From cbrandt at buffalo.edu Tue Sep 5 10:01:54 2006 From: cbrandt at buffalo.edu (Jim Brandt) Date: Tue, 05 Sep 2006 13:01:54 -0400 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] another test Message-ID: <44FDAD82.7000200@buffalo.edu> last test -- Jim Brandt Conferences Chair The Perl Foundation email: cbrandt at perlfoundation.org IM: cbrandtbuffalo at mac.com perlmonks: cbrandtbuffalo From gwadej at anomaly.org Tue Sep 5 20:00:53 2006 From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson) Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 22:00:53 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Potential organizing structure Message-ID: <20060905220053.32332128@sovvan> For around 13 years, my wife has been part of a conference for middle school girls here in Houston called "Expanding Your Horizons". Last year she was the chairperson, so I asked her for some information on how that conference was organized. I doubt we'll be able to use exactly their structure, but this might gve us some ideas on where we will need help. They organized a set of committees to cover the major pieces of work on the conference. Here's a list of the committees that they used. * Finance - Might include our sponsorship search. * Brochure * Facilities - Big committee, included venue, food, signs, A/V, etc. * Materials - Goodies and bags * Programming - Handled speakers and such * Registration * External Relations/Communications We might want to organize a bit differently, but we probably need to cover a similar range of issues. G. Wade -- "any technology sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from a Perl script." -- Programming Perl, 2nd ed. From jeremy at msc.tamu.edu Wed Sep 6 14:08:57 2006 From: jeremy at msc.tamu.edu (Jeremy Fluhmann) Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 16:08:57 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Potential organizing structure Message-ID: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF01399D01@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> On Tuesday, September 05, 2006 10:01 PM, G. Wade Johnson wrote: > They organized a set of committees to cover the major pieces of > work on the conference. Here's a list of the committees that they > used. > > * Finance > - Might include our sponsorship search. > > * Brochure Someone creative here (unlike me ;-)). I see this as a marketing area. It's great that we now have some connections with the Chronicle (and that they're a Perl shop!). We can hopefully utilize them for some marketing and advertisement. > * Facilities > - Big committee, included venue, food, signs, A/V, etc. What's good about an area like this is that most of it will be handled by (or coordinated through) UofH. We'll need to make sure that we have all of the contacts that we need. I have contacts for food services, University Center, and housing. We'll also need to get someone from transportation and IT, as well as a few others I'm sure. > * Materials > - Goodies and bags I love goodies! :-) I know that several of this year's sponsors gave stuff for the swag bags. I'm not sure if it's something we have to request from them, or if they offer it on their own. > * Programming > - Handled speakers and such Received reply from Damian. Awaiting reply from Larry. An area like this is also needed for reviewing 'talk submissions' and organizing the order of talks. It'll be interesting to see what talks/presentations get submitted. > * Registration > > * External Relations/Communications Yes, yes, and yes. I could see this area being the one that talks to hotels, sponsors, etc. A good people person that can negotiate or knows how to work a deal with hotels, airlines, and the such. I'm also hoping that we can do the 'job fair' again next year. It seemed to draw sponsors that yapc wouldn't have drawn otherwise. I'll check with Josh and Pete to find out what the requirements were for joining the job fair. > We might want to organize a bit differently, but we probably > need to cover a similar range of issues. Agreed. It will be good to have it broken out into all of the areas that we need to cover. It will make it less overwhelming for potential volunteers. It should also help us gather more volunteers since they can pick out an area that interests them and contribute as much as they're able. Jeremy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.pm.org/pipermail/yapc-na-organizers/attachments/20060906/cd6309c5/attachment.html From jeremy at msc.tamu.edu Thu Sep 7 13:14:17 2006 From: jeremy at msc.tamu.edu (Jeremy Fluhmann) Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2006 15:14:17 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] yapc 2007 dates Message-ID: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF0120D51B@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> After a reply from Jim and Damian about suggested yapc dates, it seems that the traditional dates for yapc will work best. YAPC::NA has been around long enough for people to start planning in advance and expect to attend in mid- to late-June. As Damian said about the dates in his e-mail, the closer to OSCON, the better. He usually stays in America during the time between YAPC and OSCON, as might some other International travelers. Setting the dates to be June 25-27 would probably better accommodate Damian (and International travelers). Randal Schwartz probably wouldn't be available. Judging by his schedule online he may be elsewhere June 23 - July 3 (unless he changes his plans). I haven't received a reply from Larry yet. I also mentioned to Damian about trying to have the two-day training sessions like this year's YAPC. I wasn't sure about putting it at the front of the conference or adding it to the back (like this year). He prefers having it at the end (allows time to recover from jetlag, etc.). So, either date we choose, I recommend we try to include the two-day training sessions and have them at the end of YAPC. So, the dates look to be either June 18 - 20 or June 25 - 27. Any thoughts or concerns for those dates? Jeremy Jeremy Fluhmann Programmer/Analyst Memorial Student Center Texas A&M University 979-845-8893 jeremy at msc.tamu.edu This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the contents of this information is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail transmission in error, please notify me by telephone or via return e-mail and delete this e-mail from your system. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.pm.org/pipermail/yapc-na-organizers/attachments/20060907/53034349/attachment.html From gwadej at anomaly.org Thu Sep 7 16:27:56 2006 From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson) Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2006 18:27:56 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] yapc 2007 dates In-Reply-To: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF0120D51B@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> References: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF0120D51B@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> Message-ID: <20060907182756.113bdb96@sovvan> On Thu, 7 Sep 2006 15:14:17 -0500 "Jeremy Fluhmann" wrote: > After a reply from Jim and Damian about suggested yapc dates, it seems > that the traditional dates for yapc will work best. YAPC::NA has been > around long enough for people to start planning in advance and expect to > attend in mid- to late-June. As Damian said about the dates in his > e-mail, the closer to OSCON, the better. He usually stays in America > during the time between YAPC and OSCON, as might some other > International travelers. Setting the dates to be June 25-27 would > probably better accommodate Damian (and International travelers). > Randal Schwartz probably wouldn't be available. Judging by his schedule > online he may be elsewhere June 23 - July 3 (unless he changes his > plans). I haven't received a reply from Larry yet. > > > > I also mentioned to Damian about trying to have the two-day training > sessions like this year's YAPC. I wasn't sure about putting it at the > front of the conference or adding it to the back (like this year). He > prefers having it at the end (allows time to recover from jetlag, etc.). > So, either date we choose, I recommend we try to include the two-day > training sessions and have them at the end of YAPC. > > > > So, the dates look to be either June 18 - 20 or June 25 - 27. Any > thoughts or concerns for those dates? If we are aiming for June, either set of dates is okay. August would be pretty unbearable (generally) for people who aren't from around here, but I don't think there's much different weather-wise in those dates. I can't think of anything in particular that would make any differences, otherwise. It might be worth checking with the Tourism and Convention people to see if anything overlaps one that might cause problems. A quick check of the Houston Guide doesn't show any festivals or events scheduled for June (at least, not yet). One of the various festivals could generate a cool distraction during the convention. Need to look around a bit more to see if we can find anything else. G. Wade -- If there's no problem, there's no solution. -- Rick Hoselton From gwadej at anomaly.org Thu Sep 7 18:59:22 2006 From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson) Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2006 20:59:22 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Getting volunteers started Message-ID: <20060907205922.68ce8776@sovvan> How should we get volunteers started? Do we want to point people to this list and do all of the organizing here? I'm not sure I want to publish this list info on the main list for fear of swamping it with SPAM or opinions of people who don't plan to help. (houston at pm.org is a mostly open list and can be read by non-members through services like gmane.com.) Any thoughts? G. Wade -- Who knows what email lurks in the hearts of men? From will.willis at gmail.com Thu Sep 7 23:30:08 2006 From: will.willis at gmail.com (Will Willis) Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2006 01:30:08 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Getting