Registration Info for CodeMash 2013

[Jim Holmes]

Folks,

Registration for CodeMash 2013 will run a bit differently than in years past. I wanted to take time to share some details and some of the reasoning behind the changes.

As you're likely aware, the demand for CodeMash tickets has grown insane. 1300 tickets for 2012 sold out in 22 minutes. That's crazy! (Well, it's not crazy, it's an indicator of how awesometastic our community is!)

It's my firm belief that CodeMash owes all its success, every last drop of it, to a core group of attendees and speakers who've come along every year with an amazing outlook. This core started out in v0 and showed up willing to have frank, open discussions on a wide range of things without ever getting heated, disrespectful, or digressing into flame wars. That core acted as role models for newcomers every following year, and as the conference grew, so did that core. That wonderful core could always be relied on for setting the tone in sessions, keynotes, and the hallways. Newcomers saw how passionate folks were, and how the conversations/interactions were carried out, and they followed the example. Those newcomers became part of the expanding core each following year.

That core is what's made CodeMash so awesome. Well, that and the bacon.

If last year's registration was blown through in 22 minutes, I can't imagine what registration would be like for 2013. Single-digit minutes? Seconds? No clue.

My biggest concern is losing that core of folks in the piranha frenzy/shark attack that registration may turn in to. If we lose that core then we lose some of the special tone that makes CodeMash so wonderful. 

With that in mind, we'll be having a special registration window for alumni of CodeMash 2012. If you attended or spoke in 2012 then we'll open up registration a week early. HOWEVER, we'll have only 700 tickets in this early window. Alumni get first crack at those tickets. If we don't sell them out, then leftovers will roll in to the "public" pool that will open the following week where we'll sell the additional 500 tickets.

Here are some ground rules about the Alumni pool:

• Please, don't be a jackass. Keep in mind the spirit of what we're trying to do here, and also keep in mind that we're volunteers doing this on our spare time.
  
• Alumni means CodeMash 2012. If you attended earlier CodeMashes, but not 2012, then sorry, but you'll have to wait for the general public registration.
• Alumni will get an email with a special, personalized access code. YOU MAY NOT SHARE THIS CODE WITH ANYONE ELSE. YOU USE THIS TO BUY YOUR TICKET OR YOU PASS FOR THIS YEAR. (Or go buy one in the public window)
• We'll validate all purchases once the Alumni window closes. Non-Alumni who somehow made it in will be refunded their cash and lose that ticket.

One important additional piece: We're doing away with group registrations. We know this impacts a number of organizations, but CodeMash registration has turned into somewhat of a raffle/lottery system. Dropping group registrations levels the playing field for everyone. (To be clear: the percentage of tickets sold to group registrations was a relatively small number, well under 20% of total sales.)

If you are in an organization that's used group purchases in the past then I heartily recommend you start clarifying purchasing policies with your organization. Right now. You'll need to buy your own ticket, and that can mean dealing with reimbursements and other workflows. I'm sorry about that, but again, we're trying to do our best to make it a level field for everyone.

This is a lot of info to digest. Hopefully you'll agree that it's an effort to do as best as possible to meet a crazy demand with a minimum of fuss.

As always, please feel free to ping me with questions or feedback. Do it here in the Group, or via e-mail if you're uncomfortable conversing in public. Reach me at jim.h...@codemash.org.

Regards,

Jim Holmes

President, CodeMash Board of Directors

[Matt Casto]

First of all, thanks go out to Jim and the rest of the CodeMash board and volunteers for all of their hard work organizing this event.

For those of us whose companies registered us last year as a group, and may not have entered our individual email addresses into Eventbrite, is there any way of requesting the alumni code if we don't get the email?

Thanks again,

< Matt

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[jfarrell]

If only Meijer hadnt cut me out of going last year.  Take my chances with the public window.  Awesome conference, cant wait to see it this year, hoping I get to speak :)

Jason

[Susan Anspaugh-Yount]

Female over 40 black haired alumni get first crack even a week earlier?

Sent from my Windows Phone

---

From: jfarrell
Sent: 9/19/2012 9:45 PM
To: code...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [CodeMash] Re: Registration Info for CodeMash 2013

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[Mel Grubb]

Awww, too bad past years don't count, I've been to every CodeMash ever. I'd probably get to buy my tickets... well... now.

[Scott Wachtmann]

Gotta say I'm kind of disappointed to hear this.  

As someone who was at the 2011 event and then missed 2012 due to the insanity of how fast tickets went I feel like I'm now getting double punished.  Bad enough to miss last year, now my chances of getting a ticket this year are going to be even worse.  I do not love this decision, and if you are trying to reward people who were involved early on in Codemash only rewarding 2012 attendees seems shortsighted since that was the first year I'm betting a lot of the "originals" you are trying to protect were forced to stay home.

