[Baypiggies] Pycon for the Bay Area

[Edward Cherlin]

On Jan 20, 2008 4:56 PM, Aahz <aahz at pythoncraft.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Jan 18, 2008, Edward Cherlin wrote:
> >
> > The local Chairbeing is not the Conference Chair. Our staff and crew
> > will be responsible for defined local arrangements, and not for
> > program, exhibits, or speakers. Isn't that right?
>
> That roughly matches my understanding.
>
> > Questions? I don't have the answers, but I know whom to ask for them.
>
> Here's the 2010 bid page, which includes a lot of questions (to make it
> easy for everyone to see):

Excellent. Perfect for discussion on a Wiki. I've created the
PyCon2010 page on the Python.org Wiki. We can add topics as needed.
I have put in the beginnings of many of the answers. Those who know
more or are willing to dig around should send in more information. No,
don't do that. Go add your answers to the Wiki. I'm creating a
page...have created a page called PyCon2010Bid, which will be
available for your editing pleasure in a few minutes.

> 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. PyCon 2007 had
>    attendances of almost 600 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 to four days of sprints. PyCon 2006 added a
>    pre-conference tutorial day that was a great success and it has since
>    become a standard part of the PyCon experience.
>
>    In the past, the location for PyCon was chosen through a grass-roots
>    bid process. Local groups with a passion for bringing PyCon to their
>    area got together and solicited bids from local hotels and other
>    venues. That process embodied the community spirit that drives not only
>    PyCon but also the whole of the Python language.
>
>    Year after year, PyCon has seen impressive attendance growth and
>    continued enthusiasm from the community, bringing attendees from far
>    and wide. The growth has been exciting, but it has put PyCon into a
>    class of conferences that not every venue can handle. But PyCon is now
>    a class of conference that many venues will compete for.
>
> A New Bid Process
>
>    As PyCon has grown, the demands made by the traditional bid process
>    have grown as well -- there are larger requirements with a smaller
>    selection of venues available to suit our needs. Moreover, those extra
>    challenges were faced not just by one group, but by all the local
>    groups who were interested in hosting PyCon. There was a massive
>    duplication of effort across all of the bidding groups. Many of the
>    local groups have little to no experience with selecting venues and
>    negotiating contracts for large venues. It has become clear that the
>    old bid process would quickly limit PyCon, either through escalating
>    costs due to inexperienced negotiation, or worse, through a process of
>    overwhelming our wonderful local volunteers with a complex and
>    demanding process.
>
>    Beginning with the 2008 bid from the Chicago group, PyCon has begun
>    working with a professional meeting management group in order to help
>    select venues and negotiate contracts. This allows precious volunteer
>    energy to be re-focused on the important things: making PyCon the
>    experience we all want it to be. Therefore, the requirements for future
>    PyCon bids will be different than years past in that we won't be asking
>    local groups to actually begin negotiations with venues.

Right. We can identify candidates, but we won't be negotiating the contract.

>    Instead, we're looking for a somewhat less formal proposal telling us
>    why PyCon should be held in your local area:
>      * Tell us, briefly, what's good and what's great about the
>        city/region/state that would make it a good place to host PyCon.

bayPiggies, Silicon Valley, Guido, Google...

>        Tell us the pros and cons about the local area:
>           + Are major venues (1000+ person capacity) plentiful?

Yes. Moscone, Santa Clara Convention Center, San Jose Convention
Center, various hotels

>           + Are they clustered or located in any particular area?

San Francisco, Peninsula, South Bay, East Bay

>           + Transportation resources:
>                o How close is the nearest major airport to the heart of
>                  the city or region?

SFO  15 miles from downtown San Francisco
SJC  5 miles from downtown San Jose

>                o What sort of transportation options are available? Bus,
>                  taxi, train, light-rail, subway, etc. How much does a
>                  trip on each cost?

Yes to all. Details to be gathered.

>                o How close are these resources to the large venues you
>                  identified above?

Same distances

>           + What other major (1000+ attendee) events has your area hosted
>             recently?
>                o Any tech-related events?

Only a few hundred in  recent years. :-)

>           + How's the weather? Remember, the target is for PyCon to be
>             held between mid-February and mid-April.

No snow, anyway.

>      * Tell us about your group:
>           + Who are you?

Bay Area Python Interest Group

>           + What's your connection to Python?

duh

>           + How many volunteers can you expect to provide for PyCon?

A few dozen

>             Remember, this is planning for two years in advance.
>           + Are there any key players who bring experience or skills that
>             you feel are particularly valuable to PyCon?

Well, Guido, for one.

>           + Looking at the PyCon staff roles list, are there any local
>             people who would be committed to filling a particualr role?

Yes. Ed Cherlin, Chairbeing
John Menerick, Webmaster
Aahz, (I've entered you as Acting Lord High This and That; you should
go and say what you want to do.)

>      * Tell us about the local Python community:
>           + Users group(s) for Python? Django? Zope? Plone? Any local
>             university Python groups?

Indeed. BayPiggies, XO Hacking Society (SF and Silicon Valley)...


>           + Local companies doing exciting things with Python?
>                o Would they be interested in sponsoring PyCon?

Google, for a start.

>      * Tell us about the local tech community:
>           + Who are the big IT and Tech related companies in the area?

Uh, wow. Google, HP, Apple, Intel, AMD, IBM, and a cast of thousands.

>                o Do they use Python?

Some of them.

> --
>
> Aahz (aahz at pythoncraft.com)           <*>         http://www.pythoncraft.com/
>
> "All problems in computer science can be solved by another level of
> indirection."  --Butler Lampson
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-- 
Edward Cherlin
End Poverty at a Profit by teaching children business
http://www.EarthTreasury.org/
"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."--Alan Kay