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<h1 class="doc-title"><i class="icon fa fa-paper-plane"></i> Quick Start Guide</h1>
<div class="meta"><i class="far fa-clock"></i> Last updated: August 18th, 2019</div>
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<section id="installation-section" class="doc-section">
<h2 class="section-title">Step-by-Step Quick Guide</h2>
<div id="step1" class="section-block">
<p>So you’ve decided to organise PyCon. Quite a task!</p>
<p>You should start planning the conference at least six months prior to the date. (For larger conference, the planning might start a year in advance.) You’ll be keeping track of a lot of moving parts.</p>
<p>You must have a million questions on your mind. Where do you start? How do you find the right speakers to invite? Which venue will best suit your needs?</p>
<p>Take it easy.</p>
<p>The truth is, even though organising a conference is a demanding endeavour, you’re not the first one to face it. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. It’s all about following a few specific steps.</p>
<p> We’ve prepared this quick step-by-step guide on how to organise a PyCon. It’ll walk you through the main steps involved and link you over to valuable tools and articles that will make your job a lot easier.
The steps aren’t strictly chronological---you may well start contacting potential speakers before you’ve secured a venue---but they give you a rough idea of what to focus on first. Ready to start?</p></p>
<h3 class="block-title">Step 1: Decide on a Theme</h3>
<p>Every great conference needs a theme.</p>
<p>The best themes are catchy, relatable, and trigger an emotional response. You want the conference to inspire and stimulate conversation. Your theme has to enable that.</p>
<p>The theme is more than just a rallying cry for all participants; it will also guide your branding and promotion, from designing a logo to coming up with social media hashtags to printing your posters, brochures, and other collateral.</p>
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<h4 class="callout-title">Some Examples:</h4>
<p>PyCon Indonesia 2018 - Python for Everyone<br/>
PyCon Japan 2017 - Output & Follow<br/>
PyCon Nigeria 2018 - Building the Universe We Love<br/>
PyCon Korea 2018 - Dive into Diversity<br/>
PyCon Philippines 2016 - Diversity<br/>
PyCon Japan 2019 - Python New Era<br/>
PyCon Columbia 2017 - Coding the Future<br/>
</p>
</div><!--//content-->
</div>
</div><!--//section-block-->
<div id="step2" class="section-block">
<h3 class="block-title">Step 2: Assemble your A-team</h3>
<p>Chances are, you won’t be organising a whole conference all by yourself. </p>
<p>You’ll need a dedicated team of people to assume responsibility for different aspects of the planning, negotiations, and promotion. Your core team will likely include:</p>
<h6>Admin team: </h6>
<ul>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="44" data-line-end="45">Budgeting</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="45" data-line-end="46">attendee registration</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="46" data-line-end="47">ticket sales</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="47" data-line-end="48">Conference venue</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="48" data-line-end="50">accommodation</li>
</ul>
<p>This team/person will also be the main point of contact for questions related to the conference.</p>
<h6>Program team: </h6>
<ul>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="54" data-line-end="55">sourcing keynote speakers</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="55" data-line-end="56">creates channel to collect papers</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="56" data-line-end="57">source for the right speakers to fit into the theme of the year.</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="57" data-line-end="58">sort out agenda to balance it out ensuring smooth flow of transition</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="58" data-line-end="59">handles lightning talk programme</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="59" data-line-end="60">source for the right leader to lead sprints if any</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="60" data-line-end="61">arrange suitable workshops and ensure smooth flow.</li>
</ul>
<h6>Marketing Communications team: </h6>
<ul>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="65" data-line-end="66">Contacting the media</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="66" data-line-end="67">creating promotional material</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="67" data-line-end="69">managing your website, blog, and social media activities.</li>
</ul>
<h6>Finance team: </h6>
<ul>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="71" data-line-end="72">handles expenses and income flow</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="72" data-line-end="74">financial aid, banking accounts</li>
</ul>
<h6>Sponsorship team: </h6>
<ul>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="76" data-line-end="77">In charge of securing sponsors</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="77" data-line-end="79">applying for grants or fundraising if necessary.</li>
</ul>
<h6>Tech team: </h6>
<ul>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="81" data-line-end="82">handles website</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="82" data-line-end="83">selects the best tools to use during the event including team communicational channels, attendees’ communication channel, etc.</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="83" data-line-end="84">determines the best tools for surveys (attendees and sponsors)</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="84" data-line-end="86">ensure all technical equipment needed on-site for the talks and workshops has been prepared in advance.</li>
</ul>
<h6>On-Site team: </h6>
<ul>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="88" data-line-end="89">Helping with all on-site activities on the day of the conference</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="89" data-line-end="90">door management, ticket scanning</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="90" data-line-end="91">keeping track of the guest list</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="91" data-line-end="93">manning the crowd, guiding people, etc.</li>
</ul>
<h6>Session team: </h6>
<p class="has-line-data" data-line-start="95" data-line-end="96">Usually recruited about 3 months before conference</p>
<ul>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="97" data-line-end="98">ensure each track is running smoothly.</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="98" data-line-end="99">takes charge of Q&A sessions</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="99" data-line-end="100">oversees runners who prompt next speaker for their talk</li>
<li class="has-line-data" data-line-start="100" data-line-end="102">ensure all talks runs on time</li>
</ul>
<p>You’ll need a dedicated team of people to assume responsibility for different aspects of the planning, negotiations, and promotion. </p>
<p>You’re trying to get them to help you in the limited time they’ve got available for you, so you need to facilitate that to get the best out of it. </p>
<p>Provide clear roles and responsibilities of each member so they know who makes what decision and it prevents conflicts too.</p>
<p>Make it clear at the beginning what decisions committee members aren’t responsible for, such as helping speakers with their travel arrangements or accommodation for speakers.