On Wednesday, September 19, 2012 9:35:45 PM UTC-4, Jim Holmes wrote:

[Jason Follas]

One thing to keep in mind: even last year, tickets went unsold (or, unused). The situation usually is that someone purchased a ticket, and then couldn't attend due to work or family scheduling, so they tried to sell the ticket (at cost) to someone who could attend.  Some of these were never successfully resold due to a lack if interest, and thus, were not used.

Even if you miss the sales window, keep that week open on your calendar, and be ready to jump on the opportunity to use the "send a geek in my place" policy.

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[Steve Fazekas]

I believe that for the most part those who utilized this email list to sell their tix up to a week out were able to sell their tix.  I recall a couple people waited too long and could not sell theirs at the last couple days left. 

The market for our line of work is better this year than last.  I did not have a ticket last year and was able to get one the week before.  there were almost a dozen tix made available around two weeks before so don't worry if you can't get tix right away.  I'm sure there will be some available three weeks out. 

Steve Fazekas 

Sent from my iPhone

[Joel Cochran]

Can I assume this won't happen until after speakers have been selected?

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Expression Blend MVP
ASPInsider 

INETA Mentor (Virginia)

Blog: http://joelcochran.com

[Chris McNear]

I have to agree with Scott, from a slightly different view point. I finally work for a company that will send me to conferences so only recently found out about codemash so my guess is I won't have a chance at getting tickets this year. 

What about having a conference 2 times a year or finding a bigger venue?

Sent from my iPad

--

[Jason Gilmore]

Good morning,

You are correct registration will open after speakers have been selected and announced.

Jason

==
CodeMash Cofounder / Speaker Chair

[Tim Wilson]

What are the constraining factors -- why the 1200 ticket ceiling ?

Assuming we can't get past these constraints

Maybe we can assume some % of no-shows in the model

Another interesting option is limiting the # of tickets an individual
can purchase (1 credit card / 1 ticket) ??

Another obvious option (unpopular i assume) is increasing the price
enough to lower demand

It seems non-intuitive but maybe make the early-bird price more than
the normal price -- and the procrastinator price cheaper still ??

On Wed, Sep 19, 2012 at 9:35 PM, Jim Holmes <j...@iterativerose.com> wrote:

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[Michael Eaton]

It's interesting, if not a bit annoying, that people seem to think the
Codemash planners didn't work through *all* of these ideas and more
before they came up with their current plan.

There are some things we just have to live with. Nothing says anyone
*must* go to Codemash. There *are* plenty of other conferences in the
region (devlink, codestock, that conference, MADExpo). Yea, Codemash
is awesome, but life will go on for those that can't get tickets this
year, right?

In the end, it is what it is and we all have to deal with it.

mike

[Steven Smith]

You have as much chance as any other first-time attendee, which is
quite good if you're sitting at your computer at the appointed time
hitting F5. It's never failed for the folks in our office who've
bought tickets for the last several years. But do plan on it selling
out in minutes not days or hours.

Steve

--
Steve Smith
http://Ardalis.com/
http://twitter.com/ardalis

[Steven Smith]

Let's make it like Hunger Games, where you get a chance in the lottery
for every year you've previously attended, and maybe extra chances if
you were a speaker or volunteer or what-have-you... if you've never
attended before, you just get 1 chance.

#notreally

Steve

[Tim Wilson]

> In the end, it is what it is and we all have to deal with it.

This seems somewhat defeatist

If the decision is to leave it to chance & the internet routing gods
(sitting at your computer at the appointed time
hitting F5) -- that's cool

The only idea i want to convey is a lot of the people on this list
enjoy solving weird / hard problems

Why not leverage the community to help w/ these types of problems

On Thu, Sep 20, 2012 at 9:32 AM, Michael Eaton <mje...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Jim Holmes]

There are lots of ideas and feedback floating around. Rather than respond individually I'm just going to branch off the root message here.

We knew some folks would be frustrated no matter what got implemented. We're not able to to make everyone happy about everything, so we're not even remotely trying to. Sorry. What we're trying to do is make it as level a playing field as possible while getting things implemented with a small group of volunteers.

I'm not going to respond individually to all the ideas, many of them good ones; however I do want to hit on one point: raising ticket prices high enough to drop the demand for tickets.

Cliff Notes Version: Hell no. [1]

Longer version: CodeMash remains, at its heart despite insane growth, a community-ish conference. Our goal has always been to provide kickass content that helps change how people view their work/craft/industry. Keeping prices really low ensures that we can still get attendees from organizations who can't afford DevConnections, TechEd, or other insanely priced conferences. We see an incredible mix of indies, college students, and newcomers to the industry. We're able to see these folks make amazing changes in their environments because of what they're taking back from the conference. The day we raise CodeMash ticket prices to $2,500 to cut demand for the conference is the day I pack my bags and head back to Alaska to live in the woods. [2]

I get that some folks wish the registration would run differently. Really, I do. I think we've got a pretty good system in place, all things considered.