volunteers started In-Reply-To: <20060907205922.68ce8776@sovvan> References: <20060907205922.68ce8776@sovvan> Message-ID: <6ee1e6090609072330o1e8b3fach4dc772e9aac5a788@mail.gmail.com> I like the idea you propose of having 2 lists. -Will p.s. Wade, sorry for the dup, I didn't realize I'd have to reply to all to write back to the list. On 9/7/06, G. Wade Johnson wrote: > How should we get volunteers started? > Do we want to point people to this list and do all of the organizing here? > > I'm not sure I want to publish this list info on the main list for fear of > swamping it with SPAM or opinions of people who don't plan to help. > (houston at pm.org is a mostly open list and can be read by non-members through > services like gmane.com.) > > Any thoughts? > G. Wade > -- > Who knows what email lurks in the hearts of men? > _______________________________________________ > YAPC-NA-organizers mailing list > YAPC-NA-organizers at pm.org > http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/yapc-na-organizers > From jeremy at msc.tamu.edu Fri Sep 8 01:44:44 2006 From: jeremy at msc.tamu.edu (Jeremy Fluhmann) Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2006 03:44:44 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Getting volunteers started Message-ID: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF01399D08@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> > How should we get volunteers started? > Do we want to point people to this list and do all of the organizing here? I was going to ask the same thing about whether or not we should post the link to join to the pm list. > I'm not sure I want to publish this list info on the main list for fear of > swamping it with SPAM or opinions of people who don't plan to help. > (houston at pm.org is a mostly open list and can be read by non-members through > services like gmane.com.) I believe Jim mentioned to me that this list is publicly viewable as well. Maybe we can actually add the link to join to the 'Volunteers' section of the wiki: http://yapchouston.org/wiki/wiki.cgi/Volunteers. Then, send out a message to the lists directing those interested in volunteering to the Volunteers page of the wiki (again ;-) ). Alternatively, we could just tell people to add their contact info to the wiki and let them know that we'll send them the link directly. I'll send an e-mail to John Lightsey (from the Volunteers page) about the link. Worst case, we can probably modify permissions on the list to be more strict. Jeremy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.pm.org/pipermail/yapc-na-organizers/attachments/20060908/f5b07605/attachment.html From gwadej at anomaly.org Fri Sep 8 05:18:57 2006 From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson) Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2006 07:18:57 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Getting volunteers started In-Reply-To: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF01399D08@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> References: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF01399D08@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> Message-ID: <20060908071857.4309211a@sovvan> On Fri, 8 Sep 2006 03:44:44 -0500 "Jeremy Fluhmann" wrote: > > How should we get volunteers started? > > Do we want to point people to this list and do all of the organizing here? > > I was going to ask the same thing about whether or not we should post the > link to join to the pm list. > > > I'm not sure I want to publish this list info on the main list for fear of > > swamping it with SPAM or opinions of people who don't plan to help. > > (houston at pm.org is a mostly open list and can be read by non-members > > through services like gmane.com.) > > I believe Jim mentioned to me that this list is publicly viewable as well. > Maybe we can actually add the link to join to the 'Volunteers' section of > the wiki: http://yapchouston.org/wiki/wiki.cgi/Volunteers. Then, send out a > message to the lists directing those interested in volunteering to the > Volunteers page of the wiki (again ;-) ). Alternatively, we could just tell > people to add their contact info to the wiki and let them know that we'll > send them the link directly. I'll send an e-mail to John Lightsey (from the > Volunteers page) about the link. I like the idea of adding the info to the wiki and directing people on the list to it. If you aren't willing to step through those two simple steps, you probably won't be willing to work. > Worst case, we can probably modify permissions on the list to be more > strict. Sounds reasonable, if we need it. G. Wade -- We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true. -- Robert Wilensky, UCB From cbrandt at buffalo.edu Mon Sep 11 13:49:45 2006 From: cbrandt at buffalo.edu (Jim Brandt) Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 16:49:45 -0400 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Getting volunteers started In-Reply-To: <20060907205922.68ce8776@sovvan> References: <20060907205922.68ce8776@sovvan> Message-ID: <4505CBE9.5010407@buffalo.edu> I agree with being a bit cautious up front with sending out the list info. This is the first time we're providing a semi-public list and I want to make sure it's a tool for the organizing committee. If you start to feel you can't post to the list because too many people are watching, it will lose it's effectiveness. We'll make sure people who want to help can find it. Jim -- Jim Brandt Conferences Chair The Perl Foundation email: cbrandt at perlfoundation.org IM: cbrandtbuffalo at mac.com perlmonks: cbrandtbuffalo From cbrandt at buffalo.edu Tue Sep 12 12:57:41 2006 From: cbrandt at buffalo.edu (Jim Brandt) Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 15:57:41 -0400 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Potential organizing structure In-Reply-To: <20060905220053.32332128@sovvan> References: <20060905220053.32332128@sovvan> Message-ID: <45071135.1080201@buffalo.edu> I think this list looks pretty close. Certainly doesn't hurt to divide up responsibilities along these lines. Of course a few people will likely end up wearing quite a few hats since we typically don't have enough organizers to worry about committees. :) G. Wade Johnson wrote: > For around 13 years, my wife has been part of a conference for middle school > girls here in Houston called "Expanding Your Horizons". > > Last year she was the chairperson, so I asked her for some information on how > that conference was organized. I doubt we'll be able to use exactly their > structure, but this might gve us some ideas on where we will need help. > > They organized a set of committees to cover the major pieces of work on the > conference. Here's a list of the committees that they used. > > * Finance > - Might include our sponsorship search. > > * Brochure > > * Facilities > - Big committee, included venue, food, signs, A/V, etc. > > * Materials > - Goodies and bags > > * Programming > - Handled speakers and such > > * Registration > > * External Relations/Communications > > We might want to organize a bit differently, but we probably need to cover a > similar range of issues. > > G. Wade -- Jim Brandt Conferences Chair The Perl Foundation email: cbrandt at perlfoundation.org IM: cbrandtbuffalo at mac.com perlmonks: cbrandtbuffalo From gwadej at anomaly.org Tue Sep 12 20:32:53 2006 From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson) Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 22:32:53 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Potential organizing structure In-Reply-To: <45071135.1080201@buffalo.edu> References: <20060905220053.32332128@sovvan> <45071135.1080201@buffalo.edu> Message-ID: <20060912223253.2deecc67@sovvan> On Tue, 12 Sep 2006 15:57:41 -0400 Jim Brandt wrote: > I think this list looks pretty close. Certainly doesn't hurt to divide > up responsibilities along these lines. Of course a few people will > likely end up wearing quite a few hats since we typically don't have > enough organizers to worry about committees. :) I didn't think we'd be able to manage actual committees (and I'm not sure I would be able to help if we could). The main thing I was thinking was that this structure had worked for a group that has run this particular convention for over 13 years, now. It seems reasonable that if we have all of these items covered, we probably aren't missing much. G. Wade -- Bugs lurk in corners and congregate at boundaries. -- Boris Bezier From gwadej at anomaly.org Wed Sep 13 05:17:02 2006 From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson) Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 07:17:02 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Sponsors Message-ID: <20060913071702.059026ac@sovvan> It seems we need to be moving faster. At the Houston.pm meeting last night, one of our members said his company is already willing to sponsor YAPC::NA, all we need is to ell them what to do. That probably means we need a plan. Any ideas? G. Wade -- There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. -- C. A. R. Hoare From jeremy at msc.tamu.edu Thu Sep 14 08:17:50 2006 From: jeremy at msc.tamu.edu (Jeremy Fluhmann) Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 10:17:50 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] FW: Conference facilities -UH University Center Message-ID: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF0120D53B@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> FYI -----Original Message----- From: Grew-Gillen, Cheryl L [mailto:cgrewgil at Central.UH.EDU] Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 5:45 PM To: Jeremy Fluhmann Cc: Coltharp, Sandy ; Pettijohn, James ; Cole, Albert B.; Sevelia Johnson; Grew-Gillen, Cheryl L; Kowalka, Keith T Subject: RE: Conference facilities -UH University Center Jeremy, Congratulations on your successful bid award for your June 2007 Perl Conference to be held in Houston! I appreciate you sending the latest update regarding potential dates. As of yesterday, I can share with you that the date ranges of June 25-27 (27th if conference will be ending before the evening) and June 18-20 (same as the 