Sadly, though, the time shift it has engaged isn’t some kind of time machine.
The date has been published for the Recursion Computer Science Fair, 2018 – a multi-platform event with a focus on education that takes place at the King Edward VI School in Stratford-upon-Avon. Despite Recursion not being a RISC OS show, there is usually a RISC OS presence in the form of the Midlands User Group, and a small number of other exhibitors.
For the past few years, Recursion has been held in early July – which has been convenient for the Midlands User Group, because their own show, the Midlands Midsummer MUG Show, had also been taking place around that time. Declining visitor numbers meant the MUG Show had become untenable, so the group chose to discontinue it as an event in its own right, and to roll it into Recursion by persuading a few RISC OS exhibitors to attend that instead.
As such, the show sort of went on – and RISC OS was in effect being put in front of a much larger audience.
However, July isn’t the ideal time for Recursion. In 2014 it was held in February – much earlier in the year, and a better fit for universities. An event like Recursion is an ideal opportunity for universities to show off and discuss the merits of the courses they can offer students, at a time when they are likely to be considering their future options.
With that in mind, the 2018 event will once again be taking place in February. The actual date is Saturday, 17th February – which observant RISC OS users will note is precisely one week before the Southwest Show, which takes place on the 24th.
That means Recursion 2018 is very awkwardly dated for RISC OS1. Most exhibitors will want to concentrate on the first fully RISC OS show of the year, putting themselves in front of visitors known to have an interest in and use the operating system. Recursion, on the other hand, is an event where there are many more visitors, most of whom have probably never heard of RISC OS to begin with – but every one of whom could potentially become a RISC OS user!
Despite that awkward date, there will be at least one group of RISC OS exhibitors at the show – the Midlands Group have confirmed they will be there, with other possible exhibitors yet to be contacted.
!ReadMe
- Donning my Soft Rock Software hat, 17th February is doubly awkward for me. I will be returning from a holiday only the day before, and would therefore have no real time to prepare. Indeed, I would ideally be using that weekend to try and get ready for the Southwest Show. However, that doesn’t mean there won’t be a Soft Rock Software stand at Recursion – I am thinking about how best to approach this.
