[EuroPython] EPC mobile or static?

[Martijn Faassen]

Andy Robinson wrote:
> > > What do people think about the location of future EuroPythons
> > > in general?
> > 
> > It should move around.
> 
> IMHO not too often.

A problem with saying 'not too often' more formally means that each
location would need to make a multi-year commitment. It is great if
that is possible but we'd miss out on many great locations if
we actually require this.

We do need to consider ways to mitigate the risk of moving around,
though. There are a number of other conferences that seem to happen
in a new location each year; I wonder what kind of construction they
have. I imagine they are frequently professionally organized, which also
mitigates the risk somewhat. If EPC had a budget for that we may do the
same, but I doubt we'll have a sizeable enough budget for the forseeable
future to be able to afford much in the way of professional organization.
If the professionally organized IPC conferences barely made money at the 
amount of money they charged I don't hold out that much hope for our more 
low-budget format unless we grow an awful lot bigger in amount of attendees.

If we have truly committed volunteers and an efficient organization it may 
be possible for at least some of them to sweep into the location at least once
before the conference proper early on to scout out the
terrain and arrange some matters, and arrive at the conference location a few 
days earlier for last minute stuff. It may actually be within our budget
to compensate these volunteers for some of their expenses. It may also 
sometimes be possible to combine this with a business trip.

It may in the end turn out we will settle on 2 or 3 locations for EPC
too. This is fine, as long as we have a clear way for any location to 
make a bid and get at least considered.

Regards,

Martijn