27th for an afternoon ending of the conference) are currently open time frames for 2007. Our June 2007 sessions for New Student Orientation are scheduled for Thursday and Friday each week during the month. Orientation occupies the entire University Center for each session. Our final setup occurs each Wednesday evening. The earlier days of the week continue to offer you the best potential availability during the summer. You had mentioned in your previous email last week that you have historically scheduled two days of training connected to your conference. Potential for availability of space would be in the two days preceding the proposed conference run of dates (during the weekends) versus two days after the conference in consideration of our existing campus commitments for space on Thursdays and Fridays during the summer months. **At this point I would recommend that you complete and submit your date requests for space as soon as possible via our Reservation Request Process along with an attached Policy Waiver to request approval for booking of space for dates more than 6 months in advance. All of the necessary forms you will need access to are available via our University Center and Associated Facilities Website located at www.uh.edu/ucaf , then Click on Event Services. The staff in our UC Conference and Reservation Services (CARS) Office will be available to walk you through the additional paperwork/approvals that will be needed to confirm space for your conference. Once you have completed the reservation request process we can then continue to move forward with the planning process according to your timeline and needs. For ease in working through the Reservation Request Process I am including information on contacts for the UC CARS Office. You can submit your requests directly to this office. I have also copied James Pettijohn, Assistant Director, UC Event Services on this email as he will be a great resource as you move forward with your conference planning. James Pettijohn, Assistant Director UC Event Services Theresa Crosslin or Charris Powers, Reservationists tcrosslin at uh.edu or crpowers at uh.edu Office Phone: (713) 743-5287 Fax: (713) 743-5282 In reference to your question on Parking needs for your conference, you can certainly work with our staff in the UC Conference and Reservation Services (CARS) Office to begin seeking answers to your questions on parking for your conference. There are some options available to you as far as purchase of advance passes etc. in the new campus Parking Garage that is located near the University Center and on the same street as Moody Towers and the UH Hilton Hotel. We look forward to receiving your requests for your 2007 Perl Conference. I have added the additional UH contacts that were on your original email regarding your conference bid award so they are updated as well. Please do not hesitate to contact me if needed for additional information as you move forward with your planning. Thanks, Cheryl Grew-Gillen Cheryl Grew-Gillen, Associate Director University Center and Associated Facilities The University of Houston 282 University Center Houston, TX 77204-3049 713.743.5280 - Office 713.743.5281 - Fax clgrew-gillen at uh.edu www.uh.edu/ucaf ________________________________ From: Jeremy Fluhmann [mailto:jeremy at msc.tamu.edu] Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:46 AM To: Grew-Gillen, Cheryl L Cc: Coltharp, Sandy Subject: RE: Conference facilities -UH University Center Cheryl, We are working on finalizing the venue and dates for the Yet Another Perl Conference next year. The dates we included in the bid were June 18-20 and June 25-27. It's looking like June 25-27 will work better for our keynote speakers. Would those dates be possible? The rooms we will probably need are: Houston Cougar Den Mediterranean Bluebonnet And possibly Palo Duro I think we're ready to move forward with nailing down the venue and dates, so if those dates work, please let me know. Also, do you have a preferred contact that would be able to handle parking issues? I need to contact someone about parking space and what we need to plan for, such as parking passes, etc. If those dates work, I will be contacting Sandy Coltharp (who I cc'd on this message) about housing availability. Sandy, please feel free to let me know if those dates work for you as well. We would like to put attendees up in Moody Towers, if available. Thanks! Jeremy Jeremy Fluhmann Programmer/Analyst Memorial Student Center Texas A&M University 979-845-8893 jeremy at msc.tamu.edu This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the contents of this information is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail transmission in error, please notify me by telephone or via return e-mail and delete this e-mail from your system. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.pm.org/pipermail/yapc-na-organizers/attachments/20060914/fa5c8a84/attachment-0001.html From jeremy at msc.tamu.edu Fri Sep 15 14:32:01 2006 From: jeremy at msc.tamu.edu (Jeremy Fluhmann) Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 16:32:01 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Sponsors Message-ID: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF0120D54F@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> On Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:17 AM, G. Wade Johnson wrote: > It seems we need to be moving faster. At the Houston.pm meeting > last night, one of our members said his company is already > willing to sponsor YAPC::NA, all we need is to tell them what to > do. > > That probably means we need a plan. Any ideas? Agreed. I received an e-mail today from Chris Hardie with Summersault (http://www.summersault.com/) about wanting to take a more active role in providing support/sponsorship. Information from Pete (YAPC::NA, Chicago) about sponsorship showed that they [YAPC::NA 2006] had four levels of sponsorship (feel free to correct anything Pete ;-): Platinum - $5,000 or more Gold - $1,000 to $4,999 Silver - $100 to $999 Auction - Item(s) Value I know that a few sponsors also covered various expenses and items for the conference (such as Sxip providing lanyards and badges and Google covering T-shirts), which I'm not sure if they just designated that their contribution be used for X, or if they said "Let me know how much X is, and well contribute that much." More information from Pete showed additional sponsorship opportunities for potential supporters, which included: Venue Sponsorship Banquet Sponsorship T-Shirt Sponsorship Snack Sponsorship Printed Program Sponsorship Speaker Event Sponsorship We'll need to decide what benefits come with the various levels of sponsorship. All of the money gets sent to The Perl Foundation. And, I believe, all of the expenses (deposits, etc.) get paid by TPF (from money acquired by sponsorship, registration fees, sales, etc.). I know a few more people have joined this list in the past few days. Please feel free to offer any thoughts, comments, or concerns that you may have. Thanks, Jeremy From gwadej at anomaly.org Sun Sep 17 08:11:42 2006 From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson) Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2006 10:11:42 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Tasks Message-ID: <20060917101142.43038aec@sovvan> I've been thinking about what needs to be done to get YAPC::NA completed and realized that we have a few issues we need to get done before too much longer. 1. List of tasks to complete I kind of have a fuzzy sense of things that we need to do, but I don't feel like we've identified the most important tasks or tasks that we can't forget if we want to pull this off. 2. Identify responsibilities We can't really assign responsibilities, since this will be a volunteer-based effort. But we need people to accept responsibility for certain aspects of the work so we know who to contact to see where things stand. This depends a lot on 3. Getting volunteers How do we want to begin the effort of bringing in volunteers to work with us on organizing the conference? I know Jeremy has been doing a lot of work and getting lots of important stuff done. At present, I'm not really sure where I could help. I know that it is quite possible to jump in to help and slow down the work Jeremy is doing. A great example of why we need responsibilities laid out is sponsorship. We already have a couple of companies asking to sponsor and I don't have a clue who they should talk to or what the procedure is for setting up a sponsorship. Do we need to have one of us volunteer to start listing the tasks and coordinating (kind of doing project management)? Is there some other way we can keep things from falling through the cracks? G. Wade From toddr at null.net Sun Sep 17 11:23:48 2006 From: toddr at null.net (Todd Rinaldo) Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2006 13:23:48 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Tasks In-Reply-To: <20060917101142.43038aec@sovvan> Message-ID: <009101c6da86$6bd0b2b0$0201a8c0@centurysupply.com> Hi guys, New to the list. I agree with Wade. While I think it's great 4 guys in Chicago ran the whole event without excessive effort... However! I think it would be prudent for us to get together and do some hard initial planning on this with an initial time table and everything. I'm mostly open on the when/where. I would propose a week night within the next 2 weeks, maybe right after work to tackle the issue. It would allow us to meet face to face and get to know each other, as well as hammer out a full list of what we're going to need to accomplish and on what time table. 3 venues I can think of: 1. Hal-PC (eh! Not excited about dealing with them right now) 2. A Restaurant. 