There's a trend toward some really cool conferences that are developer organized. I haven't been to the Silicon Valley Code Camp (THIS WEEKEND!), but would love to attend. I'm an organizer of CodeMash and so I'm biased. And I would argue that the Java Posse Roundup is a developer organized conference as well (and it ROCKS!). PyCon is one of the oldest and largest developer-organized conferences. And, of course, there are others. So why? And what does it take?
The "what does it take" is simple. It takes someone who is dedicated enough to volunteer time (and often front cash) to organize the event. It takes someone who can take the heat, because people WILL complain, no matter how hard you work to make things fair, accessible, and interesting. And it takes a lot of promotion. In my experience, it also takes a group of individuals that are dedicated toward promoting the event and soliciting sponsorships in some cases, choosing talks in others. Open spaces conferences are the coolest to organize because much of the organization is left to the attendees, but there's still work to do: a venue to secure, promotion, at least some simple logistics. In the past, companies were hired to "run" the event. They did everything from the event registration to venue management to choosing the meals. But with the ease of putting up a registration site online, that piece becomes easier. And once you establish a relationship with a venue, the venue management eases a bit (but MAN that first year is rough). Food ... well, that's always rough. But why? Well, we're a picky lot. By doing much of this work ourselves, we can keep the registration price low (mainly because we don't consider the volunteer time as a COST). And we can control the other aspects as well. So, why am I writing this? I just want to encourage all of you to check out some user-organized conferences and compare them to the "big ones" that you have traditionally attended. What was it that you liked about each? What didn't you like? Where can improvements be made? At conferences like CodeMash and the Roundup and PyCon (and I suspect the SVCC), the organizers are always looking for suggestions about what could make the conference better. So instead of complaining, PLEASE pitch in with ideas and suggestions. Make these conferences YOUR conferences. The developer community will thank you. (And keep those CodeMash submissions coming! The deadline is at midnight eastern time TONIGHT and we have a record number of submissions. I'm gonna start going through them tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to seeing what people from this group have submitted!) -- Dianne --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
