[EuroPython] Starting to plan

[Martijn Faassen]

Paul Everitt wrote:
> >Well, I'm not quite sure where to hang this point, but I would like to
> >see a bit more cross pollination between the tracks.  I, for one,
> >would be quite interested in a "Zope (3?) for Python Programmers"
> >tutorial, and I suspect a "Python for Zope users" tutorial might be
> >well received.
> 
> I very much agree.  The track chairs arranged the schedules in blissful 
> isolation.

Not true though for me and Michael; we tried to coordinate.
We also interacted with Anna and Moshe of the lightning talks track, though
of course less coordination there was necessary.

>  Though it might be hard to add the extra preparation to 
> coordinate, it's still a good goal.

Hanging out regularly on #europython is a cheap and efficient way to
encourage coordination. It's no coincidence the individuals I pointed out
above were there a lot. We had some trouble getting feedback from some
track chairs by email when me and Michael were trying to steal more space and
time from them. :)

I think if we hadn't pushed forward the talks deadline quite as much as
we did this year we would've been better on track with the planning and
coordination here too. We cut it a bit too tight and this wasn't really
necessary either as we really had enough talks.

> >Tutorials are good, in general.  We didn't really have them this year.
> 
> +100.  EPC2003 was too much of the "I talk you listen" format.  I gave 
> a 3 hour hands-on tutorial to 40 people at OSCOM 3 this past year 
> (writing CMS clients in Mozilla).  Most of them said later that such a 
> format was the most valuable part of the conference.

Hands-on might be better. 3 hour tutorials scare me, though..
We will have sprints of course, which can take over at least some of that
role. Especially if we organize a sprint geared more towards Python
beginners and intermediates, to build something cool.
PyPy is a bit over their heads, and so is Zope 3 (though that is more
flexible).

> >I'm not sure I can or should volunteer for any of the specific jobs
> >you mention, but I'll promise to keep on kicking people up the arse
> >when I think the process is slipping :-)
> 
> One other point for discussion...I think that EPC2003 showed less of a 
> company exhibitor stance that EPC2002.  I wonder if something was lost, 
> or whether the loss wasn't valuable.

EPC2002 didn't get that much mileage out of exhibitors, and a lot of
frustration (ask Denis). I think that's why there was less effort spent
this year.

> IMO, we need to show companies, even if it means charging them 
> *nothing* (other than registration) for the privilege.  At least, 
> nothing for small (under 15) companies.

Some of the problem is that these small companies don't really have enough
resources to man a company booth. Posters might be nice here. You can just
put up a poster and occasionally someone from the company can hang around
there, perhaps during a special poster session when people can file in.

Larger stuff (like a whole table!) would be for organizations (such
as perhaps the PyPy people or say, Zope Europe) that can drag in some
volunteers, or larger companies that have the resources.

Regards,

Martijn