Jim

[1] This version not approved by the other CodeMash Board members, CodeMash committee members, or my mom. Sorry, sometimes I don't self-filter well.

[2] Neither was this version.

On Wednesday, September 19, 2012 9:35:45 PM UTC-4, Jim Holmes wrote:

[Peter Ritchie]

I'm not replying to any one person...

No matter what decision is/was made to increase "fairness" it can't possibly be viewed as fair by everyone.  I'm sure the board spent much time and effort discussing the issues before coming up with this decision.

I'm sure there are different, more complex, ways that the board could come up with so that some people view it as more fair, but other people will find it less fair.

They're in a hard position--there's not much you can do when 1200 tickets sell out in 22 minutes (other than celebrate the success).

My point is, there are clearly not enough tickets to go around, a debate on what to do differently will drag on forever because there will always be someone who will feel they're at better odds to not get a ticket.

Cheers -- Peter

On Wed, Sep 19, 2012 at 9:35 PM, Jim Holmes <j...@iterativerose.com> wrote:

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On Thu, Sep 20, 2012 at 9:22 AM, Tim Wilson <tim...@smarttypes.org> wrote:

[Michael Smith]

CodeMash used to be a conference, but now it's a club.

[Mark D. Chamberlain]

I typically just observe these discussions but have to chime in on this one.  As a first-time attendee in 2012 this is great for me (although let's be real, there's still going to be a flurry within the alumni pool) but I see where the folks who missed out in 2012 are coming from.  Passionate responses by the folks here are simply a testament to what a great job you the organizers do in setting up this event.  There is an over-abundance of mediocrity in our industry and CodeMash is like coming up for air.

I don't wish to trade spots with any of the organizers as they weigh the options of growing the conference vs. having to set a limit that ends up excluding people that can benefit from the content, or raising ticket prices to limit demand vs. keeping them amazingly affordable so that it's difficult to justify not attending (even if your employer won't support you).  Every decision I have observed out of this group has been at the aim and result of continually making CodeMash the best conference of its kind, period.  My hat is off to you.

--

[mikef...@f1tech.com]

I would assume that the alumni list is going to receive an email about the changes prior to them occurring and that when this email goes out it will be discussed on this list. If you don't receive the email, then I would contact Jim or whoever he designates. 

---

From: "David Nolf" <davi...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2012 10:21 AM

To: code...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [CodeMash] Re: Registration Info for CodeMash 2013

Jim,

Last year two of us from were at a RavenDB training a couple days before codemash at the Kalahari and were able to buy/transfer a couple codemash tickets with the precompiler from someone that was unable to attend the event.

Since we attended the event, how can I confirm that we are infact in the alumni.

Thanks,

Dave

On Wednesday, 19 September 2012 21:35:45 UTC-4, Jim Holmes wrote:
> Folks,
>
>
> Registration for CodeMash 2013 will run a bit differently than in years past. I wanted to take time to share some details and some of the reasoning behind the changes.
>
>
> As you're likely aware, the demand for CodeMash tickets has grown insane. 1300 tickets for 2012 sold out in 22 minutes. That's crazy! (Well, it's not crazy, it's an indicator of how awesometastic our community is!)
>
>
> It's my firm belief that CodeMash owes all its success, every last drop of it, to a core group of attendees and speakers who've come along every year with an amazing outlook. This core started out in v0 and showed up willing to have frank, open discussions on a wide range of things without ever getting heated, disrespectful, or digressing into flame wars. That core acted as role models for newcomers every following year, and as the conference grew, so did that core. That wonderful core could always be relied on for setting the tone in sessions, keynotes, and the hallways. Newcomers saw how passionate folks were, and how the conversations/interactions were carried out, and they followed the example. Those newcomers became part of the expanding core each following year.
>
>
> That core is what's made CodeMash so awesome. Well, that and the bacon.
>
>
> If last year's registration was blown through in 22 minutes, I can't imagine what registration would be like for 2013. Single-digit minutes? Seconds? No clue.
>
>
> My biggest concern is losing that core of folks in the piranha frenzy/shark attack that registration may turn in to. If we lose that core then we lose some of the special tone that makes CodeMash so wonderful. 
>
>
> With that in mind, we'll be having a special registration window for alumni of CodeMash 2012. If you attended or spoke in 2012 then we'll open up registration a week early. HOWEVER, we'll have only 700 tickets in this early window. Alumni get first crack at those tickets. If we don't sell them out, then leftovers will roll in to the "public" pool that will open the following week where we'll sell the additional 500 tickets.
>
>
> Here are some ground rules about the Alumni pool:
> Please, don't be a jackass. Keep in mind the spirit of what we're trying to do here, and also keep in mind that we're volunteers doing this on our spare time.

