Elevator Pitch
Whether you’re planning a multi-day conference, a monthly meetup, or just a one-time get-together for your office, you’ll find here a handy list of DOs and DONTs, based on the experiences of myself & others in the community event game.
Description
Ok, so, if nothing else, we’ve got one thing in common. We like conferences. I like ‘em so much that we recently spent a large chunk of time and money organizing and hosting one, and am currently planning at least two more for this year, too. I’m here to spill the beans on what it takes to make these things happen. I’ll do my damndest to tell you everything you need to know to get your own conference off the ground. I’ll cover topics like:
- How many people do you need? To attend? To organize?
- Where’s the money come from?
- How do you get sponsors?
- How do you run a CFP?
- What are the easy wins and hard losses?
- For what services do you pay versus those you seek for free?
- How do you protect yourself and your fellow organizers?
- Who buys the beer?
Whether you’re planning a multi-day conference, a monthly meetup, or just a one-time get-together for your office, you’ll find here a handy list of DOs and DONTs, based on my own experiences and those of others in the community event game. Like my Gramma once said, “If you want to go to a party, sometimes you have to throw it yourself.”
Notes
I gave this talk once before, at Mountain West Ruby Conference in Salt Lake City. It is drawn from my experience as a conference organizer, putting together 3 editions of Open Source & Feelings, and 2 editions of MoonConf. Each conference was pitched to very different audiences, but they shared many of the same logistical, financial, and people-based challenges. I want more people to appreciate the work that goes into conference organizing, but also to demystify it a bit and give people some of the basic tools to get started on being community organizers on their own.