Tim Gorman's "origins story" about The OakTable Network

The Oak Table Network was formed in 2001 by a half-dozen colleagues who found that learning and understanding about database technology and Oracle in particular was a passion.  They were all visiting the home of Mogen Norgaard in Malov, Denmark and they were all sitting, arguing, laughing, drinking, and programming around his massive kitchen table, which was made of oak.  And the Oak Table Network was formed.  The best summary is that the Oak Table Network is a drinking society with an Oracle problem.  Today, there are 80 members all over the world.

Background on the unconference...

During Oracle Open World 2010 in San Francisco, Mogens arrived from Copenhagen and set up a "headquarters" in the back room of Chevy's Tex-Mex on the corner of 3rd and Howard Streets, across from the Moscone Center.  People joined him for drinks and food, which Mogens ensured stayed flowing continuously.  Eventually the informal discussions about Oracle and database technology evolved into small-scale presentations right there in the restaurant.  Pretty soon, word spread and an audience gathered.

The following year, in 2011, Mogens rented space at The Thirsty Bear on Howard Street, a few doors down from Chevy's.  He encouraged any Oak Table members visiting Oracle Open World to give the presentations that were not accepted at Open World.  So was born "Oracle Closed World" as an "un-conference", a technically-oriented alternative to the marketing-drenched content at Oracle Open World.  Of course, the name "Closed World" was chosen for tongue-in-cheek contrast with the name of the Open World conference.  Unsurprisingly, displaying little in the way of humor, Oracle Corporation objected to the name with a cease-and-desist order, and thus the event was quickly renamed "Oak Table World", which apparently never drew a litigious response because, o date Oracle has not attempted to lay claim the word "world", beyond attempting world domination.

Also changing in 2012, the event outgrew the upstairs room at The Thirsty Bear and moved to its present venue, The Children's Creativity Museum, located smack dab between Moscone South and Moscone West on the corner of 4th and Howard Streets.  Now in it's eighth year, Oak Table World continues to be an oasis of interesting technical content on all things Oracle in the midst of the world's largest Oracle conference, Open World.

The main website of the unconference this year is "https://otw18.org" and the agenda is posted there.