> Alumni means CodeMash 2012. If you attended earlier CodeMashes, but not 2012, then sorry, but you'll have to wait for the general public registration.Alumni will get an email with a special, personalized access code. YOU MAY NOT SHARE THIS CODE WITH ANYONE ELSE. YOU USE THIS TO BUY YOUR TICKET OR YOU PASS FOR THIS YEAR. (Or go buy one in the public window)We'll validate all purchases once the Alumni window closes. Non-Alumni who somehow made it in will be refunded their cash and lose that ticket.

> One important additional piece: We're doing away with group registrations. We know this impacts a number of organizations, but CodeMash registration has turned into somewhat of a raffle/lottery system. Dropping group registrations levels the playing field for everyone. (To be clear: the percentage of tickets sold to group registrations was a relatively small number, well under 20% of total sales.)
>
>
> If you are in an organization that's used group purchases in the past then I heartily recommend you start clarifying purchasing policies with your organization. Right now. You'll need to buy your own ticket, and that can mean dealing with reimbursements and other workflows. I'm sorry about that, but again, we're trying to do our best to make it a level field for everyone.
>
>
> This is a lot of info to digest. Hopefully you'll agree that it's an effort to do as best as possible to meet a crazy demand with a minimum of fuss.
>
>
>
> As always, please feel free to ping me with questions or feedback. Do it here in the Group, or via e-mail if you're uncomfortable conversing in public. Reach me at jim.h...@codemash.org.
>
>
> Regards,
>
>
> Jim Holmes
> President, CodeMash Board of Directors

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[Michael Eaton]

Just out of curiosity, why would it need to be a Codemash "satellite"?
Why not create your own, unique event?

On Thu, Sep 20, 2012 at 10:25 AM, dodegaard <do...@intralogix.biz> wrote:
> Sounds to me like it is time for some grass roots movement to get CodeMash
> fired up in a couple other areas of the country throughout the year to ease
> the crush. I sense we're all challenged for conferences that don't break
> the bank yet provide quality speakers and allow us to network (which often
> times is the best part next to bacon). We have a crew of people here in
> Montana that would be willing to fire up a conference in our beautiful state
> if we could get quality speakers and give devs a chance to breathe some
> mountain air. Sometimes bigger is not better. But running satellites
> throughout the year spreads the work of doing confs and allows regional
> travel as well which keeps the cost down. Toss it around at your next board
> meeting, Jim, and keep up the great work. You are blazing trail for us all.
>
> doug

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> "CodeMash" group.
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> https://groups.google.com/d/msg/codemash/-/cp7rqWtsYPQJ.

[Dianne Marsh]

Doug --

Love your enthusiasm, but ...

We've posted before that CodeMash will not be franchised. If other folks want to start other conferences inspired by CodeMash, then that's a wonderful idea. But the CodeMash organizers only have enough volunteer time/energy for one conference, so there will only be ONE conference called CodeMash.

Dianne

On Thursday, September 20, 2012 10:25:15 AM UTC-4, dodegaard wrote:

Sounds to me like it is time for some grass roots movement to get CodeMash fired up in a couple other areas of the country throughout the year to ease the crush.  I sense we're all challenged for conferences that don't break the bank yet provide quality speakers and allow us to network (which often times is the best part next to bacon). We have a crew of people here in Montana that would be willing to fire up a conference in our beautiful state if we could get quality speakers and give devs a chance to breathe some mountain air. Sometimes bigger is not better.  But running satellites throughout the year spreads the work of doing confs and allows regional travel as well which keeps the cost down. Toss it around at your next board meeting, Jim, and keep up the great work.  You are blazing trail for us all.

doug

On Wednesday, 19 September 2012 19:35:45 UTC-6, Jim Holmes wrote:

[Mark D. Chamberlain]

And put your thinking cap on, because CodeMush just doesn't sound as appealing.

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[Michael Smith]

Once the CodeMash Club is done being established, you're going to let Condoleeza Rice in if she wants to be in it, right?

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[Chris McNear]

I agree with the suggestion of making multiple perhaps regional codemash conferences (I do understand the desire not to as well).  But I think if you polled enough people that each general region would have enough people willing to be the volunteers for that region to get the conference started.

As far as why not start your own? I think that's a great idea, the problem is the logistics of it all for people who have never organized one before...

For example...

How do you get well known speakers?

How do you organize the location etc?

How do you get the deals on hotels etc. cheap enough if you don't know how many people would attend?

The benefit to making a codemash "franchise" is it has the codemash name and will be guaranteed some success....

I don't really see it as being a franchise, I see it more being a 2nd or third conference in differrent regions. Similar to what VSLive does....

Ok thats my two cents.

On Thu, Sep 20, 2012 at 9:41 AM, dodegaard <do...@intralogix.biz> wrote:

Sentiment noted and I totally understand not wanting to water it down.  Simply an idea to move tech forward in a regional fashion.

On Wednesday, 19 September 2012 19:35:45 UTC-6, Jim Holmes wrote:

Folks,

Registration for CodeMash 2013 will run a bit differently than in years past. I wanted to take time to share some details and some of the reasoning behind the changes.

