[EuroPython] Some general thoughts about EP2014 and future of EP

[Carina.Haupt at dlr.de]

> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> W dniu 10.02.2014 15:34, Andreas Jung pisze:
> >
> > As stated earlier: traveling to Florence was more expensive than
> > traveling to Berlin,
> 
> That's a false statement, because ... it's all very relative. The nearest two
> airports (Katowice, Kraków) to where I live (and those are the two busiest
> airports in Poland after Warsaw) offer cheap flights to Bologna and Pisa and
> only one non-cheap flight to Berlin which is at least triple/quad the price
> compared to those to Italy. Going by train/bus will also cost more than cheap
> flight to Italy.
> If I choose going by car and using carpooling to take passengers, then the
> cost also will be similar to both destinations (as passengers cover the trip
> mostly and not the driver).
> So please don't say undoubtedly that traveling to Florence was more
> expensive, because we all know it's relative and factor of geography and
> available plane/train/bus connections.

That is true. Traveling costs are very relative to your location. The statement was only that for most or perhaps just a lot of people it may be cheaper to go to Berlin than to Florence.

> > hotel prices in Florence appeared higher in comparison what you get for
> the price. You have much, much more options staying in Berlin for a
> reasonable prices. Besides various hostels there is a huge market with rental
> apartments or single rooms for a fraction of a standard hotel room.
> >
> 
> I agree that there is bigger choice in Berlin, but again prices topic is still
> relative. I was two times in Berlin last year and I can tell you that in Italy it was
> easier for me to find a good standard hotel that was very cheap just outside
> Florence.
>
> So to sum up travel + accommodation costs are relative thing for everyone
> (for some it might be better, but for some not this year) and in my opinion
> that shouldn't be an excuse to raise EP ticket cost so much (in my case total
> costs of attending EP are bigger). If costs of venue affect price so much, then
> cheaper venue should have been seriously considered.

Here you mix something up. It was never states that the EP ticket prices were raised because the travel and accommondation costs are cheaper. This is definitely not the case! It was just mentioned that for a lot of people the outcome of all together might be the same. Not as a justification of the price, but to set things in relation.

Regarding the venue: There simply is no other venue which fits the needs of EuroPython. To pick a venue is difficult, is has to fit the number of expected participants, should also allow some growth, has to have enough rooms of the right sizes, should be easily reachable by public transport, cheap hotels should be nearby, and so on. 
If you search alone for something fitting for about 1000 people which is offering enough lecture halls and additional smaller rooms for workshops, you will quite fast run out of options. Big venues often just offer a lot of space, but not separated rooms. Smaller venues may offer enough rooms, but just small ones, no big ones which would fit for 800 or more people. We would have loved to have a cheaper venue, but we just could not get one which fits the need of EuroPython. 
For example, the Chaos Communication Congress moved to Hamburg due to the reason, that they did not find an appropriate venue in Berlin, whereby the main problem was to find a venue with enough big lecture rooms.

> ====
> Once again this conference is _European_ Python _community_ conference,
> so it should be in first place affordable to average European, not
> average west European or German. Whole buzz that we witness since more
> than week comes from not taking that fact into account.
> ====

We definitely take into account that this is a European community event and we try our best to make it a great and affordable event for everybody. Therefore we offer the financial aid program to everybody who needs help.

Regards,
Carina
 
> Regards,
> Filip
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