[EuroPython] conference length

[M.-A. Lemburg]

On 23.04.2014 16:20, Martijn Faassen wrote:
>> I would also account for the fact that almost 900 people joined
>> EuroPython in Florence last year, with more than a 2x boost in 3
>> years, and the general feedback has been overwhelming positive.
> 
> It's possible that the longer conference accounted for the increase in attendance, but PyCon is not
> a whole week and even bigger, so I don't think it's safe to conclude this.

FWIW: PyCon US is a 9 day conference (2 days trainings, 3 days conference,
4 days sprints). EuroPython uses 7 days (one day keynotes, 4 days
talks and trainings, 2 days sprints). EuroPython has more talks/trainings
than PyCon US.

People attend conferences because they like the quality
of the talks/trainings, like the atmosphere, want to meet up with
people, enjoy the possibility to combine the conference with
vacation, etc. There are lots of reasons and motivations. For some of
these the length of the conference is important, for others it's
less important.

I don't think the length of the conference has a major effect on its
popularity. Both PyCon US and EuroPython have been sold out in recent
years.

We should probably put the question of which format is preferred
on the conference feedback form and then see whether a change would
be worthwhile to improve the attendee experience.

For a historical overview of the EuroPython conference structures
and attendee counts, have a look at:

http://www.europython-society.org/europython

Cheers,
-- 
Marc-Andre Lemburg
Director
EuroPython Society
http://www.europython-society.org/