As you're likely aware, the demand for CodeMash tickets has grown insane. 1300 tickets for 2012 sold out in 22 minutes. That's crazy! (Well, it's not crazy, it's an indicator of how awesometastic our community is!)

It's my firm belief that CodeMash owes all its success, every last drop of it, to a core group of attendees and speakers who've come along every year with an amazing outlook. This core started out in v0 and showed up willing to have frank, open discussions on a wide range of things without ever getting heated, disrespectful, or digressing into flame wars. That core acted as role models for newcomers every following year, and as the conference grew, so did that core. That wonderful core could always be relied on for setting the tone in sessions, keynotes, and the hallways. Newcomers saw how passionate folks were, and how the conversations/interactions were carried out, and they followed the example. Those newcomers became part of the expanding core each following year.

That core is what's made CodeMash so awesome. Well, that and the bacon.

If last year's registration was blown through in 22 minutes, I can't imagine what registration would be like for 2013. Single-digit minutes? Seconds? No clue.

My biggest concern is losing that core of folks in the piranha frenzy/shark attack that registration may turn in to. If we lose that core then we lose some of the special tone that makes CodeMash so wonderful. 

With that in mind, we'll be having a special registration window for alumni of CodeMash 2012. If you attended or spoke in 2012 then we'll open up registration a week early. HOWEVER, we'll have only 700 tickets in this early window. Alumni get first crack at those tickets. If we don't sell them out, then leftovers will roll in to the "public" pool that will open the following week where we'll sell the additional 500 tickets.

Here are some ground rules about the Alumni pool:

• Please, don't be a jackass. Keep in mind the spirit of what we're trying to do here, and also keep in mind that we're volunteers doing this on our spare time.
  
• Alumni means CodeMash 2012. If you attended earlier CodeMashes, but not 2012, then sorry, but you'll have to wait for the general public registration.
• Alumni will get an email with a special, personalized access code. YOU MAY NOT SHARE THIS CODE WITH ANYONE ELSE. YOU USE THIS TO BUY YOUR TICKET OR YOU PASS FOR THIS YEAR. (Or go buy one in the public window)
• We'll validate all purchases once the Alumni window closes. Non-Alumni who somehow made it in will be refunded their cash and lose that ticket.

One important additional piece: We're doing away with group registrations. We know this impacts a number of organizations, but CodeMash registration has turned into somewhat of a raffle/lottery system. Dropping group registrations levels the playing field for everyone. (To be clear: the percentage of tickets sold to group registrations was a relatively small number, well under 20% of total sales.)

If you are in an organization that's used group purchases in the past then I heartily recommend you start clarifying purchasing policies with your organization. Right now. You'll need to buy your own ticket, and that can mean dealing with reimbursements and other workflows. I'm sorry about that, but again, we're trying to do our best to make it a level field for everyone.

This is a lot of info to digest. Hopefully you'll agree that it's an effort to do as best as possible to meet a crazy demand with a minimum of fuss.

As always, please feel free to ping me with questions or feedback. Do it here in the Group, or via e-mail if you're uncomfortable conversing in public. Reach me at jim.h...@codemash.org.

Regards,

Jim Holmes

President, CodeMash Board of Directors

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[mikef...@f1tech.com]

I love these kinds of requests, but if these things were to take place what would effectively happen is that Codemash would no longer be Codemash. Here's a few reasons why:

1. Part of what makes Codemash Codemash is Kalahari. It's a great conference with great content and a great community at a great price but the great venue is more than just icing on the cake.
2. The organizers are all volunteers and Codemash is a huge undertaking. When Codemash is over all of the volunteers that have been working like crazy to make it awesome I'm sure take a deep breath and then they have to work like crazy to catch up on the rest of their work and neglected personal lives. Asking them to take on more either makes them all get divorced or requires that Codemash hires staff to work year round and then the all volunteer effort goes away and Codemash effectively becomes much more focused on becoming a for-profit endeavor and bam, just like that, Codemash isn't Codemash.
3. The name recognition is great and it's also been earned with a lot of blood, sweat and tears over the years. I can't see a reason for the organizers to want to jeopardize that by expanding with third parties. 
4. There are a lot of great conferences that are Codemash like that don't share the Codemash brand name and are doing well. Follow the model, build it and they will come. I get wanting a jump start, but other regional conferences, especially far away from Ohio don't need to piggy back off of the Codemash name to be successful.
5. Codemash is a great, unique thing, I've been 2 of the last 3 years and I think it's evolving in all of the right directions. The organizers have earned trust and respect for how they are taking the conference forward. Things that's jeopardize that are dangerous.

