Budgeting for DConf 2013

[Andrei Alexandrescu]

Hello all,

I've seen many prospective DConf speakers, both in private and public 
communication, are overly concerned about traveling costs. I thought I'd 
set the record straight about this.

Due to the successful kickstarter campaign, we have a budget before we 
even published a program. Facebook has gladly agreed to host the 
conference, thus eliminating quite a few costs. That means we are in 
good shape with the budget.

Walter and I are not in this for the money (beyond not losing our 
shirts), so we plan to use the budget to ensure a great conference. (Any 
unused budget would go into DConf 2014.) A successful event is our top 
priority. Therefore, it would be quite ironic if we ended up with no 
DConf but a lot of money in the bank.

So please do this:

1. If you're considering giving a talk, DO prepare a submission whether 
you live in the Bay Area or on Mars. A submission (see http://dconf.org) 
is a title, an abstract (3-6 sentences), and a bio. No full slides or 
writeup needed at this time! The worst that could happen is your 
submission doesn't get accepted.

2. If your submission does get accepted, it's a good opportunity to go 
to your employer and mention you've been invited for a talk. I can email 
or call them if needed.

3. If your employer sponsors your time and/or your travels, so much the 
better. If not, we will sponsor your expenses.

So please let us worry about speakers' travel expenses and get working 
on submitting good material. Let's not save budget at the expense of the 
event itself. Quite literally the success of DConf 2013 depends on you.


Thanks,

Andrei