[Ambassadors] Insights into running conferences

[Pawel Sadowski]

On 20-07-2006, thu at 14:41 -0400, Greg DeKoenigsberg wrote:
> A cool thing from a list I'm on.
> 
> --g
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------
> Greg DeKoenigsberg || Fedora Project || fedoraproject.org
> Be an Ambassador || http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Ambassadors
> -------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 
> Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2006 22:53:00 +0200
> From: David Neary <dneary at free.fr>
> To: Peter Saint-Andre <stpeter at jabber.org>
> Cc: foundations at lists.freedesktop.org
> Subject: Re: [Foundations] running conferences
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
> > Are there any best practices out there about running conferences such as
> > ApacheCon and RubyConf? I would like to start running a conference for
> > Jabber developers (probably one in North America and one in Europe) but
> > I'm a bit at sea regarding what's involved. Any pointers or suggestions
> > would be much appreciated.
> 
> There are no fixed rules - the basic stuff is:
> 
> 1. Get a location - be realistic about the number of attendees, and free
> software projects can usually get places for free.
> 
> 2. Set a date (usually depends on location)
> 
> 3. Decide what kind of budget you need - figure out costs of food,
> security, coffee, printing (always a bigger cost than you think), and
> travel (usually the biggest part of a free software conference)
> 
> 4. Work on a website and a document for press & sponsors explaining what
> the conference is about.
> 
> 5. Based on your anticipated budget, you need to fund-raise - work out
> actors potentially interested in supporting the conference (look at the
> bit before .com in your developer's mailing list for starters, see if it
> gives you ideas) and go asking for money. Be patient - getting the right
> entry point is important, and don't be too spammy in your approach - I
> find a casual, informal approach with a nicely formatted document
> explaining why you're holding a conference, and what you will be
> spending money on, are more than enough to get what you need.
> 
> 6. When you get the budget that you need, stop fundraising, otherwise
> you'll do nothing else.
> 
> 7. There are a few ways to go with accommodation - you can have an
> official hotel, which you lock book, get group rates, but run the risk
> of paying for empty rooms if people don't come, or you can do the
> minimum - go to the local tourist office, get a list of affordable
> hotels and let people take care of themselves.
> 
> 8. For travel expenses, I start by making a list of people I *really*
> want to be at the conference, and then sending them personal mail to see
> if they can come/need help. Ask people to pay for tickets and reimburse
> them - it's 10 times easier than buying tickets online. Don't use a
> personal bank account for cash from the conference - try to use a
> foundation bank account, or a conservancy.
> 
> 9. When you get to the details stage, start with the graphics. The
> website, t-shirts, posters and web graphics start there. Start building
> community early, around accommodation options and food and social events
> on the ground, and sponsorship, graphics and publicity on the internet.
> 
> 10. Afterwards, pay for everything.
> 
> 11. Remember, even when everything seems nuts and it's all going up in
> flames, the most important thing for your conference attendees is to
> meet each other. Once you have the site and the dates, that's going to
> happen anyway. The rest is icing on the cake.
> 
> Cheers,
> Dave.

It's a very valyable mail for every Ambassador who's gonna to hold a
conference. It is valuable especially for people who will organize a
conference for the first time. Hmm, maybe we should make something like
"Conference holding mino Howto" or something like that and post it on
the Fedora Project's pages?

Regards,
Pawel