3. Someone's office. I can offer my office for this presumably small group 1111 Fannin downtown. I'd have to let you up to our floor, but I think I can arrange this. I will ask tomorrow. This would offer us white boards, phone if necessary, and internet access. Jeremy, I've worked the TAMU scene over at HRBB, I'm assuming your schedule is flexible enough to pull this off, but don't know for sure. How well would this work for you? -----Original Message----- From: yapc-na-organizers-bounces+toddr=null.net at pm.org [mailto:yapc-na-organizers-bounces+toddr=null.net at pm.org] On Behalf Of G. Wade Johnson Sent: Sunday, September 17, 2006 10:12 AM To: yapc-na-organizers at pm.org Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Tasks I've been thinking about what needs to be done to get YAPC::NA completed and realized that we have a few issues we need to get done before too much longer. 1. List of tasks to complete I kind of have a fuzzy sense of things that we need to do, but I don't feel like we've identified the most important tasks or tasks that we can't forget if we want to pull this off. 2. Identify responsibilities We can't really assign responsibilities, since this will be a volunteer-based effort. But we need people to accept responsibility for certain aspects of the work so we know who to contact to see where things stand. This depends a lot on 3. Getting volunteers How do we want to begin the effort of bringing in volunteers to work with us on organizing the conference? I know Jeremy has been doing a lot of work and getting lots of important stuff done. At present, I'm not really sure where I could help. I know that it is quite possible to jump in to help and slow down the work Jeremy is doing. A great example of why we need responsibilities laid out is sponsorship. We already have a couple of companies asking to sponsor and I don't have a clue who they should talk to or what the procedure is for setting up a sponsorship. Do we need to have one of us volunteer to start listing the tasks and coordinating (kind of doing project management)? Is there some other way we can keep things from falling through the cracks? G. Wade _______________________________________________ YAPC-NA-organizers mailing list YAPC-NA-organizers at pm.org http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/yapc-na-organizers From bob.clancy at verizon.net Mon Sep 18 06:48:37 2006 From: bob.clancy at verizon.net (Bob Clancy) Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 08:48:37 -0500 (CDT) Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Tasks Message-ID: <31268736.1865731158587317668.JavaMail.root@vms168.mailsrvcs.net> Hello, My name is Bob Clancy from Boston.pm. I've joined your volunteers list and I can take on some responsibilities wherever you think I might be able to best help remotely. I don't consider myself a project manager, but I had taken a lead role in boston.pm's bid, so I can probably help with coordination, but you'd probably be better with a local volunteer for this. Another area I can probably help with could be coordinating/finding sponsors. I think much of that work can easily be done remotely. Regarding sponsorship, I think a first task is to identify areas where sponsorship is needed and areas where sponsorship might be popular with contributing companies. Regarding needs: I think the first area might be getting sponsorship for hall rental fees, etc. The second thing to do would be to contact past YAPC::NA organizers to get an idea of what to "expect" and how things have been done in the past. I've had an offer from ITA Software from an engineer indicating he would submit a proposal for Boston.pm. Since we didn't win the bid, I'd like to pass this opportunity onto Houston. Anyway, I wanted to announce that I'm on this list, and that I can probably do some of the remote work. regards, -- Bob Clancy From bob.clancy at verizon.net Mon Sep 18 08:24:41 2006 From: bob.clancy at verizon.net (Bob Clancy) Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 10:24:41 -0500 (CDT) Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Tasks Message-ID: <32212147.2927851158593082213.JavaMail.root@vms075.mailsrvcs.net> >From: Bob Clancy ... > Anyway, I wanted to announce that I'm on this list, and that I can probably do some of the remote work.\ I want to add that you guys shouldn't feel any need to discuss this off list. I won't be offended if you might want to keep things more local. (I know that's how I'd feel if I was in your shoes.) I want to make sure you don't feel inhibited about saying things on this list, cause if that happens, the net effect would be to make more work. regards, -- Bob From jeremy at msc.tamu.edu Mon Sep 18 08:57:22 2006 From: jeremy at msc.tamu.edu (Jeremy Fluhmann) Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 10:57:22 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] FW: yapc na 2007 Message-ID: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF0120D552@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> Reply from Damian about switching to the earlier dates (June 18-20) to accommodate Larry: > Believe me, I understand how difficult the whole process is. > Unquestionably you have to set the dates to fit in with Larry's > needs. I would not expect anything else. > > I will start planning around that date. If I can possibly make it > I will, especially if you can offer me the training classes again > next year. However, it will almost certainly be the case that I > won't be able to do both YAPC and OSCON in 2007, and I will need > to analyse the financial trade-off in choosing between them. > > All the best, > > Damian From jeremy at msc.tamu.edu Mon Sep 18 09:07:45 2006 From: jeremy at msc.tamu.edu (Jeremy Fluhmann) Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 11:07:45 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Tasks Message-ID: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF0120D553@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> On Monday, September 18, 2006 8:49 AM, Bob Clancy wrote: > My name is Bob Clancy from Boston.pm. I've joined your volunteers > list and I can take on some responsibilities wherever you think I might be > able to best help remotely. I don't consider myself a project manager, > but I had taken a lead role in boston.pm's bid, so I can probably help > with coordination, but you'd probably be better with a local volunteer for > this. Another area I can probably help with could be coordinating/finding > sponsors. I think much of that work can easily be done remotely. Hi Bob! Thanks for volunteering! Sponsorship is definitely an area that I think every YAPC could use as much help as possible. > Regarding sponsorship, I think a first task is to identify areas where > sponsorship is needed and areas where sponsorship might be popular with > contributing companies. Regarding needs: I think the first area might be > getting sponsorship for hall rental fees, etc. The second thing to do > would be to contact past YAPC::NA organizers to get an idea of what to > "expect" and how things have been done in the past. I've had an offer > from ITA Software from an engineer indicating he would submit a proposal > for Boston.pm. Since we didn't win the bid, I'd like to pass this > opportunity onto Houston. Thanks! I talked with Pete (YAPC::NA 2006) about sponsorship. Some the information he pointed me to suggested offering potential sponsors the opportunity to sponsor the venue, snacks, t-shirts, banquet, printed materials, and speaker event. I also know that the job fair attracted additional sponsorship. > Anyway, I wanted to announce that I'm on this list, and that I can > probably do some of the remote work. > > regards, > -- > Bob Clancy > _______________________________________________ > YAPC-NA-organizers mailing list > YAPC-NA-organizers at pm.org > http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/yapc-na-organizers From bob.clancy at verizon.net Mon Sep 18 10:04:23 2006 From: bob.clancy at verizon.net (Bob Clancy) Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 12:04:23 -0500 (CDT) Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Sponsorship ideas (was "Re: Tasks" Message-ID: <32361713.2822701158599063885.JavaMail.root@vms061.mailsrvcs.net> >From: Jeremy Fluhmann ... >Thanks! I talked with Pete (YAPC::NA 2006) about sponsorship. Some the >information he pointed me to suggested offering potential sponsors the >opportunity to sponsor the venue, snacks, t-shirts, banquet, printed >materials, and speaker event. I also know that the job fair attracted >additional sponsorship. In the past, I've approached the company I where I worked to internally ask about sponsorship. In both cases, the first thing they look at is whether there is any benefit to the company. First question in both cases was whether there is any recruiting benefit. PR probably comes in second. Given this, I think we should require some level of sponsorship as a condition of any company participating in the job fair. Looks like your list above is on the same lines as my list below; Areas of sponsorship that I've thought of (so far): ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Ideas for sponsorship: rental fees for a particular room (high visibility) room cost, plus cost for any signage needed/wanted computer/terminal room (possibly providing PCs and/or room rent) sponsorship of wifi elsewhere (ie: While we might be able to borrow some wifi routers, or have UH's IT provide equipment, it would be nice if some company might donate some equipment that The Perl Foundation could own.) I'll leave such a decision to the person who volunteered during YAPC::Chicago, but I did want to mention the idea as a possiblility. sponsorship of coffee/snacks/doughnuts/breakfast (Probably a lot cheaper than sponsoring the banquet. Might be an "ice-breaker" method of approaching some company for possible partial banquet sponsorship without making them feel as if they are expected to shell out a lot of cash.) depending on the proximity of dorms to conference facility, could sponsor a bus sponsorship of banquet sponsorship of transportation to banquet sponsorship of meals sponsorship by donating products/services to the auction sponsorship of a tutorial class scholarships for students (Would be definitely good for PR and HR for companies, wouldn't cost too much. We might be able to get some professors to contact companies in multiple cities. This would expand sponsorship, while also promoting YAPC on college campuses. sponsorship of one or more speaker's costs? Job-fair attendance (proably should require sponsoring something else) depending on how easily it is to get to uh from airport you could have sponsorship for transportation? you could have sponsorship for parking fees (if significant number of locals will be attending) sponsorship of coffee/food and/or room space for hackathon. send a programmer to the hackathon (again would have to be something of strategic benefit for the sponsoring company, but they would be able to get some PR mileage out of doing something like this.) