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Bids: PyCon2008

Background

PyCon is an inexpensive, community-oriented conference for users and developers of the Python programming language, organized by the Python Software Foundation and a group of volunteers. Recent PyCons have had attendances of around 425 people.

PyCon is a North American conference; we don't intend to move into territory served by EuroPython or Python UK. So far all PyCons have been in the US, but we're open to considering locations in Canada and Mexico.

Traditionally the structure of PyCon has been three days of presentations, and two or four days of sprints. PyCon 2006 added a tutorial day that was a great success, so you should also assume a day of tutorials.

This is a list of the general and venue requirements, and miscellaneous notes. The critical things you need for PyCon are 1) a place to talk 2) equipment to talk with 3) an Internet connection, 4) optionally, food. Your proposed venue doesn't have to meet every single requirement, but you should be able to explain why the missing requirements won't be a problem.

We are open to multi-year bids, but you're certainly not forced to assume hosting the conference for two or more years.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or would like to propose to host PyCon, write to the organizers' mailing list at <pycon-organizers at python.org>. You may want to assemble a set of web or wiki pages containing the information below.

Decision Process & Timeline

Bids should be prepared in time for PyCon 2007. Ideally we'd like to make a decision for 2008 by or at PyCon 2007. If we have one or more bids by PyCon, we can decide there, and we can sign contracts soon thereafter.

The Conference Committee will make a recommendation on the bids to the PSF Board of Directors, who will make the final decision.

General Requirements

Conference Scheduling

Ideally PyCon would be held between mid-February and mid-April. The first three PyCons were held in Washington DC in late March; 2006/2007 were held from late February to early March. We have to watch out for Easter though; one PyCon ended up conflicting.

PyCon has traditionally been in the late winter / early spring, EuroPython takes place in early July, OSCON is in late July, and SciPy is in August/September. We don't want the main Python events to be too close together. But we are flexible, and anything is possible.

In 2006 & 2007, the main conference was held over a weekend (Friday-Sunday), with a tutorial day the Thursday before and 4 sprint days after (Monday-Thursday). Previously, the main conference was on weekdays (Wednesday-Friday), with 2 or 4 days of sprints before. Weekend or weekdays, both patterns worked.

Sprints after the conference seemed to work out better though, as they start off with the most people and taper off. Tutorials before the conference make sense, but could also be held on the day after the main conference in parallel with sprints.

Finances

The PSF doesn't need to make an enormous profit, and can tolerate a small loss, but it's obviously better if the conference can be slightly profitable.

The acceptable upper bound on the early-bird registration cost is $250, although we'd like to keep it closer to (or below) $200. As a first approximation you can assume that everyone registers at the early-bird rate.

The PSF will sign the contracts and pay the bills.

Hotel or Conference Hall?

Holding PyCon at a hotel with sufficient conference space is convenient: for most attendees, the weather won't be a factor, and there's no commute. A conference hall can work too; the first three PyCons were held at a university's conference center.

Hotel Room Rates

If the conference is held at a hotel, we will be expected to fill a bank of rooms (see Room-Night Obligation below). The room rate should be as low as possible. In 2006/2007, the conference hotel room rate was $79 (+ tax == $90) for a single/double-occupancy room, which was quite reasonable. If the room rate is much higher, many people will be forced to look for cheaper accommodations elsewhere, and this may hurt the conference itself.

If the conference does not take place at a hotel, there should be a range of accommodations nearby or accessible by public transit. Special attention should be paid to the low end: inexpensive hotels, motels, and hostels.

Room-Night Obligation

A hotel with conference space may offer the space for free or at a reduced rate, with the understanding that the conference attendees will stay at that hotel. The conference will be asked to guarantee a certain number of room-nights. For PyCon 2006 & 2007, we contracted for 80% of 870 room-nights (696 room-nights). We totalled 955 room-nights in 2006 and 2007 will be well over our obligation. The distribution was approximately:

  • 80 room-nights for the night before the tutorial day,
  • 200 room-nights for each of the nights before the three conference days,
  • 100 room-nights for the night of the last conference day,
  • 50, 40, 30, and 10 room-nights for the following nights.

