Pre-Conference Survey

Results from the pre-conference survey used to plan Plone Conference 2006


1. I am... (please check all that apply)
 Response PercentResponse Total
 Responsible for deploying/administering Plone within my organization
60.6%129
 Evaluating Plone for potential use
25.4%54
 A Plone integrator/consultant
53.5%114
 A Plone core developer
17.4%37
 A developer of add-on Products for Plone
46%98
 Other (please specify)
6.6%14
Total Respondents  213
(skipped this question)  0
2. What is your current level of experience with Plone?
 Response PercentResponse Total
  > 3 years experience
34.9%74
  1-3 years experience
38.2%81
  < 1 year experience
21.2%45
  I'm brand new to Plone
5.7%12
Total Respondents  212
(skipped this question)  1
3. Which best describes the primary organization you are affiliated with?
 Response PercentResponse Total
  An educational or research institution
21.1%45
  A governmental institution
4.2%9
  A healthcare organization
3.8%8
  A nonprofit organization
11.3%24
  A for-profit business
24.9%53
  A Plone consulting firm
31.5%67
 Other (please specify)
3.3%7
Total Respondents  213
(skipped this question)  0
4. How many Plone community events (e.g. Plone Conferences, Plone Symposia, or conferences with Plone/Zope tracks such as EuroPython, VanPy) have you attended in the past?
 Response PercentResponse Total
  None
35.2%75
  1-2
33.3%71
  3-5
19.7%42
  So many I've lost count
11.7%25
Total Respondents  213
(skipped this question)  0

6. We are considering holding the 2006 Plone Conference in late October, in Seattle, Washington, USA. (Exact dates, venue and cost are still TBD.) How likely would you be to attend the 2006 Plone Conference, assuming it were held in Seattle during the last week of October?
 Response PercentResponse Total
  Definitely
24.9%53
  Very Likely
18.8%40
  Somewhat Likely
24.4%52
  Unlikely
22.5%48
  Definitely not
9.4%20
Total Respondents  213
(skipped this question)  0
7. We are considering a number of new program elements for the Plone Conference this year, and are eager to get some feedback from the wider Plone community. Please rate each of the following ideas -- and don't worry, you can't hurt our feelings.
A horrible idea; doing this would make it less likely that I would attend Not a great idea, but I wouldn't object to itI don't have strong positive or negative feelings about this ideaA good idea; worth doingA great idea; doing this would make it considerably more likely that I would attendResponse Average
"Sector-specific" sessions featuring case studies of Plone in education, nonprofits, health care, etc.
1% (3)8% (17)22% (46)52% (108)16% (34)3.74
Tutorials and talks specifically aimed at beginning, intermediate and advanced Plone users
0% (1)1% (3)8% (17)52% (110)38% (80)4.26
Small group problem-solving sessions facilitated by experienced Plone developers and integrators
0% (1)3% (6)25% (51)44% (91)28% (58)3.96
A "strategic planning" workshop to gather community input on future Plone development efforts
0% (0)1% (3)26% (55)45% (95)27% (57)3.98
"Open space" for conference attendees to convene their own small group sessions
0% (0)6% (12)41% (87)38% (79)15% (32)3.62
A pre- or post-conference code sprint designed for new Plone contributors
0% (0)4% (9)26% (55)42% (88)27% (56)3.92
A pre- or post-conference sprint focused on Plone's community-level projects such as marketing, Plone.org and Plone.net websites, etc.
0% (0)7% (15)37% (77)42% (89)14% (29)3.63
Total Respondents  211
(skipped this question)  2
8. For each of the following statements, please indicate how strongly you agree or disagree. For me, a compelling 2006 Plone Conference would ...
Strongly disagreeDisagree somewhatI'm neutralAgree somewhatStrongly agreeResponse Average
... emphasize creating connections and relationships among members of the Plone community
0% (1)0% (1)14% (29)28% (59)57% (119)4.41
... emphasize teaching the fundamentals of Plone site administration and development
2% (4)5% (11)20% (41)40% (84)33% (69)3.97
... emphasize demonstrating and teaching cutting-edge Plone and Zope infrastructure technologies
0% (0)2% (5)12% (26)45% (94)40% (84)4.23
... be simple, informal and inexpensive
2% (4)7% (15)20% (42)32% (67)39% (82)3.99
... emphasize small group conversations rather than larger traditional lectures
2% (4)8% (16)39% (81)33% (69)18% (38)3.58
Total Respondents  210
(skipped this question)  3
9. What is the maximum cost you'd be willing to pay for a three-day Plone conference, exclusive of travel, lodging and food?
 Response PercentResponse Total
 $100 USD
8%17
 $200 USD
29.7%63
 $300 USD
42.9%91
 $400 USD
22.2%47
Total Respondents  212
(skipped this question)  1
10. What are the three most important things you'd want to get out of the 2006 Plone Conference?
 Total Respondents  
151
(skipped this question)  62
11. Any other advice, wisdom, rants or raves to share with us as we ponder Plone Conference 2006?
 Total Respondents  
106
(skipped this question)  107

Among the highlights from these last two open-ended questions:


  •     Add a stream, committee, or course in creating documentation.
  •     Look for ways to facilitate conversation about 3rd party Plone products and howto focus on more collaboration between similar products, with the end goal of making evaluation of options much easier.
  •     Some of the more useful products have fallen into disrepair or a state of terminal "alpha/beta" status. ... anything that can address these issues will (in my opinion) be a big boost for Plone.
  •     Give ample time for networking and plan evening activities where people can meet each other. Encourage flickr/del.icio.us tagging, blogging/podcasting about the event. Provide audio/video streaming and video archives of the event.
  • schedule lightning talks for people to share cool things they're working on.
  •   Take good care of giving good information about visa requirements
  •   Fewer presenters, higher quality presentations. The Plone community is not so huge that we need multiple tracks.  It's either interesting enough for everybody, or it probably not interesting enough for anybody in retrospect.  
  • Professional conferences do two things I don't see Plone conferences doing: a) escrowing presentations ahead of time and b) making available a list of attendees and their contact information.
  • I feel that there need to be more emphasis on learning for the new plone programmer, administrator and designer.
  • IRC nicks on badges !!!
  • I think GUADEC had a fairly successful pick-up soccer match. I'm no soccer player, but a sort of "community building" event might be interesting, so long
  • as it doesnt feel like a "community building" event. Or at least a semi-organized night out on the town.
  • one of the very few things that bothered me about the last conference was the lack of discipline regarding the ending of sessions and breaks.
  • Please continue the practice of video and slideshow sharing on the conference website.