Now, I would love to come to a conference in Montana, but I think rather than being water park themed it should incorporate Elk Hunting. :)

---

From: "Chris McNear" <chris....@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2012 11:06 AM
To: code...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [CodeMash] Re: Registration Info for CodeMash 2013

[Michael Kimsal]

Because, speaking from experience, it's a *lot* harder to generate interest in something 'unique', when a lot of attention is already paid to the bigger/established names.  Were it to be franchised (which I know it won't be), people would already know what they're getting.  And as events get more attended, more people are looking for 'well-known' vs 'unknown/unique'.  Not everyone, but I think your perspective on this is not as common as other folks.  

[Michael Eaton]

Would you agree that the potential for the brand getting F'd up
increases when it leaves the hands of the original organizers. :-)

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[Chris McNear]

My suggestion was not to have it leave thier hands but to share the work load.  Have some smaller number of the original organizers/board members present and involved with each of the regional conferences.  They can provide guidance for how it should be run give tips for getting it set up etc. and make sure it is being done according to the standards set by codemash.  Each region would be responsible for doing the majority of the work and providing a sufficient number of volunteers etc.

I would think this would allow the original codemash to still happen and the regional sessions to happen with minimal work for the original organizers.....

[Duane Collicott]

Just from my own perspective...  I've been producing a show (not software development, but LEGO) for seven years now, and it has a good name. It's not as prolific as CodeMash, but well-known and respected, locally. There has been some talk about expanding it to other locations, but there is an extremely small number of people out there who I would trust to do that. Maybe three people at the most. And that trust comes only after having known them for several years. There's a different type of show I am conceiving (also LEGO) that is designed to be a multi-location event, and even though it's new and the name has no reputation yet, the same still applies.

[Jim Holmes]

Doug,

We actually are prohibited from franchising by the type of legal entity we're incorporated under. More fundamentally, there's just not enough energy for us to oversee other franchises/satellites/whatever.

That said, we are ALWAYS open to helping others form great conferences. The awesome folks that started ThatConference in Wisconsin reached out to us two years prior to their first event. We spent a lot of time with them passing on lessons learned, financial plans, legal info, and just plain hard knocks.

Montana's an awesome place (my sister lives outside Helena). You guys should roll with something unique and wonderful for your community and see where it shakes out.

We're happy to help!

Jim

[Drew Robbins]

I had the pleasure of joining 20 developers (and their families) in Sapporo, Japan this past year for a dev conference at an indoor waterpark. J

 

While in some ways it was similar to CodeMash, in other ways it was very different. It’s the same passion for creating amazing things with great code and sharing with others that drove them to get together. There’s an even greater interest in repeating it for next year.

 

The advantage of this model is you really do get to create an identity for your community. ThatConference can have a different feel then CodeMash. The conference in Japan had its very unique style as well.

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[Rich Dudley]

I forgot one:  Heartland Developer Conference – September.  The Omaha Zoo and steaks at The Drover are worth the trip alone (the hotel shuttle goes to The Drover).

 

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[Richard J. Dudley]

There *are* reasonably priced regional conferences throughout the year that are very awesome in their own ways (I know because I've been to almost all of them).  Mike Eaton listed a few, and here are the ones which come to my mind:

Codepalousa - March

StirTrek - May, I think

CodeStock - June

Devlink - July

ThatConference - August, at the other Kalahari

You will see many of the same speakers, and some of the same attendees, at these other conferences.  CodeMash is fun, but if it doesn't work out, plan to have a blast in Chattanooga or Wisconsin Dells.  Your participation anywhere is just awesome.

There are also about 150 free CodeCamps around the country throughout the year that need volunteers, speakers and attendees.  Join in that fun!

[Jeff Yates]

Indubitably.

[Jeff Yates]

Relying on the good name of CodeMash just because it's hard to generate a good name seems lazy. One should concentrate on making a great event that people want to attend like CodeMash did and That Conference did. Otherwise, the point seems to be just to cash-in on someone else's hard work just to avoid the hard work.

On Thu, Sep 20, 2012 at 11:47 AM, Michael Kimsal <mgki...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Jeff Yates]

Seems more complicated than just starting one's own conference and asking for advice for seasoned experts (CodeMash, ThatConference, KalamazooX, etc.).

[Lorne Kates]

Could you do a combo early-bird/lottery?  X tickets for alumni, Y tickets for first-come-first-server, then the rest of the tickets go into a pool. There's a 1 week window where anyone can get a virtual wristband.  Then, let's say there's Z tickets left:

Randomly select Z people. Email them, telling them they may purchase tickets. They may only purchase within the next 24 hours.
24 hours later, there's now Z' tickets left. Email that many people.  Repeat for Z'', and so forth, until there are no tickets left.

Or do that for, say, a week. Once that's up, it's a free-for-all.

That way, people can get tickets if:
1) They attended before
2) They're quick (and a little it lucky)
3) They're lucky (but not at all quick)

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Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2012 08:12:22 -0400

Subject: Re: [CodeMash] Re: Registration Info for CodeMash 2013

From: jfo...@gmail.com
To: code...@googlegroups.com

One thing to keep in mind: even last year, tickets went unsold (or, unused). The situation usually is that someone purchased a ticket, and then couldn't attend due to work or family scheduling, so they tried to sell the ticket (at cost) to someone who could attend.  Some of these were never successfully resold due to a lack if interest, and thus, were not used.
Even if you miss the sales window, keep that week open on your calendar, and be ready to jump on the opportunity to use the "send a geek in my place" policy.

