[EuroPython] EuroPython 2004

[Michael Hudson]

"Nicolas Chauvat" <Nicolas.Chauvat@logilab.fr> writes:

> On Thu, Jul 03, 2003 at 12:24:46AM +0200, Denis Fr=E8re wrote:
>> We will also ask you to get involved earlier : very early talk
>> submission and very early registration (don't forget that if we succeed
>> in attracting more people, hotel booking may become a concern).
>
> Speaking of talks, I think we should improve their quality. I suggest
> we use a more formal review process. If you want attendees to be happy,
> you can not have them listen for half an hour and not learn more than
> what's on the first page of the web site.

Hmm.  Were the talks so bad this year?  I got the impression that
quite a few people were first time speakers who (hopefully) won't make
the same mistakes again.  I'm not sure how the "over long
introduction" problem is solved by a review, either.

> More details :
>
> - we set up the new europython site using a CMS (i.e. Plone)

Here when you say "we" I hope you mean, at least partly, "I".  I can
probably find some time to do website maintenance, but I do *not* have
the time (or, frankly, the inclination) to become a Plone wizard
first.

If the site is usuable (on the admin side!) by a plone novice, and
there is a sufficient number of Plone experts to=20

a) build the site
b) maintain the site

then, sure go for it!  But please, please make sure there are enough
people who *will* have the time to admin the site, not just enough
people who *promise* to have enough time to admin the site -- if
logilab get a big rush on and the site goes rudderless, that would be
bad. (Forgive me if I'm overstressing this...)

[proposed workflow]

Sounds good.

> The goals are to make sure that :
>
> 1. all talks are ready several weeks *before* the conference. Writing sli=
des
>    on the train or on the plane always leads to bad quality talks

For some reason here I feel like saying "and the slides will be
delivered by flying pig" :-) It's a goal to aim for, though.

[...]

> I volunteer to help with setting up Plone if the organizers (Denis
> and friends) want help for that, and I'm ready to organize "Python
> in Science" for EP'04.

I'll do my bit for the Python Language again.

While we have some enthusiasm and energy left over from the con, is
someone capable of rearranging the website to the point of putting the
current content under /2003/ and putting a note on the front page
saying (roughly) "planning for EP2004 has already started! go [here]
for info on the 2003 event"? (and perhaps next year's content should
*start* under /2004/... stable URLs are good).

My Zope abilities in no way stretch to this, unfortunately.

Cheers,
M.

--=20
  Finding a needle in a haystack is a lot easier if you burn down
  the haystack and scan the ashes with a metal detector.
      -- the Silicon Valley Tarot (another one nicked from David Rush)