Some concerns about the future of YAPC::NA were recently brought to my attention on IRC. The ensuing discussion revealed some people had valid concerns about the future of Perl conferences and particularly concerning to me, YAPC::NA.
Most of these concerns stem from a lack of supervision of the various organizing groups, and a lack of overall policy direction from the TPF level. Policy decisions (such as Codes Of Conduct) are left to the individual organizers or organizing groups, who are already overwhelming with organizing a conference, let alone dealing with all aspects of gender politics in the modern American IT industry. Additionally I've personally witnessed the inefficient transfer of institutional knowledge when organizing YAPC::NA 2011.
Much of this stems from the Conference Committee's traditional hands-off approach to the organizers. This approach is understandable from both the practical side, as members are volunteers and they have busy lives, and also from a policy side, where the organization wants to encourage conference organizers to be able to make their own decisions. However I think that it may be time for a rethinking of these approaches.
My proposal is simple: have the organizers from all the TFP-sponsored conferences and workshops in a given year become the committee members for the conferences committee in the following year. Some appointed positions could be retained year-on-year for balance and institutional continuity. For example, assume that we keep just the chairperson, and that Josh is willing to continue for another year that would make the committee for next year:
- Josh McAdams - Chairperson
- Chris Prather - Orlando Perl Workshop
- John Anderson - DC/Baltimore Perl Workshop
- JT Smith - YAPC::NA 2012
- Dan Wright - Pittsburgh Perl Workshop
This committee would then be responsible for helping the new organization team deal with the community and, since many of us organize from year to year, would serve as a source of continuity and experienced advice. Additionally this community could be responsible for helping with policy decisions that really are part of the domain of the TPF, like a Conference Code of Conduct that is maintained year-after-year as well as liaising with the EPO's Send-A-Newbie program and coordinating sponsorship and fundraising issues.