On Sep 20, 2012 7:47 AM, "Scott Wachtmann" <swac...@gmail.com> wrote:

Gotta say I'm kind of disappointed to hear this.  

As someone who was at the 2011 event and then missed 2012 due to the insanity of how fast tickets went I feel like I'm now getting double punished.  Bad enough to miss last year, now my chances of getting a ticket this year are going to be even worse.  I do not love this decision, and if you are trying to reward people who were involved early on in Codemash only rewarding 2012 attendees seems shortsighted since that was the first year I'm betting a lot of the "originals" you are trying to protect were forced to stay home.

On Wednesday, September 19, 2012 9:35:45 PM UTC-4, Jim Holmes wrote:

Folks,

Registration for CodeMash 2013 will run a bit differently than in years past. I wanted to take time to share some details and some of the reasoning behind the changes.

As you're likely aware, the demand for CodeMash tickets has grown insane. 1300 tickets for 2012 sold out in 22 minutes. That's crazy! (Well, it's not crazy, it's an indicator of how awesometastic our community is!)

It's my firm belief that CodeMash owes all its success, every last drop of it, to a core group of attendees and speakers who've come along every year with an amazing outlook. This core started out in v0 and showed up willing to have frank, open discussions on a wide range of things without ever getting heated, disrespectful, or digressing into flame wars. That core acted as role models for newcomers every following year, and as the conference grew, so did that core. That wonderful core could always be relied on for setting the tone in sessions, keynotes, and the hallways. Newcomers saw how passionate folks were, and how the conversations/interactions were carried out, and they followed the example. Those newcomers became part of the expanding core each following year.

That core is what's made CodeMash so awesome. Well, that and the bacon.

If last year's registration was blown through in 22 minutes, I can't imagine what registration would be like for 2013. Single-digit minutes? Seconds? No clue.

My biggest concern is losing that core of folks in the piranha frenzy/shark attack that registration may turn in to. If we lose that core then we lose some of the special tone that makes CodeMash so wonderful. 

With that in mind, we'll be having a special registration window for alumni of CodeMash 2012. If you attended or spoke in 2012 then we'll open up registration a week early. HOWEVER, we'll have only 700 tickets in this early window. Alumni get first crack at those tickets. If we don't sell them out, then leftovers will roll in to the "public" pool that will open the following week where we'll sell the additional 500 tickets.

Here are some ground rules about the Alumni pool:

• Please, don't be a jackass. Keep in mind the spirit of what we're trying to do here, and also keep in mind that we're volunteers doing this on our spare time.
  
• Alumni means CodeMash 2012. If you attended earlier CodeMashes, but not 2012, then sorry, but you'll have to wait for the general public registration.
• Alumni will get an email with a special, personalized access code. YOU MAY NOT SHARE THIS CODE WITH ANYONE ELSE. YOU USE THIS TO BUY YOUR TICKET OR YOU PASS FOR THIS YEAR. (Or go buy one in the public window)
• We'll validate all purchases once the Alumni window closes. Non-Alumni who somehow made it in will be refunded their cash and lose that ticket.

One important additional piece: We're doing away with group registrations. We know this impacts a number of organizations, but CodeMash registration has turned into somewhat of a raffle/lottery system. Dropping group registrations levels the playing field for everyone. (To be clear: the percentage of tickets sold to group registrations was a relatively small number, well under 20% of total sales.)

If you are in an organization that's used group purchases in the past then I heartily recommend you start clarifying purchasing policies with your organization. Right now. You'll need to buy your own ticket, and that can mean dealing with reimbursements and other workflows. I'm sorry about that, but again, we're trying to do our best to make it a level field for everyone.

This is a lot of info to digest. Hopefully you'll agree that it's an effort to do as best as possible to meet a crazy demand with a minimum of fuss.

As always, please feel free to ping me with questions or feedback. Do it here in the Group, or via e-mail if you're uncomfortable conversing in public. Reach me at jim.h...@codemash.org.

Regards,

Jim Holmes

President, CodeMash Board of Directors

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[Susan Anspaugh-Yount]

Maybe they should include you in alum if you've been to CodeMash in 2012 -or- been at least five times.

The important thing, and let's not lose sight of this, is that Susan gets a ticket.

On Thu, Sep 20, 2012 at 7:38 AM, Mel Grubb <melg...@gmail.com> wrote:

Awww, too bad past years don't count, I've been to every CodeMash ever. I'd probably get to buy my tickets... well... now.

