[Melbourne-pm] Bids open to run OSDC 2010 in Australia/New Zealand.

[Scott Penrose]

Bids open to run OSDC 2010 in Australia/New Zealand.

The Open Source Developers' Conference has been run successfully for the last 6
years, drawing bigger crowds every year.  For the first three of those years
(2004-2006) it ran in Melbourne before moving to Brisbane (2007) and Sydney
(2008) and again in Brisbane (2009). 

Each year it has had at least three full streams of content running
concurrently, catered tea breaks and lunches, a sit-down conference dinner
inclusive for all attendees, and free speaker entry. The regular attendee fee
should be (and remain) around AUD 300/person. Some years have also included one
or two days of tutorial content at extra cost.

The Open Source Developers' Conference provides an important opportunity for
developers of open source applications and developers who use open source tools
to share knowledge and teach each other about the changes and new ideas that
have come up in the last year or so.  Our core focus is on writing code, and
the tools that make that easier.

The Open Source Developers' Club exec are seeking applications from interested
parties to host the 2010 Open Source Developers' Conference.  Location should
be somewhere in the Australia / New Zealand region.  If you are interested, or 
know someone that is, please complete the application form at 

http://tinyurl.com/osdc2010-application before Friday 26th of March 2010. 
The submission email address is included at the top of the form.

We do have some model rules (http://www.osdcon.org/wiki/Model_Rules) and a lot
of ideas to share.  Having said that, the OSDClub Exec (which includes past
organisers) is willing to be as active or quiet as you need us to be.

Traditionally the conference has been run around the last week of November, if
you want to deviate a lot from these dates you will need to talk to us first.
You will need a group of 6-8 dedicated people who are able to give up an
average of 3 hours a week from the acceptance date through to the conference
itself.  You will be responsible for:

       - finding and booking the venue(s)
       - managing your finances (some seed capital available)
       - advertising your call for papers to as many open source
         programming groups you know (we're happy to share our list
         with you too)
       - creating the program (preferably ensuring that no one
         language or concept unduly dominates)
        - identifying, deciding upon and inviting keynote speakers
       - organising all the social events
        - organising the catering
       - seeking and arranging sponsorships
       - advertising the conference
       - finding volunteers and running an awesome conference

In return you will get:

       - help from us when asked
       - the satisfaction of arranging an awesome conference
       - fame for running the best OSDC yet
       - a chance to improve your profile in the open source world
       - kudos from the OSDC exec, speakers and attendees

As this is such a big undertaking, we want you to know that we'll support you
every step of the way.  Should you need more help, we're here to offer advice
or step in and do things if we can.  Although OSDC Inc isn't flush with cash,
there are funds to cover deposits (venues require this, generally) before the
money comes in.  If for unforeseen difficulties the conference makes a loss,
you won't be out of pocket; although we do ask that you keep us apprised of the
financial situation on a regular basis and warn us if there may be a problem.
Your base conference budget should be covered by attendee fees, sponsorships
are important but merely "extra" to your budget.

We look forward to seeing your application!

The Open Source Developers' Club Exec

    Alec Clews, Arjen Lentz, Ben Balbo, Isaac Sutcliffe, Richard Jones, 
    Scott Penrose, Stephen Thorne, Tristan Penman, Tony Smith


P.S. Please feel free to pass this on to other groups.