[Conferences-discuss] Crackle, crackle, "hello"...

[Aahz Maruch]

Guido van Rossum wrote:
> Aahz:
>>
>> Okay, now that I've talked a lot about how to run a volunteer Python
>> conference, let me suggest that we approach O'Reilly about running
>> it in spring or fall.  My comments about choice of venue and weekday
>> timing still apply, IMO.
> 
> O'Reilly has already forwarded a counter-offer (to me): run Python11
> as part of OSCON starting in 2003, just like the Perl conference is
> part of OSCON.  They're not interested in running a separate
> conference; as Foretec found, the audience is too small.
> 
> My own view is that we should do both: a full Python conference at
> OSCON *and* a super-cheap YAPC-style conference.  The YAS folks who
> organize YAPC have also offered to work with us.

Works for me.  I probably won't be able to help much with the facilities,
because I'd expect that having OSCON on the west coast would push people
to an alternate geography for the other conference.

Now we need a name.  ;-)

> I am not very interested in having the PSF take money for conference
> pre-registrations.  It sounds like a major hassle to administer, and
> the PSF treasurer definitely doesn't have time for that.

Hasn't been a hassle in my experience (as long as the PSF already has
some way of accepting money), but it isn't negligible, either.  My point
was more that it does take some front money to set up a convention (and
the sooner the better), but if the YAS folks are helping us, that should
probably suffice as the money center.

How quickly can YAS set up a Python-specific donation system?

Just how cheaply do we want to drive the alternate conference?  Even
without going to a university, and even with setting it in a
business-class hotel, I could probably get the costs down to less than
$100 for registration and less than $100/night for rooms (even with quad
booking for the students).

(The con that I ran had a membership fee averaging $50, and that
included a rather lavish Sunday brunch.  We had about 80 people.  Wasn't
a business-class hotel, but other incarnations of the same con have been
in a business-class hotel for the same price -- downtown is more
expensive than elsewhere.)
-- 
                      --- Aahz (@pobox.com)

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