Fwd: Sprint to PyCon / Code on the Road / Snakes On a Bus
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Catherine Devlin
Dec 14, 2009, 5:39:09 PM12/14/09
to mich...@googlegroups.com, cl...@googlegroups.com, cin...@googlegroups.com, cent...@python.org
Hey, Michigan and Ohio Pythonistas...
I wanted to float this idea by you and see if we have enough enthusiasm to send a bus to PyCon from our region. For instance, a bus could leave Detroit and scoop up folks in Toledo and Dayton then Cincinnati, and maybe a few more in Kentucky and Tennessee. Or Cleveland - Columbus - Cincinnati etc.
Do you think we'd have the people to organize and populate it?
Early-bird PyCon registration ends Jan. 6. Don't stall, you'll give the organizers ulcers. :)
- Catherine
http://catherinedevlin.blogspot.com/
*** PyCon * Feb 17-25, 2010 * Atlanta, GA * us.pycon.org ***
I wanted to float this idea by you and see if we have enough enthusiasm to send a bus to PyCon from our region. For instance, a bus could leave Detroit and scoop up folks in Toledo and Dayton then Cincinnati, and maybe a few more in Kentucky and Tennessee. Or Cleveland - Columbus - Cincinnati etc.
Do you think we'd have the people to organize and populate it?
Early-bird PyCon registration ends Jan. 6. Don't stall, you'll give the organizers ulcers. :)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Catherine Devlin <catherin...@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 11:40 AM
Subject: Sprint to PyCon / Code on the Road / Snakes On a Bus
To: c...@unc.edu, acl...@aclark.net, Carl Karsten <cfka...@gmail.com>
Cc: "Pycon-Or...@Python.Org Pycon-Organizers" <Pycon-Or...@python.org>
To: usergroup leaders, and others...
Road trip, anyone? Oops, I mean: ROOOOOOOOOAD TRIP, anyone?
Imagine a busload of Pythonistas travelling from your city to PyCon, geeking out all the way.
Do you like the idea? Would you like to try to make it happen? It's only an idea so far, but it doesn't have to stay that way.
Of course, arranging carpooling for PyCon attendees is just common sense... but I'm thinking of something more grandiose, something that transforms a "trip" to PyCon into a *voyage* to PyCon. Something that would amount to a rolling sprint / Open Space session.
Is this possible? To get a very rough idea, I got a quote from one bus company (http://usabuscharter.com). For a Feb 16 - 22 trip (enough for tutorial + conference, but not sprints). A 47-passenger bus with driver costs
$6300 from Washington, DC ($134 @ round-trip if 47 passengers; $252 if 25)
$6400 from Chicago ($136 / $ 256)
$4895 from Raleigh, NC ($104 / $196)
47 passengers is as small as it generally gets for long trips. Keep in mind that you may be able to scoop up more passengers along your route.
Reducing the trip from Feb 18 - 22 (missing tutorials) only cuts the bus cost to $5400/$5720/$4985. When comparing the cost to airline costs, remember that the bus eliminates airport parking and car rental. (Then again, since there's a Metro rail line from the airport to downtown, nobody should need to rent a car anyway.) Also, you can bring as many ounces of fluid as you darn will please.
A more modest option would be to rent a 12-passenger van. In that case, I'm getting prices (for a heavily-insured rental) like $1100 ($92 @). Of course, in that case, you'd have to provide fuel and driving.
Just remember to call it something impressive, like "the bus", "the Mighty Pythonic Express" or whatnot. Bonus points if you can find something alternatively-fueled, can paint it wacky colors, or whatnot. The point is to generate a trip that is a meeting, a rolling miniconference in its own right, something that people get excited about taking part in.
Of course, if you have a potential sponsor company in your area that *owns* a bus, or a zepplin, then that would would be almost too good to be true!
Size-wise, a minibus might be ideal, but minibus charters seem aimed at short-range trips rather than cross-country voyages.
Anyway, poll your membership. See if there's interest in riding it and (more importantly) in helping organize it.
Thanks! See you in Atlanta - by plane, bus, or llama caravan!