There were a few rooms booked before and after these days. The 2006/2007 contract applied the conference rate up to 3 days before and after the event. The contract should apply the reduced room rate to all nights.

The contract stated that if the hotel had any available rooms, even after the deadline, they must offer them at the conference rate.

If you'd like more contract details, write to <pycon at python dot org>.

Venue Requirements

The bid must include rough cost information for all items below so that we can estimate the required registration price.

Facilities

Auditorium: A large lecture-hall style room that can hold all the conference attendees at one time (for keynotes).

Meeting rooms: Three rooms with a total capacity approximately equal to that of the full assembly. One of these rooms may be the (possibly divided) auditorium.

Common area: A common area in which groups of attendees can informally meet and where conference registration can take place. Requires a number (4 or so) tables for registration.

Sprint rooms: two or more rooms for sprints. These rooms are usually re-used during the conference for open space talks. Multiple sprints can run at the same time, so these rooms should contain a number of tables that can seat ~10 people with their laptops.

Quiet room: A room for people to use their laptops in silence. This room should be able to seat 30-50 people at tables, and have an Internet connection.

Vendor & sponsor space: Space in a high-visibility area (e.g., a hallway) for vendor & sponsor tables.

Storage: A secure room in which to store supplies, including materials for all the attendees and all necessary equipment.

All facilities should be accessible by disabled persons, and held in controlled temperature environments (air-conditioned or heated as needed).

The location should be accessible by public transport. It's a bonus if there are interesting attractions nearby (museums, attractions, etc.).

Networking

All areas of the conference (listed in Facilities above) need wireless and wired Internet access, for all attendees simultaneously. The venue may be able to provide the networking, or we may have to contract with a third party. In either case, service level guarantees and on-site support should be part of the agreement.

Bandwidth: as much as possible. Minimum?

Catering (optional)

Catering is a major part of the cost of the conference. If catering is not provided, we should be able to arrange for outside catering, and it must be included in the overall cost.

Provide: breakfast, snacks, and a light lunch for the three conference days. Some attendees will be vegetarian/vegan; some may require lactose-free or low-carbohydrate meals. While not all meals may be provided, the resources must be available. Snacks are less important than lunch; if no meals are provided at all, the resulting registration cost should reflect this. Breakfast is convenient but not obligatory.

If food will not be provided, there should be restaurants or other places for lunch within walking distance. There should be enough of these to handle the conferance attendance. If there's only one small restaurant within walking distance, it'll get swamped!

Accommodation

Nearby commercial hotels, restaurants, and social venues must be available.

If the facility is a hotel: how many rooms does it have? What would the room rate be?

If the facility does not offer accommodation, some nearby inexpensive accommodations, such as hostels, should be identified.

A/V Equipment

Auditorium and Meeting Rooms: Public address system, and data video projectors are required; transparency (overhead) projectors may be useful. Preferably wireless microphones as well as podium mics.

Transportation

Nearby access to an airport, preferably a large one.

Parking facilities or arrangements, as appropriate.

How to arrive by public transport and taxi from the airport, or other major points.

Volunteers

Some parts of PyCon organization can be done remotely, but having local volunteers is vital to the conference's success. Volunteers can:

  • Explore locations before the conference.
  • Receive deliveries in the weeks before the conference.
  • Run the registration desk.
  • Help advertise the conference locally at schools, user groups.
  • Help prepare the conference rooms, wireless networking, badges, conference tote bags, etc.

Does your location have a pool of volunteer labour?

Acknowledgements

Portions of this document are derived from the Perl Foundation's venue requirements.

Further Info

In April 2006 Andrew Kuchling posted So you want to host PyCon 2008...

For examples of what a bid might look like, you can look at the Dallas/Fort Worth Python User Group's bid for PyCon 2006 and 2007.

Or, see the following three bids in the Perl Foundation's weblog: Vancouver Boston Chicago.

Please send comments/questions/suggestions to the <pycon-organizers at python.org> mailing list.

CategoryPyConPlanning

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