Objects are old now. It isn't really too cool to work on them anymore. More interesting are methodologies, model-driven programming, small languages, etc. Recall some of the early papers at OOPSLA. They were on large topics, such as What are objects? Or they proposed new languages. Patterns and the agile methodologies sprung up at OOPSLA or in the OOPSLA crowd.
Do we want to retain that or do we want to let OOPSLA become a niche conference like POPL or ICFP?
Maybe OOPSLA needs to become Onward!.
Or maybe ACM needs an Onward!.
Another issue that seems relevant is that the other programming language conferences (POPL, ICFP, PLDI, etc) are becoming even more narrowly focussed and too hard to get into, so OOPSLA fills that role. This argues for trying to keep OOPSLA broad. -rpg
Conferences tend to get replaced with more specialized conference over time. If OOPSLA is not the sort of conference that attracts trend-setters then I don't want to go. So, I want to recapture the excitement of its youth, and consider this a very important topic.
I think that papers at OOPSLA have always been narrower than the conference. What has made OOPSLA broad is not the individual papers, but the range of papers. Having half-a-dozen papers on optimzing Java compilers goes completely against this.
FYI, methodologies in general are not considered cool, though particular methodologies are, such as agile (which might be starting to lose its coolness) and model-based development. -RalphJohnson
Objects may be old, but OntologicallyOriented programming is
still young! In fact, it's really only half-invented. - sjmHere is one view on why trendsetters come to OOPSLA: CareerBuildingAtOopsla --DirkRiehle
I think that TrendSetters want two things: discussions and fame. A FederatedConference is the way to make this happen. People work in communities, in groups, so make OOPSLA the place where groups get together (sort of a giant object-based MeetUp) and I think the conference will thrive again.
--BjornFreemanBensonAs I reflect on why I attended the early OOPSLAs - and have not been to any recent ones - I came because there was then a critical mass of interesting ideas and people on a programming model and process that was just evolving. OOPSLA has lost its appeal for me because, other than recent agile developments and AOP stuff, that critical mass is stagnant....but then perhaps because there's a stagnation in the whole software space right now anway, somewhat due to the lousy world economy (and no conference will change that). -- GradyBooch
the trick of course is to find a visionary. there are always trends, but they are not always obvious. and ironically, OO has spawned so many other things like Web Services, etc. so that it could be possible to become too broad and uninteresting.
Software is critically important in ways that people outside the industry to not even recognize -- how conscious are we of this importance -- this could be a place to start...