[Conferences] Establishing a new conference

[Eric Floehr]

Hi Jason,

I've chaired PyOhio for the last three years, and we'd love to see more
conferences. With PyCon being capped, and with us only able to accept a
third of the talk proposals we received this year, there is increasing
demand for more get togethers where we can share and learn from one another.

I am not a board member of the PSF, so I can only speak to my experience in
answering some of your questions. I don't speak for the PSF.

As for needing to be a 501, no you don't need to be. PyOhio only
incorporated last year (this is our sixth year) and is still waiting on 501
status (we got caught up in the 501 scandal too). What incorporating does
is gives you a structure to do things under rather than having individuals,
and it helpful once you've reached critical mass. But you don't need it to
start generally. 501 status makes paying taxes easier, otherwise if you
have money in the bank at the end of the year, you have to pay taxes. Also,
some sponsors prefer that because they can use funds from a different
category (charitable spending) rather than from a marketing or recruitment
budget.

As for PSF blessing, we've never asked for PSF "blessing", but we have made
sure they know what we are doing so they can help promote it. They want
Python to grow and are excited for any opportunity to help Python experts
and newbies learn and grow in the language. We have been blessed that PSF
has had funds to sponsor our Sprints (buying food) for a few years, and has
helped subsidize our video recording costs (THANK YOU!). If you use the
Python logo itself, you do need to follow the guidelines and ask for
permission.

There are a number of conference "how-to's" and I have on my to-do list
writing up my experience with PyOhio (soon...). But off the top of my head,
here are some suggestions:

PyOhio's first year was in the Columbus Public Library main branch meeting
rooms. Ever since we've used facilities at The Ohio State University, and
we've been able to rent that space very inexpensively because we work with
the student Open Source Club and we have an educational mission.  So my
first advice would be to find cheap or free space. You don't need to get
fancy.  Make sure they have projectors, and a microphone if the room is
large.

A few supplies, like name tags, a poster board to sign up for lightning
talks if you have them (they are very fun and popular), and a printed
program/schedule (we fold a standard size paper in half) is all you really
need, and you might not even need that.

As for paying, we rely on sponsors and donations. The last three years
we've also made some money by selling t-shirts (not required to attend, but
for folks that want to help out or want a t-shirt). Think bake sale.

Sponsors definitely like to help out. Generally we've had success with
sponsors who hire tech people (local consulting companies, technology
companies), and companies that sell to them. They get a benefit by getting
in front of motivated developers, and you get a benefit by paying for your
hard costs.

Finally, get the word out about your conference... there are lots of people
willing and wanting to talk, and attend. They just need to know about it!

I hope this has helped a little, and you can contact me any time to talk
(though preferably next month after PyOhio), and if you aren't planning to
already, come on up to PyOhio July 27-28 and we can talk more!

Best of luck and keep me in the loop! I'll do what I can to promote.

Cheers,
Eric




On Thu, Jul 11, 2013 at 1:47 PM, Jason Myers <jason at jasonamyers.com> wrote:

> We'd like to have a PyTennessee or SouthernPy conference.  How do we go
> about getting the blessed and assisted by the PSF? Or are we free to just
> go seek sponsors and locations on our own? Do we need to be a 501? Is there
> a "How to conference guide?" last one was a joke.... sort of.
>
> Thanks,
> Jason Myers
>
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