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ -- Bob From petek at bsod.net Mon Sep 18 10:13:53 2006 From: petek at bsod.net (Pete Krawczyk) Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 12:13:53 -0500 (CDT) Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Sponsorship ideas (was "Re: Tasks" In-Reply-To: <32361713.2822701158599063885.JavaMail.root@vms061.mailsrvcs.net> References: <32361713.2822701158599063885.JavaMail.root@vms061.mailsrvcs.net> Message-ID: Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Sponsorship ideas (was "Re: Tasks" From: Bob Clancy Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 12:04:23 -0500 (CDT) }Given this, I think we should require some level of sponsorship }as a condition of any company participating in the job fair. This was a precondition last year of participating in the job fair, and it worked so well that we had companies sponsoring *during* YAPC just to get involved with it. } sponsorship of a tutorial class That's how Damian made it out last year - ValueClick sponsored his transportation to and from Australia. -Pete K -- Pete Krawczyk petek at bsod dot net http://www.petekrawczyk.com/ From bob.clancy at verizon.net Mon Sep 18 10:27:25 2006 From: bob.clancy at verizon.net (Bob Clancy) Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 12:27:25 -0500 (CDT) Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Tasks: Food/beverage/hospitality Message-ID: <17983522.2831201158600445876.JavaMail.root@vms061.mailsrvcs.net> Over the weekend I noticed in UH's food/beverage policy that you will be allowed to bring in 'potluck' type items. This can be executed on much later, but you guys might want to form a hospitality committee. You or your significant others could prepare some home cooked meals (BBQ, ;-) ) which might help to make for a lower-cost experience for some attendees. We could set up tables in the backs of some of the rooms. Alternatively, the policy allows you to bring in pre-packaged store bought items, and soft drinks/water (as long as they are "coke" products. That could be an easy way of keeping the cost of snacks down. Might need refrigeration from AM until around noon, but UH might be able to provide such. Not sure about cleanup or whether this would be too much work, but I just wanted to put the idea out there for you to consider. This team could probably be formed late, and filled by people who hadn't volunteered yet, but who will want to show hospitality. Maybe some spouses and/or kids could help too. My previous notes: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Food/beverage: You are allowed to bring in pre-packaged and home/cooked putluck type meals Maybe you can have some locals cook some stuff to be distributed in various rooms? (UH requires that Coke products be used (including bottled water) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ -- Bob From bob.clancy at verizon.net Mon Sep 18 10:59:02 2006 From: bob.clancy at verizon.net (Bob Clancy) Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 12:59:02 -0500 (CDT) Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Sponsorship ideas (was "Re: Tasks" Message-ID: <22031679.2843611158602342709.JavaMail.root@vms061.mailsrvcs.net> >From: Pete Krawczyk ... >This was a precondition last year of participating in the job fair, and it >worked so well that we had companies sponsoring *during* YAPC just to get >involved with it. Ok Pete, next question: What was the minimum level of sponsorship to quality for the Job Fair? (My gut feeling is at least $250.) Information from Pete (YAPC::NA, Platinum - $5,000 or more Gold - $1,000 to $4,999 Silver - $100 to $999 Auction - Item(s) Value I'd also consider giving lower thresholds to a given "level" of sponsorship if Houston find out that they need money to put a deposit down on something. (Ie: another group wants to book during our time, and has up-front cash, then UH would probably demand a deposit from us at that time.) I'm not sure how nice/mean the UH conference folks are, but Northeastern U in Boston wanted something like 1/3 of room rental up front at the time of the contract signing. Given the idea of changing the thresholds, I'd change the lower boundary for "silver" to $250 perhaps 1 week before the conference so that last minute job fair participants would kick in more cash. Can we get a minimum of $500 and still have people partipate in the job fair? Pete: Am I off base here? (I'm sure you guys made the rules as you went along, right?) -- Bob From joshua.mcadams at gmail.com Mon Sep 18 11:03:34 2006 From: joshua.mcadams at gmail.com (Joshua McAdams) Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 14:03:34 -0400 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Tasks In-Reply-To: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF0120D553@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> References: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF0120D553@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> Message-ID: <49d805d70609181103i7d3b0f25vc20316ac60281306@mail.gmail.com> > Thanks! I talked with Pete (YAPC::NA 2006) about sponsorship. Some the > information he pointed me to suggested offering potential sponsors the > opportunity to sponsor the venue, snacks, t-shirts, banquet, printed > materials, and speaker event. I also know that the job fair attracted > additional sponsorship. Indeed, we attacked sponsorship in a few different ways, each with their own good and bad points. We started out with a ten-page sponsorship document that detailed different items that companies could sponsor. Companies could be a t-shirt sponsor, snack sponsor, a banquet sponsor, etc. Eventually we added basic cash sponsorship levels that companies could sponsor at: platinum, gold, silver, etc. Later, these levels were broken out into a little one-page document that had a list of what the sponsor was entitled to for each level of sponsorship. Some companies liked the large document with sponsorable items and others were happy to just have the quick summary of what they get for how much :) In retrospect, managing a mix of 'item' sponsors and general cash sponsors was kind of a headache. It would have been much easier for me to just to work with the cash levels to begin with and only have item-specific sponsorships at the sponsor's request. Still, having a banquet sponsor or, as the Pittsburgh Perl Workshop seems to have done, room sponsors, might be workable. I would stop there and take general cash sponsorship for everything beyond those few big-ticket items. As far as finding sponsors, here is what we did: * Local Perl Mongers approached their own employers (very successful) * Contacted the typical sponsors such as O'Reilly, ActiveState, etc. * Search for Perl jobs and then contact the employers that are hiring * Search for Perl articles on the web and in magazines and contact the media agencies for publicity * Contact people who you have worked with and see if they have any leads It is safe to say that connections that Chicago.pm members had with different employers brought in at least half of our sponsorship. Be sure to get the entire group involved here. Beyond that, the job fair was a big hit. I talked to a recruiter at a company that I worked for and asked what a reasonable price would be for entrance in the fair. They said that $500 was a price that would be hard to say no to, so that was the number that I went with for entrance to the job fair. Of course, for smaller companies I reduced the price, but $500 was a good starting point that wouldn't get an immediate no. Another good source of income was the post-YAPC classes. I would definitely encourage doing these again. There are tons of good and recognized instructors that are very willing to help out (and make some extra cash). $200/student paid for the rooms for the classes, made YAPC $5,000, and paid out $12,000 to the instructors. Also, remember that you'll need to round up some auction items. There are quite a few companies that will gladly send you some swag to auction off for charity. >From memory, things we offered sponsors were: * Verbal recognition at YAPC * Placement on the conference t-shirt * Placement in the conference program * Banner and link from the conference website * Table at the job fair There are other things that you have at your disposal that you can offer sponsors, but that you don't want to give away to start with. One of the most important is access to the conference. A few of the sponsors requested that they get free passes for their sponsorship. This is workable, but it also directly effects your numbers because each person that attends the conference costs you money. For each free pass, you have to basically deduct $50-80 from the sponsorship. For this reason, free passes are a nice thing to keep in your back pocket in case you need them, but not necessarily offer right away. One thing we did instead was 'company-passes'. Basically, a local company could purchase x-seats at the conference and could have that number of employees in sessions at any given time. Of course, we didn't police it closely, so it might have been abused. Still, it got us out of giving away passes and made the companies feel better. If I remember correctly, we even did this for some companies that didn't sponsor us. Basically, they couldn't have their entire department out for three days and couldn't justify buying passes for people to only attend a hand-full of sessions. Having a seat reserved allowed them to rotate employees going to the conference and made financial sense enough that they bought the passes. So, that was more of a brain dump, but if I had to hit the high points: * Use every connection