[CentralOH] Fwd: Sprint to PyCon / Code on the Road / Snakes On a Bus

Catherine Devlin catherine.devlin at gmail.com
Mon Dec 14 23:39:09 CET 2009


Hey, Michigan and Ohio Pythonistas...

I wanted to float this idea by you and see if we have enough enthusiasm to
send a bus to PyCon from our region.  For instance, a bus could leave
Detroit and scoop up folks in Toledo and Dayton then Cincinnati, and maybe a
few more in Kentucky and Tennessee.  Or Cleveland - Columbus - Cincinnati
etc.

Do you think we'd have the people to organize and populate it?

Early-bird PyCon registration ends Jan. 6.  Don't stall, you'll give the
organizers ulcers.  :)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Catherine Devlin <catherine.devlin at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 11:40 AM
Subject: Sprint to PyCon / Code on the Road / Snakes On a Bus
To: cbc at unc.edu, aclark at aclark.net, Carl Karsten <cfkarsten at gmail.com>
Cc: "Pycon-Organizers at Python.Org Pycon-Organizers" <
Pycon-Organizers at python.org>


To: usergroup leaders, and others...

Road trip, anyone?  Oops, I mean: ROOOOOOOOOAD TRIP, anyone?

Imagine a busload of Pythonistas travelling from your city to PyCon, geeking
out all the way.

Do you like the idea?  Would you like to try to make it happen?  It's only
an idea so far, but it doesn't have to stay that way.

Of course, arranging carpooling for PyCon attendees is just common sense...
but I'm thinking of something more grandiose, something that transforms a
"trip" to PyCon into a *voyage* to PyCon.  Something that would amount to a
rolling sprint / Open Space session.

Is this possible?  To get a very rough idea, I got a quote from one bus
company (http://usabuscharter.com).  For a Feb 16 - 22 trip (enough for
tutorial + conference, but not sprints).  A 47-passenger bus with driver
costs
$6300 from Washington, DC  ($134 @ round-trip if 47 passengers; $252 if 25)
$6400 from Chicago ($136 / $ 256)
$4895 from Raleigh, NC ($104 / $196)

47 passengers is as small as it generally gets for long trips.  Keep in mind
that you may be able to scoop up more passengers along your route.

Reducing the trip from Feb 18 - 22 (missing tutorials) only cuts the bus
cost to $5400/$5720/$4985.  When comparing the cost to airline costs,
remember that the bus eliminates airport parking and car rental.  (Then
again, since there's a Metro rail line from the airport to downtown, nobody
should need to rent a car anyway.)  Also, you can bring as many ounces of
fluid as you darn will please.

A more modest option would be to rent a 12-passenger van.  In that case, I'm
getting prices (for a heavily-insured rental) like $1100 ($92 @).  Of
course, in that case, you'd have to provide fuel and driving.

Just remember to call it something impressive, like "the bus", "the Mighty
Pythonic Express" or whatnot.  Bonus points if you can find something
alternatively-fueled, can paint it wacky colors, or whatnot.  The point is
to generate a trip that is a meeting, a rolling miniconference in its own
right, something that people get excited about taking part in.

Of course, if you have a potential sponsor company in your area that *owns*
a bus, or a zepplin, then that would would be almost too good to be true!

Size-wise, a minibus might be ideal, but minibus charters seem aimed at
short-range trips rather than cross-country voyages.

Anyway, poll your membership.  See if there's interest in riding it and
(more importantly) in helping organize it.

Thanks!  See you in Atlanta - by plane, bus, or llama caravan!

-- 
- Catherine
http://catherinedevlin.blogspot.com/
*** PyCon * Feb 17-25, 2010 * Atlanta, GA * us.pycon.org ***
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