Scottish Ruby Conference has always stepped up to raise money for an incredible charity, [CHAS] (http://www.justgiving.com/src2012). In the past the amounts raised have been astounding. I dare you to read about CHAS with dry eyes.
How do they raise the money? Simply asking people to donate in order to register for a tutorial the day before the conference (a practice started by Dave Thomas and Mike Clark doing a Rails Guidebook in 2006). So instead of taking in revenue for something like training, they opt to pass it along to a charity that helps families in their most critical time of need.
This year, the amount raised has been meager. As it stands now, we've only managed to get to just under £4,900. We can do much better. My hypothesis is that the reason we have not raised more is that people this year are not as interested in the tutorials, not that we are less generous than years past. Just because you are not attending a tutorial it doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't donate.
Just because you could