that your group has, these tend to pay * Don't get too complex in your sponsorship structure * Selling the job fair is the easiest of all because it has the most potential benefit for a company by the way, do you have access to our orgwiki so that you can see our sponsorship contacts? From joshua.mcadams at gmail.com Mon Sep 18 11:09:27 2006 From: joshua.mcadams at gmail.com (Joshua McAdams) Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 14:09:27 -0400 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Tasks: Food/beverage/hospitality In-Reply-To: <17983522.2831201158600445876.JavaMail.root@vms061.mailsrvcs.net> References: <17983522.2831201158600445876.JavaMail.root@vms061.mailsrvcs.net> Message-ID: <49d805d70609181109g3b1dba38m84ab760f77775ff5@mail.gmail.com> > Over the weekend I noticed in UH's food/beverage policy that you will be allowed to bring This would be a great place to save some money. When we signed up with IIT we were told that we could cater the conference ourselves, but then when we actually got ready to do so, we were told that we had to use the on-campus catering service :( If you can get written confirmation from the University as to exactly what can and cannot be done, do so. From bob.clancy at verizon.net Mon Sep 18 11:33:50 2006 From: bob.clancy at verizon.net (Bob Clancy) Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 13:33:50 -0500 (CDT) Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Tasks: Food/beverage/hospitality Message-ID: <28229462.2857861158604430463.JavaMail.root@vms061.mailsrvcs.net> >From: Joshua McAdams Bob>> Over the weekend I noticed in UH's food/beverage policy that you will be allowed to bring Josh>This would be a great place to save some money. When we signed up Josh>with IIT we were told that we could cater the conference ourselves, Josh>but then when we actually got ready to do so, we were told that we had Josh>to use the on-campus catering service :( Josh> Josh>If you can get written confirmation from the University as to exactly Josh>what can and cannot be done, do so. Hi Josh (love PerlCast :-) It's written in their food and beverage policy (but Jeremy should probably get clarification): http://uh.edu/ucaf/reservations/files/APPROVED%20-%20UCAF%20Food%20Beverage%20Policies%208-1-2005.pdf ... I. Providing Own Food/Drink Products The reserving party has two options related to providing own food/drink products: o Pre-packaged store-purchased items may be carried into any room/space within the UC or UC Satellite (i.e. cookies, cakes, beverages*, popcorn, chips, pizza, etc.). o Home-cooked foods that require additional cooking, heating, or cooling where a kitchen appliance will be used (i.e. crock-pot, blender, etc.) for potluck, shared-dish meals, or receptions, etc. may be carried into meeting rooms. Please note the following additional requirement when requesting the use of a pre-set room. Due to potential safety/fire/damage concerns, the reserving party must consult with the staff of the UC Conference and Reservation Services Office to identify the appropriate number and location of catering tables needed for a buffet setup. Board/conference tables are not to be used as buffet serving tables. The following preset rooms fall into this category (UC - Atlantic, Baltic, Pacific, Palo Duro, Rio Grande, Rodeo, & San Jacinto; UC Satellite - Claudette). ... So the above looks like certain rooms are allowed (or prevented, I'm not sure which they mean) for homecooked means/snacks. The paragraph before the above in the PDF doc says you have to say this up front (presumably at the time of the contract). I imaging if it wasn't written into the contract correctly, that we'd be prevented from bringing in out own food/snacks. -- Bob From petek at bsod.net Mon Sep 18 11:43:26 2006 From: petek at bsod.net (Pete Krawczyk) Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 13:43:26 -0500 (CDT) Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Sponsorship ideas (was "Re: Tasks" In-Reply-To: <22031679.2843611158602342709.JavaMail.root@vms061.mailsrvcs.net> References: <22031679.2843611158602342709.JavaMail.root@vms061.mailsrvcs.net> Message-ID: Subject: Re: Re: [Yapc-na-organizers] Sponsorship ideas (was "Re: Tasks" From: Bob Clancy Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 12:59:02 -0500 (CDT) }Ok Pete, next question: What was the minimum level }of sponsorship to quality for the Job Fair? (My gut }feeling is at least $250.) We told everyone $250, but there might have been one that got in at $100. }if Houston find out that they need money to put a deposit down on something. All monies are handled by TPF, and the account does not start from zero. }Given the idea of changing the thresholds, I'd change the lower boundary }for "silver" to $250 perhaps 1 week before the conference so that last }minute job fair participants would kick in more cash. If you have a minimum, have a minimum. Don't change it, but offer perks to those who come early. For example, if you don't sponsor in time, you might not get a table in the mainway. You might not have a table skirt, you might not be on the signage or the t-shirt or in the program. We want people to give us money, but we can't get greedy. }Can we get a minimum of $500 and still have people partipate in the job fair? Don't look at it as an opportunity to "gouge" sponsors. We had 14 companies last year, and I'd be a lot more excited to see 30 or 40 before we raised the minimum price. Remember, someone coming to YAPC might find a job with a company at a table. We don't want that to not happen because a company can't or won't come up with an extra $250. }Pete: Am I off base here? (I'm sure you guys made the rules as you went }along, right?) You're not that far off. And while we did have some input from TPF and previous organizers, for the most part, our decisions rested with us. -Pete K -- Pete Krawczyk petek at bsod dot net http://www.petekrawczyk.com/ From jeremy at msc.tamu.edu Mon Sep 18 13:08:31 2006 From: jeremy at msc.tamu.edu (Jeremy Fluhmann) Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 15:08:31 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Tasks Message-ID: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF01399D39@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> On Mon 9/18/2006 1:03 PM, Joshua McAdams wrote: > Some companies liked the large document with sponsorable items and > others were happy to just have the quick summary of what they get for > how much :) In retrospect, managing a mix of 'item' sponsors and > general cash sponsors was kind of a headache. It would have been much > easier for me to just to work with the cash levels to begin with and > only have item-specific sponsorships at the sponsor's request. Still, > having a banquet sponsor or, as the Pittsburgh Perl Workshop seems to > have done, room sponsors, might be workable. I would stop there and > take general cash sponsorship for everything beyond those few > big-ticket items. I never thought about breaking venue sponsorship up into pieces, such as allowing sponsorship of individual rooms. That's a great idea! Sponsors could offer to sponsor all or part of a room and have their name(s) listed next to the room(s), or something. It would be eaiser to get a company to pay for all or part of a room and have thier name displayed/associated with the room in someway rather than asking for sponsorship of the venue as a whole. > Beyond that, the job fair was a big hit. I talked to a recruiter at a > company that I worked for and asked what a reasonable price would be > for entrance in the fair. They said that $500 was a price that would > be hard to say no to, so that was the number that I went with for > entrance to the job fair. Of course, for smaller companies I reduced > the price, but $500 was a good starting point that wouldn't get an > immediate no. I thought the job fair was a great idea at this year's YAPC. As far as I could tell, it seemed well received. I'm definitely hoping to do it for 2007. > Another good source of income was the post-YAPC classes. I would > definitely encourage doing these again. There are tons of good and > recognized instructors that are very willing to help out (and make > some extra cash). $200/student paid for the rooms for the classes, > made YAPC $5,000, and paid out $12,000 to the instructors. I've already contacted Damian and brian (Randal has scheduling conflicts with both possible dates for YAPC), and both seem willing to do it again. > One thing we did instead was 'company-passes'. Basically, a local > company could purchase x-seats at the conference and could have that > number of employees in sessions at any given time. Of course, we > didn't police it closely, so it might have been abused. Still, it got > us out of giving away passes and made the companies feel better. If I > remember correctly, we even did this for some companies that didn't > sponsor us. Basically, they couldn't have their entire department out > for three days and couldn't justify buying passes for people to only > attend a hand-full of sessions. Having a seat reserved allowed them > to rotate employees going to the conference and made financial sense > enough that they bought the passes. I like the 'company-passes' idea. I could see possibly announcing this towards the end of registration to attract some last minute attendees. I could also see working something out for the auction dinner to try and bring all of the 'rotating employees' to the dinner and hopefully generate more money for TPF. Thanks Josh! Jeremy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.pm.org/pipermail/yapc-na-organizers/attachments/20060918/9108fcb2/attachment.html From bob.clancy at verizon.net Mon Sep 18 15:04:33 2006 From: bob.clancy at verizon.net (Bob Clancy) Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 17:04:33 -0500 (CDT) Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] "Auction Bucks" and "sponsorship rewards" ideas (Re: Tasks) Message-ID: <29619146.2454121158617073461.JavaMail.root@vms069.mailsrvcs.net> >From: Jeremy Fluhmann ... Jeremy wrote:> I could also see working something out for the auction dinner to try and bring all of the 'rotating