Starting the ball rolling on DjangoCon US 2015

[Russell Keith-Magee]

Hi all,

I've just posted a blog entry on the DSF blog about getting the organisation process going for 2015:

https://www.djangoproject.com/weblog/2014/oct/10/call-volunteers-djangocon-us-2105/

As I've said in that post - there are some things that are locked in for next year because of the 2 year deal with have with Open Bastion - but we can still make some big improvements, and I'm hoping the improvements next year will lead into a successful and completely community-driven event in 2016.

So - if you're interested in serving on the organising committee in one of the following roles, please drop a reply - either to this thread, or to me personally.

Conference chair

Treasurer

Program chair

Fundraising Chair

Diversity and Outreach Chair

Publicity Chair

Website and Technical Lead

Graphics Lead

Volunteer Coordinator

Speaker Liason

Sprint Coordinator

Venue Liaison

Yours,

Russ Magee %-)

[Geoff Davidson]

Russ, thank you for taking the initiative and getting this started early.

 

I’m not sure who everyone else is on this mailing list, so wonder if we shouldn’t also ask this group to reach out to others in the community who may be able to bring talents and passion that we have not yet exploited?

 

Geoff

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[Russell Keith-Magee]

Hi Geoff,

On Sat, Oct 11, 2014 at 12:12 AM, Geoff Davidson <ge...@geoffdavidson.com> wrote:

Russ, thank you for taking the initiative and getting this started early.

 

I’m not sure who everyone else is on this mailing list, so wonder if we shouldn’t also ask this group to reach out to others in the community who may be able to bring talents and passion that we have not yet exploited? 

Good point - no reason for the club to be limited to those who are already in the club :-)

So, to everyone on this list: If you know anyone that might be interested in helping out (or could be convinced to do so), please point them in our direction!

Russ %-)

[Steve Holden]

I am happy Russ has answered his own questions. The point is that this stuff relies much more on community involvement if sponsors are to provide the funding needed to keep costs down.

S

[Alex Vidal]

On Friday, October 10, 2014 10:11:43 AM UTC-5, Russell Keith-Magee wrote:

I've just posted a blog entry on the DSF blog about getting the organisation process going for 2015:

https://www.djangoproject.com/weblog/2014/oct/10/call-volunteers-djangocon-us-2105/

So - if you're interested in serving on the organising committee in one of the following roles, please drop a reply - either to this thread, or to me personally.

I'm Austin native. Is the venue the Hilton downtown by the Convention Center? I work about 5 blocks away and I'd love to help. What are the responsibilities for a Venue Liason? Making sure the conference rooms will be adequate, that they have the correct AV, wifi, hookups, so on?

I've been to two DjangoCon's; 2012 and 2013 and in neither case have I stayed for the sprints. Are the sprints typically located near the conference venue? There are some Django shops and coworking spaces downtown that might be willing to host the sprints, depending on planned attendance.

[Russell Keith-Magee]

Hi Alex,

I'm not sure where the Convention Centre is in Austin, but the Hilton in question is the one at 500 East 4th. 

As for responsibilities - The venue liaison is essentially exactly what you've said. Someone needs to be local to turn up, inspect facilities to make sure that they'll provide what is needed, make sure they'll allow us to do the rest (e.g., if we're going to do our own video, are there any restrictions?). They also need to develop a relationship with the on-site reps so when something goes wrong on the day, we know who to harass for a quick fix.

As for the sprints - yes - they're generally hosted somewhere near the conference venue (or, at least, easily accessible from the conference venue). Attendance has historically peaked at around 100-120 when the conference hosts 350-400. If you have any suggestions for venues that might be willing to host a crew of that size, we're open to suggestions - especially if they've got wifi and power already in place to support 100 geeks with laptops.

Yours,

Russ Magee %-)

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[Andrew Pinkham]

Hi,
My name is Andrew, I live in Austin, and I'd like to help with DjangoCon 2015.

I've thrown together a google map of a lot of the locations downtown that I/my-friends/my-enemies enjoy.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zHBMNo2Ry8kM.k3Ss7KRjCoG0

Note that the icon usually used to describe fast food joints instead describes locations with drinks (bars, etc) where the food is also good.

I'd like to draw your attention to Easy Tiger as I think it could be a great venue for a dinner. It's a German Biergarten meets French Bakery, and one of the genuinely "Austin Weird" locations downtown. They have great sausages, good sandwiches, and local beers.

