I think DebConf is a good example that this can be done and done right.
I know HP helps out with the expenses of DebConf but part of that is
helping fly in developers from countries where the currency exchange
rates make attendance impractically high. We may simply not be able to
do that or we may come to some agreement about how we would share those
expenses for speakers with something especially important to contribute.
Given the relatively small size of our community, we have a lot of
flexibility about where we choose to meet. In my mind, the
accommodations should be purposefully modest yet interesting and fun.
There are lots of options like that in all kinds of places. We can think
of it as a collaboratively planned vacation with a purpose.
David E Jones wrote:
I'm not sure if you meant this or not Ruth, but as it was addressed to me I should clarify: I did speak up here, but I am not taking a role in organizing anything as I did in previous years. In other words, I'm not committing to anything on behalf of the project and I'm not trying to recruit speakers and I'm not volunteering to speak or do training either.
Quite frankly in the past it has required a lot of time and money and liability
with no real benefit. I hope someone profited from those past efforts, perhaps
the for-profit organizers and maybe some attendees as well. About that, I don't
know. ApacheCon was a mess in '08 because people were paying a lot to attend
(both the training and the conference) and yet none of the money (not a penny)
went to any of the presenters or trainers. In other words, the presenters and
trainers were paying to be there and so were the attendees. This culminated in
some fascinating personal attacks from people who attended and who were not
satisfied that what they got was worth what they paid for it.
Just in case anyone is wondering ApacheCon is not the only one that ended up
this way. In another conference I did some pre-conference training and made
almost nothing doing it because the conference organizers mixed the funds for
the training with the funds for the conference, and so basically I offered
training and most of the proceeds went to subsidize the conference. My guess is
that this happens a lot with conferences.
So, taking that on just so other people can make money? Well, I'd like to say
that I learned my lesson and that's why I'm not interested (that would
incorrectly make me look experienced and intelligent and somehow remotely good
at business dealings), but the fact of the matter is that even if I wanted to I
don't have the weeks of time and thousands of dollars to even participate in a
bare minimum way. If someone else does, I'm sure many people will benefit from
their contributions and they should certainly step up and go for it.
Anyway, sorry if any bitterness bled through in this text. I think it's really
just human nature that expectations of EVERYONE involved with such things have
expectations dramatically inconsistent with reality.
--
Ean Schuessler, CTO
e...@brainfood.com
214-720-0700 x 315
Brainfood, Inc.
http://www.brainfood.com