On Wednesday, September 19, 2012 9:35:45 PM UTC-4, Jim Holmes wrote:

Folks,

Registration for CodeMash 2013 will run a bit differently than in years past. I wanted to take time to share some details and some of the reasoning behind the changes.

As you're likely aware, the demand for CodeMash tickets has grown insane. 1300 tickets for 2012 sold out in 22 minutes. That's crazy! (Well, it's not crazy, it's an indicator of how awesometastic our community is!)

It's my firm belief that CodeMash owes all its success, every last drop of it, to a core group of attendees and speakers who've come along every year with an amazing outlook. This core started out in v0 and showed up willing to have frank, open discussions on a wide range of things without ever getting heated, disrespectful, or digressing into flame wars. That core acted as role models for newcomers every following year, and as the conference grew, so did that core. That wonderful core could always be relied on for setting the tone in sessions, keynotes, and the hallways. Newcomers saw how passionate folks were, and how the conversations/interactions were carried out, and they followed the example. Those newcomers became part of the expanding core each following year.

That core is what's made CodeMash so awesome. Well, that and the bacon.

If last year's registration was blown through in 22 minutes, I can't imagine what registration would be like for 2013. Single-digit minutes? Seconds? No clue.

My biggest concern is losing that core of folks in the piranha frenzy/shark attack that registration may turn in to. If we lose that core then we lose some of the special tone that makes CodeMash so wonderful. 

With that in mind, we'll be having a special registration window for alumni of CodeMash 2012. If you attended or spoke in 2012 then we'll open up registration a week early. HOWEVER, we'll have only 700 tickets in this early window. Alumni get first crack at those tickets. If we don't sell them out, then leftovers will roll in to the "public" pool that will open the following week where we'll sell the additional 500 tickets.

Here are some ground rules about the Alumni pool:

• Please, don't be a jackass. Keep in mind the spirit of what we're trying to do here, and also keep in mind that we're volunteers doing this on our spare time.
  
• Alumni means CodeMash 2012. If you attended earlier CodeMashes, but not 2012, then sorry, but you'll have to wait for the general public registration.
• Alumni will get an email with a special, personalized access code. YOU MAY NOT SHARE THIS CODE WITH ANYONE ELSE. YOU USE THIS TO BUY YOUR TICKET OR YOU PASS FOR THIS YEAR. (Or go buy one in the public window)
• We'll validate all purchases once the Alumni window closes. Non-Alumni who somehow made it in will be refunded their cash and lose that ticket.

One important additional piece: We're doing away with group registrations. We know this impacts a number of organizations, but CodeMash registration has turned into somewhat of a raffle/lottery system. Dropping group registrations levels the playing field for everyone. (To be clear: the percentage of tickets sold to group registrations was a relatively small number, well under 20% of total sales.)

If you are in an organization that's used group purchases in the past then I heartily recommend you start clarifying purchasing policies with your organization. Right now. You'll need to buy your own ticket, and that can mean dealing with reimbursements and other workflows. I'm sorry about that, but again, we're trying to do our best to make it a level field for everyone.

This is a lot of info to digest. Hopefully you'll agree that it's an effort to do as best as possible to meet a crazy demand with a minimum of fuss.

As always, please feel free to ping me with questions or feedback. Do it here in the Group, or via e-mail if you're uncomfortable conversing in public. Reach me at jim.h...@codemash.org.

Regards,

Jim Holmes

President, CodeMash Board of Directors

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[Tim Wilson]

There are other nice indoor waterparks within 2 miles

Distribute tracks across different parks ?

> https://groups.google.com/d/msg/codemash/-/7lcWK9s5r-oJ.

[Hasan Savran]

I feel like I have been reading the same question in many ways....

On Fri, Sep 21, 2012 at 4:03 PM, Josh Gretz <jgr...@gmail.com> wrote:

Seconding this question. We registered as a group of 6 devs last year (and the guy who actually did it, isnt with our company anymore).

4 of us are planning on coming back, what do we need to do to make sure we get in on the early bird access

thanks,

On Friday, September 21, 2012 10:58:35 AM UTC-4, Tim Reynolds wrote:

This is the most important question I think. I may have missed it, but I don't see an answer yet.
My coworkers and I were registered as a group last year. We assume we can get early bird access as we all attended (this will either be my 4th or 5th codemash!)

I'm wondering, would a system where we submit the email address that registered all of us, and then our individual email address work for you? We would be glad to do that. Heck, if you give me a sample of your data file I would gladly whip you up an online form and validator to simplify everything for you! That would be a fun way to give back to your awesome crew of volunteers.

On Thursday, September 20, 2012 10:33:08 AM UTC-4, Heather Doughty wrote:
> Question, 
>
> We got group tickets last year (and all other prior years), will our "alumni registration" codes come all in one email to the group registration email address?
>
>
> Considering that that is probably the case,
> Are you going to let us know in advance on what day to expect that email... my boss-lady is very busy and I am afraid the email will get buried if she doesn't get a heads-up!

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