You'll note a dearth of BBQ. Ironworks and Lambert's BBQ are the only two listed. The third potential downtown BBQ is Franklin's. The problem with Franklin's is that the wait is over two hours, and preorders are sold out two months in advance. If we choose to do a BBQ dinner, I would vote to have Franklin's catered (and that we schedule with them well in advance).

I've created a special section for the sprint venues. Austin is host to a huge number of coworking spaces. There are three within walking distance of the Hilton that would be good for sprints:

Capital Factory
http://capitalfactory.com/

Maker Square
http://www.makersquare.com/

GoLab Austin
http://golabaustin.com/

In addition, a few of the evening meetups are hosted at:

Black Locus
http://blacklocus.com/

Spanning
http://spanning.com/

Refresh Austin, the meetup group for web developers (typically front end), often uses the second floor to the Buffalo Billiards bar. I'm not sure it suits our purposes, but it may be worth looking into.

Finally, please note that as I have not stayed in any of the hotels I've listed, I cannot vouch for their quality in any way.

Hope this info is helpful,
Andrew

[Barbara Shaurette]

:) Thanks Andrew - that is a pretty complete list, I don't think there's anything I could add to it, but then I don't spend a ton of time downtown.

Who else on this list is also from Austin? I feel like we should meet up one of these evenings, maybe grab dinner or beers at Easy Tiger or Ginger Man and start planning.

- Barbara

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[Daniel Craigmile]

I live and work in downtown Austin (near the Hilton), much like Alex. (Alex and I used to work together -- Hi Alex!)  

I'm happy to help if I can. 

-dc

[chris chang]

Introducing myself. I'm Chris Chang. I live and work downtown. I know some of you already (Hi Alex V, Barbara S, and Daniel C). I've been to DjangoCon US thrice. I'm looking forward to helping in any way I can.

-chris

[Keith Edmiston]

I too work in downtown Austin...in a Python/Django shop. Attended DjangoCon 2013. I'd be happy to help as well. 

Keith

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[Andrew Pinkham]

On Oct 13, 2014, at 8:48 AM, Barbara Shaurette <barbara....@gmail.com> wrote:
> I feel like we should meet up one of these evenings, maybe grab dinner or beers at Easy Tiger or Ginger Man and start planning.

I really like this idea.

I've taken the liberty of throwing together a doodle to help with scheduling.

http://doodle.com/47cu6bdear6wxqc6

I figured 8 PM downtown at the Gingerman was most convenient, but I'm happy to change the time or location if people prefer.

Andrew

[Russell Keith-Magee]

Hi Daniel, Chris, Keith,

Thanks for offering to help out! It sounds like the local Austin crew is getting together to start some local coordination - let me know how that works out.

I think we've almost got a starting lineup for the key positions we need to fill right away (conference chair, treasurer, branding and website - the tasks that need to be filled to get the ball rolling); beyond that, if there's any specific interest in taking on the coordinator roles (like speaker coordinator, volunteer coordinator, etc) let me know and I'll pencil people in.

Yours,

Russ Magee %-)

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/djangocon-organizers/CAP_gv7JS02HfR3GmEQpFDHZgNMB-%2BMZLnpYxvhwfQ0vfePdVHw%40mail.gmail.com.

[chris chang]

Not knowing much about how DjangoCon has been put together in the past (not just US, but other DjangoCons too), I started a Google doc at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g-fWwLwu5-hlBL6N9SArM-6B1cijrTJ3ZQywbfQ51T4/edit where I'm dumping knowledge as I find it. The idea is that someone new like me could go over that and get caught up quickly.

[Andrew Pinkham]

Re: local meetup

Based on the RSVPs on doodle, I'm scheduling our meet-up for Wednesday, October 29 at 8 PM.

Austin DjangoCon Organizers Meetup
Scheduled: Oct 29, 2014, 8:00:00 PM to 9:00:00 PM
Location: 301 Lavaca St
Austin TX 78701
The Gingerman Bar

[Andrew Pinkham]

I'm looking forward to meeting people tonight!

I'll be at the bar a little bit early, wearing jeans and my brand-new bright-yellow DjangoCon 2014 t-shirt. :P

Andrew

[Barbara Shaurette]

I'll be there as well, probably also a bit early. :) I'll be in either a Django or PyCon t-shirt, but my hair will be hard to miss.

- Barbara

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