[EuroPython] Europython registration/reservation deadline vs. schedule availability - HUH?

[Wolfgang Keller]

Jacob Hallen wrote:

> As an early-bird registrant, you get a discount because you are
> taking a slightly bigger risk, since you don't know what the final
> schedule will be. A list of registered talks will be posted a couple
> of days before 15 May, but making a well working schedule takes a lot
> of time and work, which is why it won't be available until early June.

Just as an indication how things look like from a potential attendee's
perspective:

1. For all people who do not get the fee (+ travel expense etc.) paid
pay their employer:
- "early bird" registration fee is already quite a bit of money,
non-early-bird is unjustifiable, period.
- registering and paying accomodation "blindly" for the whole week
(including having to take vacation for all that time!) without knowing
at all what will be the content of the conference is unjustifiable as
well.

By consequence, with your organisation, you've automatically totally
ruled out participation for these people.

2. For the people who get participation paid by their employer:
- they need to apply for allowance to attend the conference in the
scope of their work usually quite some time in advance
- their bosses will obviously want to know when the subjects which are
supposed to actually concern the employee in question will be treated.
Employee-days cost money, you know. In addition to the travel expense
and registration fee itself.

I wonder who you expect to attend the conference then?

BTW: I regularly attend quite a few conferences every year concerning
all kinds of subjects for my job, and I've never encountered the case
that at least a detailed list of talks/subjects was NOT sent out
together with the invitation AT LEAST three months in advance.

BTW2: I know you're doing the organisation work as volunteers in your
spare time, but then I would consider it just the more important to
plan the organisation of the whole event in a way that allows a maximum
of participants...

As a stop-gap measure, I think it would be extremely important to
publish every available bit of information about the content of the
conference really urgently NOW, otherwise I'm pretty sure you WILL be
frustrated about participation numbers.

Best regards

Wolfgang Keller