PSF Conference Kit

Regional Conference Kits

The PSF now has 3 large conference kits which can be used to present the PSF at local conferences to easily setup a professional PSF booth.

The kits are made available in these regions (see below for more details):

• Europe
• North America
• South America
• East Asia
• Africa (available soon)

Creating the kits was a joined effort by Armin Stross-Radschinski and Marc-Andre Lemburg. Please contact MarcAndreLemburg for questions regarding the kits.

Conference Kit for Europe

Contact for the kit: MarcAndreLemburg <mal@egenix.com>

Current location of the kit: Düsseldorf, Germany, MarcAndreLemburg <mal@egenix.com>

Next events:

Past events:

• EuroPython 2017 in Rimini, Italy

• FOSDEM 2017 in Brussels, Belgium

• EuroPython 2016 in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain

• FOSDEM 2016 in Brussels, Belgium

• EuroPython 2015 in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain

• FOSDEM 2015 in Brussels, Belgium

• (skipped PyCon UK 2014 because getting the kit shipped to the UK has proven to be too much trouble)

• EuroPython 2014 in Berlin, Germany

• PythonCamp 2014 in Cologne, Germany

• FOSDEM 2014 in Brussels, Belgium

• PyCon DE 2013 in Cologne, Germany

• EuroPython 2013 in Florence, Italy

• PyCon DE 2012 in Leipzig, Germany

• PyCon UK 2012 in Conventy, UK

• FrOSCon 2012 in Sankt Augustin, Germany

• EuroPython 2012 in Florence, Italy

Shipping Log:

• 2017-02: Took the kit back to Düsseldorf from FOSDEM 2017 by car
• 2017-01: Anthon is shipping the kit to Brussels for FOSDEM
• 2016-07: Anthon took the kit back from Bilbao to German by car

• 2016-07: Shipped kit to Bilbao for EuroPython 2016

• 2016-02: Shipped kit back from Brussels
• 2016-01: Took the kit to FOSDEM 2016 by car
• 2015-07: Shipped kit back from Bilbao

• 2015-06: Shipped kit to Bilbao for EuroPython 2016

• 2015-01: Took the kit to FOSDEM 2015 by car

• 2014-07: Shipped the kit to and from EuroPython 2014 in Berlin

• 2014-03: Took the kit to PythonCamp 2014 by car

• 2014-02: Took the kit to FOSDEM 2014 by car

• 2013-09: Took the kit to PyCon DE 2013 by car

• 2013-07: Took the kit to EuroPython 2013 by plane

• 2012-11-08: Kit arrived in Düsseldorf, Germany
• 2012-11-07: Kit sent from Leipzig to Düsseldorf, Germany
• 2012-10-12: Kit arrived in Leipzig, Germany
• 2012-10-05: Kit sent from Conventry, UK, to Leipzig, Germany

• 2012-07: Took the kit to EuroPython 2012 by plane

Conference Kit for North America

Contact for the kit: Ewa Jodlowska <ewa@python.org>

Current location of the kit: Chicago, IL, USA

Next events:

• PyOhio 2017

Past events:

• PyCon US 2013 in California

Log:

• 2012-09-26: Arrived in USA
• 2012-09-19: Sent to Jesse, Northborough MA, USA
• 2015: sent to Montreal

• after PyCon 2015, the kit was sent to Ewa in Chicago, IL

Conference Kit for South America

Contact for the kit: Luciano Ramalho <luciano@ramalho.org> and Mariano Reingart <reingart@gmail.com>

Current location of the kit: with Renzo Nuccitelli <renzo@python.pro.br>, Big Kahuna for PythonBrasil 2015

Next events:

• PythonBrasil 2015 (Oct. 13-17) - São José dos Campos

• PyCon Argentina 2015

Past events:

• PythonBrasil 2012 - Rio de Janeiro

• PythonBrasil 2013 - Brasilia

• PythonBrasil 2014 - Porto de Galinhas

• PyCon Argentina 2012

Log:

• 2012-10-23: Shipped from Germany to Denmark, so that Andrea Gavana can take it to Argentina
• 2012-11-09: Kit arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina
• 2012-11-19: Kit leaved Buenos Aires, Andrea Gavana is taking it to Brazil

Conference Kit for East Asia

Contact for the kit: Younggun Kim <iam@younggun.kim>

Past events:

• PyCon APAC 2016

Conference Kit for Africa

Current location of the kit (kit will be available in August 2017): Marlene Mhangami <mmhangami@zimbopy.com>

Next events:

• PyCon Zim 2017

• PyCon Nigeria 2017

• PyCon ZA 2017

Kit contents

Each kit contains:

• A foldable display as background and eye-catcher. Measurements: width: 225cm, height: 226cm, depth: 30cm. The display also includes two lamps which can be used when setting up the display inside a hall or building.

