[Ambassadors] Insights into running conferences

[Greg DeKoenigsberg]

A cool thing from a list I'm on.

--g

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Greg DeKoenigsberg || Fedora Project || fedoraproject.org
Be an Ambassador || http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Ambassadors
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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.

-- 
Dave Neary
bolsh at gimp.org
Lyon, France
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