> Although numerous papers continue to be submitted to USENIX ATC with significant research being reviewed, accepted, and presented, the community has evolved, and now attends conferences other than USENIX ATC. From 1,698 attendees in San Diego in 2000, ATC attendance dwindled to 165 attendees in Santa Clara in 2024
It became a write-only conference :-(
I remember reading the NFS and Kerberos papers in school.
gjvc•2h ago
I was there in San Diego in 2000. It was amazing.
ferfumarma•7h ago
A nice write-up of a sad milestone
zinekeller•5h ago
The page itself explains the funding crunch, but looking on the 2025 ATC page:
> Gold Sponsors
> National Science Foundation
I am thinking on how large is the impact of recent events in the White House versus a more perennial problem (it looks like the latter, although the former certainly won't help).
jamesblonde•2h ago
Great conference throughout the years.
I think there was a failure of imagination, though.
When numbers dwindled, why not do what other top tier systems conferences do - move outside the US and Bay Area!?!?
jamesblonde•2h ago
I know the answer as to why it didn't. A place on the PC or steering committee became so important for tenure/promotion in the US, that it was 90%+ US people - a social group factor. That led to no attempt to widen the circle of general interest. If they had come to Europe 20 years ago, it would have been huge and breathed new life into Usenix ATC.
nycerrrrrrrrrr•1h ago
Not sure what you mean by "US people" - the PC is mostly (but definitely not 90%) US based, but that follows from systems research being largely US based (for now, at least).
throw0101c•1h ago
While the ATC is no longer, Usenix does have other ones:
aoki•10h ago
It became a write-only conference :-(
I remember reading the NFS and Kerberos papers in school.
gjvc•2h ago