[yapc] report from the socialist czar

[Uri Guttman]

>>>>> "RD" == Richard Dice <rdice at pobox.com> writes:

  RD> You bring up a good point, albeit indirectly.  That is, how is it that
  RD> we have failed to effectively "reach" you (and no doubt thousands of
  RD> others) before now?

  RD> So far, our get-the-word-out strategy has involved emailing:

  RD>     * all *.pm.org mailing list (i.e. Perl Monger groups) across
  RD>       North America, many internationally

  RD>     * most *LUG (i.e. Linux user groups) across North America

  RD>     * all Perl mailing lists mentioned on the various *.perl.org and
  RD>       *.perl.com web sites

usenet (comp.lang.perl.misc and announce (announce may not accept it)).

other web sites (perlmonks, perlguru.com, etc.)

repeated mailings to the pm groups and other lists. at least 1 a month
and every two weeks the last month. it is amazing how many will not see
the earlier posts. also remind the pm managers that pm and yapc are both
run by tpf so they should obey orders from the powers that be and resend
the emails to their groups. we can only send to the group leaders (and
that list can be spotty) and ask them to resend to their groups.

ask the perl review to email to their subscriber list.

perl.com itself (owned by o'reilly but we know who the editors are and
where they live!).

maybe even conferences.oreilly.com. doubtful as that is for their
conferences but can't hurt to ask. i can try my connections there (vee
macmillan) but if anyone else has better connections for that site, they
can try instead.

many yapc attendees are college students. previous attendees who are
still students could email/poster on their campuses.

previous attendee list. not all ever signed up to the mailing list so
get the attendee list(s) and email them. ask them to promote on their
campuses if they can do it. maybe offer a small registration discount if
they become the 'official' yapc marketing weasel on their campus.



the key to this all is volume and breadth. repeated mailings are needed
as people read or skip early ones and forget to register. later emails
remind them of the deadlines, etc. prominently mention the hotel booking
deadlines and emphasize that the block of rooms will be lost after
that. use guilt tripping, humor, cajoling, comeraderie, low cost,
massive fun.  invoke the name of larry wall (is he attending?), damian
conway (he wouldn't miss it), etc.

uri

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