[EuroPython] Work on Call for Participation for EuroPython 2015 has started

[Hynek Schlawack]

>> No, I was just saying that you seem to be exactly the kind of person 
>> the
>> EuroPython Society is looking for to organise the kind of large-scale 
>> event
>> that you'd like to see in Europe that is neither "regional" nor 
>> "sciency".
> The classic Free Software mantra : if you don't like it, fix it, less
> politely p*ss or get off the pot ;-)

I’m neither complaining about anything nor telling people who actually 
do something to do things differently so I’m not sure how that mantra 
applies here.

>>> There have been claims that we should cap the size in the future so 
>>> we
>>> get cheaper so everybody can attend financially (but not 
>>> realistically
>>> because of the artificial limit).  I was arguing against that.  
>>> Neither
>>> did I say that small conferences are without merit, nor did I voice
>>> disapproval with the organizers of EP14.  All I’m saying is that 
>>> there
>>> is a need for a big European conference and it would be sad if EP 
>>> threw
>>> away its reputation it built in Florence
> EuroPython has not been held in Firenze alone.

EP’s *current* reputation certainly has been mostly influenced by the 
last three years.  People’s memories work like that, whether you like 
it or not.  Most folks I’ve met there didn’t even know where it 
happened before.

>> Ultimately, it comes down to whether you can find a bunch of 
>> organisers who
>> will take on handling a large number of conference attendees at a 
>> venue that
>> may very well be beyond the budget and levels of risk that they are 
>> used to,
>> and where the scale of the facility may automatically take them into 
>> "premium"
>> territory, depending on where and how well-connected they are.
> Exactly.

That’s fascinating opinions, but that wasn’t the discussion *I* was 
having.

It’s quite the contrary: the current organizers were criticized for 
their current work they do and I tried to explain that romanticism about 
a conference in 2007 isn’t helping, that it’s great to have at least 
one big European Python conference, they are hard to do, and to the end: 
let them do their thing.

But apparently it changed into “organizing big conferences is hard, 
you should do it if you like them so much because it’s hard to find 
organizers” without anybody telling me.

>> Perhaps it would be sad to downsize EuroPython, but unless you have 
>> people
>> willing to take the conference on at the scale you prefer - and they 
>> do have
>> valid reasons to be wary of doing so - then there may be no other 
>> choice.
>> That's all I'm saying.
> Agreed.

Same as above.

Let me be crystal clear here: I don’t feel entitled to big 
EuroPythons.  I am thankful of *any* volunteer work that gets done.  But 
that’s very different from intentionally asking for – or even 
mandating – a downsize. And that’s all I was arguing about.

—h