employees' to the dinner and hopefully generate more money for TPF. Potentially dangerous since we really end up loosing money on the auction (once you consider the cost of the dinner itself). Yes, we usually try and get a company to sponsor (or at least assist_with/defray) the cost of the auction. I understand that the auction is expected and traditional, but as the size of YAPC::NA increases, we may eventually have to rethink doing this. Call me a party-pooper! I think the dinner is good, and is a draw for the conference itself, but adding greater numbers increases the burden on getting a sponsor for the dinner/auction meal/venue. I'd say we just sell extra tickets ala-carte at a price that will cover the actual room/meal cost that has not been sponsored. That does bring up another nice idea/incentive to get higher levels of sponsorship: with the very highest tiers of sponsorship, we could give a set number of extra dinner tickets. (The idea being, sponsors with bucks might have friends who will be willing to spend more money at the action.) A third idea (which I mentioned to Uri) was to consider selling "auction bucks". A pre-paid amount of money to use in the auction. You could consider giving a free meal/auction ticket to the extras if they buy $75 worth of auction bucks. (I know there are some pitfalls to this idea: like we'd want to make sure to limit the number of auction bucks sold, so that people who buy them can be sure to find something that they want to bid on/win. I don't think giving refunds on auction bucks would be a good idea. Perhaps there could be some black-market arbitrage going on among participants to make sure the auction bucks get used up. -- Bob From jeremy at msc.tamu.edu Fri Sep 22 09:02:45 2006 From: jeremy at msc.tamu.edu (Jeremy Fluhmann) Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 11:02:45 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Sponsorship document Message-ID: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF0120D56E@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> We need to see about getting a sponsorship document together to present to our potential sponsors. A one-page document giving an overview of what YAPC is and who attends, as well as listing the benefits of sponsorship would probably do well. We also need to show the 'levels of sponsorship' (or similar). I want to be able to go ahead and give this document to the companies that have already asked about or offered sponsorship. This doesn't have to be our 'final draft', but I want something to go ahead and give to people that have already made contact. I'll try and work on something today, but if anyone has suggestions or is good at doing something like this, please let me know. :-) I already have some information from Pete about what they did for their sponsorship document. We'll also put together a larger sponsorship proposal for a few specific companies that might be able to provide a larger contribution. Thanks, Jeremy Jeremy Fluhmann Programmer/Analyst Memorial Student Center Texas A&M University 979-845-8893 jeremy at msc.tamu.edu This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the contents of this information is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail transmission in error, please notify me by telephone or via return e-mail and delete this e-mail from your system. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.pm.org/pipermail/yapc-na-organizers/attachments/20060922/45922fa5/attachment.html From joshua.mcadams at gmail.com Fri Sep 22 09:27:06 2006 From: joshua.mcadams at gmail.com (Joshua McAdams) Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 12:27:06 -0400 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Sponsorship document In-Reply-To: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF0120D56E@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> References: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF0120D56E@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> Message-ID: <49d805d70609220927p165f3ca2m5cb63616fa96fff5@mail.gmail.com> > like this, please let me know. :-) I already have some information from > Pete about what they did for their sponsorship document. Not sure if he handed off the acutal docs, so here goes... -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: yapc_sponsorship.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 167907 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.pm.org/pipermail/yapc-na-organizers/attachments/20060922/726c9d65/attachment-0002.pdf -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: yapc_sponsorship.sla Type: application/octet-stream Size: 90276 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.pm.org/pipermail/yapc-na-organizers/attachments/20060922/726c9d65/attachment-0001.obj -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: ActiveState_and_YAPC.odt Type: application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text Size: 16294 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.pm.org/pipermail/yapc-na-organizers/attachments/20060922/726c9d65/attachment-0001.bin -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: ActiveState_and_YAPC.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 120163 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.pm.org/pipermail/yapc-na-organizers/attachments/20060922/726c9d65/attachment-0003.pdf From cbrandt at buffalo.edu Fri Sep 22 10:06:45 2006 From: cbrandt at buffalo.edu (Jim Brandt) Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 13:06:45 -0400 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] [Fwd: Re: Sponsorship document] Message-ID: <45141825.8050202@buffalo.edu> Jeremy Fluhmann wrote: I?ll try and work on something today, but if anyone has > suggestions or is good at doing something like this, please let me know. > :-) I already have some information from Pete about what they did for > their sponsorship document. > > > > We?ll also put together a larger sponsorship proposal for a few specific > companies that might be able to provide a larger contribution. > My main suggestion is to keep it simple. We're not Gartner or even OSCON, so you don't want your sponsorship rules/opportunities to outnumber your sponsors. I like the platinum/gold/etc. idea and it's well understood. The trick is coming up with a clear benefit for each level, other than just being listed in a bigger font with a bigger logo. Although for some sponsors that might be enough. In my experience, the sponsorship of conference components is mostly for sponsors who want their name attached to something. When I did YAPC, I created a short list of these items with a dollar figure attached. When a sponsor asked if they could sponsor something more prominent, I offered the items. For example, O'Reilly sent a ton of books and also wanted to offer money, but they didn't just want it to go into a big pot. So they sponsored movie night and we had special coupons printed up that said "O'Reilly Movie Night!" It's always easiest if the sponsors just give money into a pot and you can spend it as needed. It also eliminates any accounting to prove to the sponsor you spent their money on the thing they thought they bought. I think Josh and Pete found that things got too complex and moved to simplify. Is that true, guys? To address another question that came up, you can ask TPF to provide checks up front for deposits and such. We don't expect organizers to shell out their own cash and float it until the conference. We just need documentation to show where the money is going. Also, on the keep it simple front, you should weigh the effort required to bring in things like beverages vs. the cost to have it provided. If the cost savings is significant, it might be worth it. However, you'll be busy the week of YAPC. Do you really want to be running to the store to pick up a case of Coke? You often get things like plates, cups, napkins and clean-up when you get the host caterer to take care of things. To comment on the auction/dinner conversation, they are two separate things. The auction was originally to raise money. The dinner is to have a nice social event with everyone together. We have traditionally put them together because it's convenient. The cost of the dinner has always been an issue, and with such a low conference cost it probably always will be. The host group always needs to decide how to handle the social night given the budget and sponsorship they have available. This is great discussion so early in the process! Jim -- Jim Brandt Administrative Computing Services University at Buffalo From gwadej at anomaly.org Fri Sep 22 20:19:49 2006 From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson) Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 22:19:49 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Insurance Message-ID: <20060922221949.73e5a515@sovvan> My wife brought up a question that I didn't have a clue of how to answer, and I'm hoping that someone who has been through this (or someone from TPF) might know the answer. What do we do about liability insurance for the conference? The conference she worked with had some kind of "conference liability insurance" that they got every year. Does anyone know anything about this? G. Wade From bob.clancy at verizon.net Sat Sep 23 11:15:00 2006 From: bob.clancy at verizon.net (Bob Clancy) Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2006 14:15:00 -0400 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Insurance Message-ID: <3241865726.424054@outgoing.verizon.net> I think TPF or Chicago is going to have to answer what has been done in the past. Every venue Boston.pm looked at required a proof of insurance certificate (or something like that). -- Bob Clancy (sent from my Treo) -----Original Message----- From: "G. Wade Johnson" Date: Friday, Sep 22, 2006 11:19 pm Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Insurance My wife brought up a question that I didn't have a clue of how to answer, and I'm hoping that someone who has been through this (or someone from TPF) might know the answer. What do we do about liability insurance for the conference? The conference she worked with