Over 40 people in attendance representing groups and events including PyCon Canada, PyOhio, PyTennessee, PyBay, PyCascades, PyTexas, PyGotham, PyBay, DjangoCon US, PyCon AU, North Bay Python, Florida PyCon, PyCon Korea, PyCaribbean, PyData, PyCon Colombia, PyLadies, and more.
Struggling to coaclesce around a single way to keep each other informed...
- PyCon.org is the perfect starting point, links out to other resources and provides info on how to add your own event
- Python.org
- Slack team - sign up here
- Event map
- iCal feed
- Mailing list
Services:
- Eventbrite for registration
- Ti.to for registration and more, but not CFP
- Papercall.io for CFP (free up to 200 proposals and 5 organizers)
- Google Forms/Sheets for CFP (not recommended!)
FOSS projects:
- Symposion for CFP
- Registrasion for registration (used by Linux.conf.au and PyCon AU)
- Wagtail for CMS
- Progcom for CFP (PyCon uses this and Symposion)
High prices and high avialability of financial aid versus low prices? Free makes organizing challenging, people are less committed to attending, makes catering plans especially difficult. Free and cheap seems to make more sense for regional events, higher prices and more finaid makes more sense for national.
Many conferences adopting individual/independent/hobbyist and corporate ticket rates. Some events saw little use of corporate ticket rates, but PyCon AU got good results -- one key for them is not putting company names on badges sold to folks at the lower ticket rate.
Spin up a one page website and Twitter account ASAP! PyTexas struggled before they got on Twitter.
Run through PSF? No one seems to use them as a fiscal sponsor currently. Some have spun up their own organizations, not necessarily as nonprofits. PyCon Canada started 'PyNorth' nonprofit, PyTennessee runs through regional tech federation nonprofit. PyBay is a sole proprietorship.
Many conferences have disappeared or faltered due to organizers having to step back. DjangoCon US has seen some success here, recommends lots of internal documentation and guidance to help onboard volunteers. Recommended to distinguish between people who want to volunteer on-site versus organizing in general.
Link to the slack team: https://python-confs-slack-invites.herokuapp.com