-- From: Catherine Devlin <catherin...@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 11:40 AM
Subject: Sprint to PyCon / Code on the Road / Snakes On a Bus
To: c...@unc.edu, acl...@aclark.net, Carl Karsten <cfka...@gmail.com>
Cc: "Pycon-Or...@Python.Org Pycon-Organizers" <Pycon-Or...@python.org>
To: usergroup leaders, and others...
Road trip, anyone? Oops, I mean: ROOOOOOOOOAD TRIP, anyone?
Imagine a busload of Pythonistas travelling from your city to PyCon, geeking out all the way.
Do you like the idea? Would you like to try to make it happen? It's only an idea so far, but it doesn't have to stay that way.
Of course, arranging carpooling for PyCon attendees is just common sense... but I'm thinking of something more grandiose, something that transforms a "trip" to PyCon into a *voyage* to PyCon. Something that would amount to a rolling sprint / Open Space session.
Is this possible? To get a very rough idea, I got a quote from one bus company (http://usabuscharter.com). For a Feb 16 - 22 trip (enough for tutorial + conference, but not sprints). A 47-passenger bus with driver costs
$6300 from Washington, DC ($134 @ round-trip if 47 passengers; $252 if 25)
$6400 from Chicago ($136 / $ 256)
$4895 from Raleigh, NC ($104 / $196)
47 passengers is as small as it generally gets for long trips. Keep in mind that you may be able to scoop up more passengers along your route.
Reducing the trip from Feb 18 - 22 (missing tutorials) only cuts the bus cost to $5400/$5720/$4985. When comparing the cost to airline costs, remember that the bus eliminates airport parking and car rental. (Then again, since there's a Metro rail line from the airport to downtown, nobody should need to rent a car anyway.) Also, you can bring as many ounces of fluid as you darn will please.
A more modest option would be to rent a 12-passenger van. In that case, I'm getting prices (for a heavily-insured rental) like $1100 ($92 @). Of course, in that case, you'd have to provide fuel and driving.
Just remember to call it something impressive, like "the bus", "the Mighty Pythonic Express" or whatnot. Bonus points if you can find something alternatively-fueled, can paint it wacky colors, or whatnot. The point is to generate a trip that is a meeting, a rolling miniconference in its own right, something that people get excited about taking part in.
Of course, if you have a potential sponsor company in your area that *owns* a bus, or a zepplin, then that would would be almost too good to be true!
Size-wise, a minibus might be ideal, but minibus charters seem aimed at short-range trips rather than cross-country voyages.
Anyway, poll your membership. See if there's interest in riding it and (more importantly) in helping organize it.
Thanks! See you in Atlanta - by plane, bus, or llama caravan!
- Catherine
http://catherinedevlin.blogspot.com/
*** PyCon * Feb 17-25, 2010 * Atlanta, GA * us.pycon.org ***
Mike Pirnat
Dec 14, 2009, 5:49:41 PM12/14/09
to cl...@googlegroups.com
On Mon, Dec 14, 2009 at 5:39 PM, Catherine Devlin
<catherin...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey, Michigan and Ohio Pythonistas...
>
> I wanted to float this idea by you and see if we have enough enthusiasm to
> send a bus to PyCon from our region. For instance, a bus could leave
> Detroit and scoop up folks in Toledo and Dayton then Cincinnati, and maybe a
> few more in Kentucky and Tennessee. Or Cleveland - Columbus - Cincinnati
> etc.
It sounds like a lot of fun, but I can't help but think about some
<catherin...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey, Michigan and Ohio Pythonistas...
>
> I wanted to float this idea by you and see if we have enough enthusiasm to
> send a bus to PyCon from our region. For instance, a bus could leave
> Detroit and scoop up folks in Toledo and Dayton then Cincinnati, and maybe a
> few more in Kentucky and Tennessee. Or Cleveland - Columbus - Cincinnati
> etc.
advice I once received about eggs and baskets... (Funny story--our
high school faculty were similarly concerned about having the whole
Knowledge Bowl team in one van for away meets.)
--
Mike Pirnat
mpi...@gmail.com
http://www.pirnat.com/
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