• Two cocktail/bistro table slip covers for round tables. Measurements of the tables: diameter: 60-80cm, height: 100-110cm. The slip covers use stretch cloth, so they can be made to fit many different table size. Please handle gently, so that they don't tear.

  If you don't have suitable cocktail tables available, you can rent them from a local party service or the hotel. Please arrange with MarcAndreLemburg to get the rental costs refunded.

• Setup instructions These are included on paper. If missing, please print out the PDF from the next section and readd.

The kits are packaged in a black sports trolley bag with measurements roughly 100x40x40cm. Each kit weighs about 17kg, which leaves room for extra marketing material up to the usual 20kg limit for baggage on a plane.

Ordering more large conference kits

The kits were ordered from the German vendor Flyeralarm using the PDF Large-PSF-Display-Flyeralarm.pdf for the display and the PDF PSF-Round-Table-Cloth-Flyeralarm.pdf for the cocktail table slip covers.

Setup instructions for the kit

Please follow these instructions when setting up or taking down the kit:

• PSF Conference Kit Setup (PDF)

Care has to be taken when doing this, since we would like to reuse the kit for a while, if possible.

When preparing the kit for travel or shipping, please make sure that the original packaging equipment is used. This makes it less likely that something get damaged.

If something does get damaged, please inform MarcAndreLemburg. It may be possible to send replacement material.

Carry-on Kits

The regional kits are not always easy to ship to conferences and since we only have one such kit per region, scheduling shipments, etc. may also result in problems getting the kit to the conferences on time.

In order to be more flexible, we're currently investigating having several smaller L-display kits available. These are kits which only weigh 3-4kg and come with a carry-on bag to easily take to conferences on plane, car, train, etc.

To test drive the setup, we've created one such kit for PyCon ZA 2012, which Ewa has attended. Turns out, the kit is easy to use and can be taken on a plane without problems.

The kits were created by Marc-Andre Lemburg based on the design of the larger display. Please contact MarcAndreLemburg for questions regarding the kits. They cost around EUR 65-70 each.

Available Carry-on Kits

The following members have carry-on kits:

• Ewa Jodlowska <jodlowska2@gmail.com> - 1 kit

  • - 2012: Ordered for PyCon ZA 2012 and sent to Ewa.

• Stéphane Wirtel <stephane@wirtel.be> - 2 kits

  • - 2015-01-30: Took the two kits to FOSDEM 2015 and left them with Stéphane.

    - 2015-01-08: I've ordered two kids for use at PythonFOSDEM (which Stéphane organizes) and will leave the kits with him to use at PyCon FR and (the new) PyCon Belgium.

Ordering more carry-on kits

The kits were ordered from the German vendor Flyeralarm using the PDF PSF-L-Display-Flyeralarm.pdf.

Using the kits

Here's the EU kit in action at EuroPython 2012:

Common questions asked at the booth

...

Getting extra marketing material and swag

MarcAndreLemburg maintains a set of flyers and stickers which can be used for conferences. Please contact him for details. It is possible to get a set of marketing material by postal mail or to arrange getting PDFs suitable for printing the material locally.

Available marketing material:

• Python stickers with white background
• Python stickers with dark blue background
• "Grow the PSF" bookmarks for the associate members program
• PSF Sprints / PSF Python Brochure flyers (two-sided DIN A5 flyer)
• PSF Python Brochure preview booklets (DI A5 sited)

Ideas for more marketing material:

• "Business cards"-sized cards or bookmarks with PSF and Python URLs on them

Getting the kits through customs

In most cases, there are no duties to pay, so customs is usually not much of a problem. If not, customs may ask you for a Customs Tariffs Number (CN number) or Harmonized System (HS) number for each of the goods.

These are the numbers I found that match the things in the regional kit (there are certainly other classifications possible as well, but I'm no expert on those):

Stickers and flyers

• 4911.10.90 - Trade advertising material, commercial catalogs and the like / Other

Display

If focus is placed on the printed display cloth:

• 7609.00.00.90 - Aluminium tube or pipe fittings (for example, couplings, elbows, sleeves)

If focus is placed on the aluminum display frame:

• 5407.54 - Woven fabrics of synthetic filament yarn, including woven fabrics obtained from materials of heading / Printed

Table cloth

• 5407.54 - Woven fabrics of synthetic filament yarn, including woven fabrics obtained from materials of heading / Printed

Customs duties and VAT

Customs duties are usually between 0-8% of the customs value. The latter can be estimated and since all of the kits are used materials, should sum up to around USD 300-500.

If customs needs some kind of invoice, the PSF can create a pro-forma invoice with PSF letterhead, outlining the figures.

In rare cases, import VAT will also apply. The percentage and procedure depends on the country of destination. Since the kits will usually only be used for a single event, VAT will be refunded when exporting the kit again and so can often be avoided altogether by filling out some forms (customs will likely have those available).