OLD (pre-2009) Conference Proposal Guidelines
Choosing a venue for a Plone Conference is a community process that involves soliciting proposals. This document provides guidelines for what should be in a proposal for hosting a Plone Conference.
Before each year's Plone Conference, the Plone Foundation will solicit
proposals for hosting the conference. These proposals should address
the following topics listed below.
1) Cheap/easy to travel by plane/train. Is your city and venue easily
reachable by people from multiple continents? Are flights cheap
during the time of year you propose? Are there travel restrictions
or abusive customs agents for the country you propose?
Specifically, are there visa/customs issues, hassles, or security
concerns for people visiting from abroad?
2) Reasonable lodging. In big cities, lodging costs more than
registration or travel. Sometimes lodging is hard to find, or is
so far from the venue that people accumulate new costs getting
to/from the conference.
3) Legitimate staffing. Have you ever organized an event before? Do
you have enough personnel to do the myriad of crummy tasks, before
and during the conference?
4) Legitimate logistics. Can you gain access to all the equipment
needed, including reliable internet connectivity, display
projectors, coffee/catering service, etc.?
5) Target size is 300-400 people. Feel free to choose an upper limit that best matches your venue and resources.
6) Don't increase rates. If we have to choose between
inexpensive/low-tech vs. expensive/slick, we'll likely choose the
former. We have lots of people that can't afford expensive
conferences. You can review the relevant pages for PloneCon 2003 New Orelans, PloneCon 2004 Vienna, PloneCon 2005 Vienna and PloneCon 2006 Seattle
7) Venue. Can you describe the location for the conference? Does it
have more than one room available, for multiple tracks?
8) Cost of living. In big cities, everything is more expensive:
meals, taxis, etc. How does your city fare on this?
9) Sponsors. Both previous conferences leveraged sponsorship to make
the money work out ok. Getting sponsors is the job of the
proposing host, not the Plone Foundation.
10) Marketing. Do you have any connections with local or national
media, to advertise the conference and help spread the good word
about Plone?
Also make sure to include clear information on who the organiser/host is and how to easily get in touch.