose of the Boston Area Haskell Users' Group is to provide a regular forum in which area people interested in Haskell can get together, meet each other, share skills, and grow the community

First Meeting

The first meeting of the Boston Area Haskell User's Group (or the Cambridge Haskell User's Group if you prefer the acronym) starts at noon on February 28th at BlueSpec in Waltham, MA. February 27th is also an option if sufficient attendees prefer weekdays. Bring laptops with GHC installed, there will be hands-on presentations. If you'd like to talk about something or you want more information, please contact ShaeErisson.

Meeting Format

The Haskell Users' Group is not a forum for academic talks. The Boston area already provides plenty of opportunities for academics to give talks. The Haskell Users' Group is a forum for informal interactions and a place where you can show us the code.

The ideal meeting will include two presentations and a break:

• A presentation of code that even a beginner will appreciate
• A break
• A presentation of code that will make at least some experts say Ooh! and Aah!

Demos are also encouraged, but we want to see at least a little bit of code, please.

Planned schedule

The group is intended to launch in January 2009 with a schedule of six meetings per year. The calendar is designed so that most meetings are scheduled at a time when people might have something new to show off.

• A meeting in late January following POPL
• A meeting at the end of March or the beginning of April, just after the ICFP deadline
• A meeting in May after classes are out but before students and professors have dispersed for the summer
• A meeting in July after the POPL deadline and perhaps just after the ICFP programming contest
• A meeting in September following ICFP and the Haskell Symposium
• A meeting in November with a special emphasis on companies who may wish to recruit interns or new employees

Call for volunteers

We need volunteers

• To host one of the regular meetings
• To present
• To twist other people's arms to present
• To talk to John Hughes and learn how to organize a "jobs fair" for the November meeting
• To acquire a mailing list (perhaps boston at haskell dot org) and populate it with interested parties

If you want to volunteer, please visit the volunteers' page

At some point we may be lucky enough to have a surplus of potential presenters. In that case we may need volunteers for a selection committee. A reasonable structure might be to have a committee of three who serve staggered six-month terms. If we can't find enough presenters, those same people could try to find some. In both cases people would be volunteering to help manage the program for three meetings.