PTA and YAPC

[Paul Fenwick]

G'day everyone,

	Just wanted to dump a few YAPC thoughts to the list,
especially regarding Scotty's question of PTA being 'the company'
for YAPC[1].

	I wouldn't want PTA to 'run' YAPC, because I believe it
would be too messy.  It makes it harder to separate the accounting for
PTA and YAPC.  It brings up a number of problems with community
versus commercial interests.  There's also a big fat question of
liability.  In short, as a director, I'm personally liable if
things go bad.  That makes me feel uneasy, even with public
liability insurance.
	
	I would propose that YAPC would be better served by starting
and Incorporated, not-for-profit or similar entity, and that be the
vehicle to actually run the conference.  This is more legwork, but
it's *much* cleaner in the long run.  

	Having said all that, I'm very happy for PTA to help out
(in principle) with a number of things.  I am happy for PTA to
assist and/or handle bookings and collection of money.  I'm happy
for PTA to run tutorials as part of the conference to help fund
proceedings.  I'm sure there are other things I'm happy with
that I haven't thought of yet.

	One thing to remember is that PTA is a commercial entity,
so there will be an expectation for 'return on investment', or
at least to break even on real and opportunity costs.  That
return on investment may not be monetary -- being known and admired
by thousands of Perl programmers and computer professionals definitely
has value.  PTA staff members may also choose to also volunteer their
own personal time to help YAPC.

	Having said all that, I'm likely to be very quiet for about
a month due to an incredibly busy end-of-year timetable.

	All the very best,

		Paul

[1] Currently PTA is not technically a company, but that should
    change soon.

-- 
Paul Fenwick <pjf at perltraining.com.au> | http://perltraining.com.au/
Director of Training                   | Ph:  +61 3 9354 6001
Perl Training Australia                | Fax: +61 3 9354 2681