had some kind of "conference liability insurance" that they got every year. Does anyone know anything about this? G. Wade _______________________________________________ YAPC-NA-organizers mailing list YAPC-NA-organizers at pm.org http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/yapc-na-organizers From cbrandt at buffalo.edu Mon Sep 25 05:00:31 2006 From: cbrandt at buffalo.edu (Jim Brandt) Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 08:00:31 -0400 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Insurance In-Reply-To: <20060922221949.73e5a515@sovvan> References: <20060922221949.73e5a515@sovvan> Message-ID: <4517C4DF.4070501@buffalo.edu> TPF covers this with our insurance. We can get the forms for you to show how much coverage we have. I think it's $1 million for liability. I think that is standard and has been enough for past venues. G. Wade Johnson wrote: > My wife brought up a question that I didn't have a clue of how to answer, and > I'm hoping that someone who has been through this (or someone from TPF) might > know the answer. > > What do we do about liability insurance for the conference? The conference she > worked with had some kind of "conference liability insurance" that they got > every year. > > Does anyone know anything about this? > > G. Wade > _______________________________________________ > YAPC-NA-organizers mailing list > YAPC-NA-organizers at pm.org > http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/yapc-na-organizers -- Jim Brandt Conferences Chair The Perl Foundation email: cbrandt at perlfoundation.org IM: cbrandtbuffalo at mac.com perlmonks: cbrandtbuffalo From gwadej at anomaly.org Mon Sep 25 05:11:13 2006 From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson) Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 07:11:13 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] Insurance In-Reply-To: <4517C4DF.4070501@buffalo.edu> References: <20060922221949.73e5a515@sovvan> <4517C4DF.4070501@buffalo.edu> Message-ID: <20060925071113.0a7378f2@sovvan> On Mon, 25 Sep 2006 08:00:31 -0400 Jim Brandt wrote: > TPF covers this with our insurance. We can get the forms for you to show > how much coverage we have. I think it's $1 million for liability. I > think that is standard and has been enough for past venues. I guessed that you guys already had this covered, but it's good to check. G. Wade -- If there's no solution, there's no problem. -- Rick Hoselton From jeremy at msc.tamu.edu Wed Sep 27 09:54:20 2006 From: jeremy at msc.tamu.edu (Jeremy Fluhmann) Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 11:54:20 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] announcement of yapc dates Message-ID: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF0120D57E@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> Wade, Will, and the rest of the gang, what do you think of this as the announcement for the YAPC dates: After discussions with the "powers that be" and trying to resolve scheduling conflicts, the dates for YAPC::NA 2007 have finally been established! The Houston.pm group and YAPC::NA 2007 organizers are pleased to announce that next year's YAPC::NA will be Monday, June 25th through Wednesday, June 27th, at the University of Houston. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have. You can also visit http://www.yapc.org/America for updates and information. The site format and content should be changing soon so be sure to check back as often as you like. We'll try to post a schedule of when various things will be announced so that people know when to expect what (suggestion from this year's yapc wiki). Thanks, Jeremy Jeremy Fluhmann Programmer/Analyst Memorial Student Center Texas A&M University 979-845-8893 jeremy at msc.tamu.edu This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the contents of this information is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail transmission in error, please notify me by telephone or via return e-mail and delete this e-mail from your system. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.pm.org/pipermail/yapc-na-organizers/attachments/20060927/262c5337/attachment.html From cbrandt at buffalo.edu Wed Sep 27 10:01:52 2006 From: cbrandt at buffalo.edu (Jim Brandt) Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 13:01:52 -0400 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] announcement of yapc dates In-Reply-To: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF0120D57E@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> References: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF0120D57E@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> Message-ID: <451AAE80.3090201@buffalo.edu> I'd get rid of the 'powers that be' part--the conspiracy theorists already have enough mis-information to feed their cabal theories. :) I'd just use "The dates for YAPC::NA..." Other than that, looks good to me. I like the follow-up on feedback from last year. It shows we really do try to listen. Jeremy Fluhmann wrote: > Wade, Will, and the rest of the gang, what do you think of this as the > announcement for the YAPC dates: > > > > After discussions with the "powers that be" and trying to resolve > scheduling conflicts, the dates for YAPC::NA 2007 have finally been > established! The Houston.pm group and YAPC::NA 2007 organizers are > pleased to announce that next year's YAPC::NA will be Monday, June 25th > through Wednesday, June 27th, at the University of Houston. Please feel > free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have. You can > also visit http://www.yapc.org/America for updates and information. The > site format and content should be changing soon so be sure to check back > as often as you like. We'll try to post a schedule of when various > things will be announced so that people know when to expect what > (suggestion from this year's yapc wiki). > > > > > > Thanks, > > Jeremy > > > > > > **Jeremy Fluhmann*** > *//Programmer/Analyst/// > ///Memorial//// ////Student//// ////Center/// > ///Texas//// ////A&M//// ////University/// > //979-845-8893// > //jeremy at msc.tamu.edu/// > > This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential. If you > are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any > disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the contents of this > information is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail transmission > in error, please notify me by telephone or via return e-mail and delete > this e-mail from your system. > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > YAPC-NA-organizers mailing list > YAPC-NA-organizers at pm.org > http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/yapc-na-organizers -- Jim Brandt Conferences Chair The Perl Foundation email: cbrandt at perlfoundation.org IM: cbrandtbuffalo at mac.com perlmonks: cbrandtbuffalo From jeremy at msc.tamu.edu Wed Sep 27 11:30:55 2006 From: jeremy at msc.tamu.edu (Jeremy Fluhmann) Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 13:30:55 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] announcement of yapc dates Message-ID: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF0120D57F@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> Jim Brandt wrote: > I'd get rid of the 'powers that be' part--the conspiracy theorists > already have enough mis-information to feed their cabal theories. :) I'd > just use "The dates for YAPC::NA..." I didn't think about that ;-) > I like the follow-up on feedback from last year. It shows we really do > try to listen. Thanks. That's what I was going for. I wanted to specifically mention that it was from a suggestion on the Chicago wiki. I hope to generate more suggestions from the community about what else they'd like to see at yapc. Jeremy > Jeremy Fluhmann wrote: > > Wade, Will, and the rest of the gang, what do you think of this as the > > announcement for the YAPC dates: [Edited] > > The dates for YAPC::NA 2007 have finally been > > established! The Houston.pm group and YAPC::NA 2007 organizers are > > pleased to announce that next year's YAPC::NA will be Monday, June 25th > > through Wednesday, June 27th, at the University of Houston. Please feel > > free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have. You can > > also visit http://www.yapc.org/America for updates and information. The > > site format and content should be changing soon so be sure to check back > > as often as you like. We'll try to post a schedule of when various > > things will be announced so that people know when to expect what > > (suggestion from this year's yapc wiki). From gwadej at anomaly.org Wed Sep 27 15:54:12 2006 From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson) Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 17:54:12 -0500 Subject: [Yapc-na-organizers] announcement of yapc dates In-Reply-To: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF0120D57E@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> References: <0EFEDF9D507FF6409CE7B4D24B20E7BF0120D57E@xchng.msc.tamu.edu> Message-ID: <20060927175412.63c5a8a5@sovvan> On Wed, 27 Sep 2006 11:54:20 -0500 "Jeremy Fluhmann" wrote: > Wade, Will, and the rest of the gang, what do you think of this as the > announcement for the YAPC dates: > > > > After discussions with the "powers that be" and trying to resolve > scheduling conflicts, the dates for YAPC::NA 2007 have finally been > established! The Houston.pm group and YAPC::NA 2007 organizers are > pleased to announce that next year's YAPC::NA will be Monday, June 25th > through Wednesday, June 27th, at the University of Houston. Please feel > free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have. You can > also visit http://www.yapc.org/America for updates and information. The > site format and content should be changing soon so be sure to check back > as often as you like. We'll try to post a schedule of when various > things will be announced so that people know when to expect what > (suggestion from this year's yapc wiki). You might want to be clear that it is "University of Houston Central Campus". Since we have three UH campuses in or near the city, it's worth being explicit. G. Wade