Set priorities according to the capabilities of the team. If there is sufficient volunteers to sort out logistics, then go ahead and make it happen. </p>
<p>It’s important that you make your team feel confident and keep them informed of how things are progressing.
Giving committee members a view of the bigger picture is important. Give them a top-level summary of how the conference fits in strategically with other activities we do.
Include a summary of conference costs and income, to make them aware of financial implications and budgetary restrictions. </p>
</div><!--//section-block-->
<div id="step3" class="section-block">
<h3 class="block-title">Step 3: Prepare a Budget & Business Plan</h3>
<p>Whether your conference is funded by sponsors or not, you’ll have to put together a budget. </p>
<p>You need to know where your money is being earned and spent.</p>
<p>Having a budget will also help you set the price for participating in the conference. </p>
<p>Here are the most common items you’ll want to budget for:</p>
<ul>
<li>Venue</li>
<li>Accommodation</li>
<li>Transportation</li>
<li>Catering</li>
<li>Speaker expenses</li>
<li>Party & Activities</li>
<li>Marketing</li>
<li>Team members</li>
<li>Video and Photography</li>
<li>Financial aid support</li>
<li>Souvenir for attendees and speakers</li>
</ul>
<p>Preparing a budget with realistic estimates will also come in handy when searching for venues and negotiating contracts.</p>
<p>PyCon depends solely on sponsors and ticket sales (if they’re not free) so every cent counts.</p>
</div><!--//section-block-->
</section><!--//doc-section-->
<section id="code-section" class="doc-section">
<h2 class="section-title">Event Contents</h2>
<div class="section-block">
</div><!--//section-block-->
<div id="step4" class="section-block">
<h3 class="block-title">Step 4: Find Sponsors, Partners and Funds </h3>
<p>You’ll want to go out looking for sponsors or arrange fundraisers.
The key thing to keep in mind is that the sponsors and their values should align with the theme of your conference.
(A company using JS will not be interested to sponsor Python related event)</p>
<p>Start by finding sponsors that fund similar events or are generally associated with your conference’s main themes.</p>
<p>Decide how much say the sponsors should have in how the conference is run. Where do you want their logo to be in exchange for their sponsorship?
Be creative with the type of sponsorship. Some sponsors will be interested to sponsor beer for party or lanyards for delegates.</p>
<p>Some sponsors will be interested to bring their own speakers. We will advise you to be vigilant and if you allow them to, screen through their content,
ask for the names of the speakers they’re assigning and the topic they’re covering. Do some research about the speakers and make sure that the topic reconciled with the theme.</p>
<p>Remember: It’s a fine balance between getting funded and sacrificing the integrity of your conference. You’re the judge of where to draw that line.</p>
</div><!--//section-block-->
<div id="step5" class="section-block">
<h3 class="block-title">Step 5: Settle on a date </h3>
<p>Now it’s time to decide when your conference will take place. As discussed, that date should be anywhere from six months to a year ahead.
The more number of attendees, the earlier you need to prepare. The best solution will be to book one year in advance as popular venues are usually booked at least one year in advance. </p>
<p>Bangkok is a popular venue for not only local conferences but also international conferences due to it’s well-situated geographic location. </p>
<p>PyCon AU did a great job by preparing more than a year in advance and revealing next year’s date and venue on the last day of their conference. If you are able to do so, that will be perfect. </p>
<p>You also need to decide how long the conference will last. Whether it is going to be single track or multiple tracks. PyCon Thailand started off with 3 tracks, 2-days conference and several workshops included.
Work within the ability of work team. Be realistic. Being too ambitious is just going to tire the entire team out. Also make sure that it will be feasible for the venue. </p>
<br/>
<p>Here are some great rules of thumb to keep in mind:</p>
<h6 id="check-on-major-events-and-public-holidays">Check on major events and public holidays</h6>
<p>Pick a date that doesn’t conflict with other major events like festivals. City-wide events make booking flights more expensive and generally hinder transportation to and from the conference.
Besides, you don’t want your conference to compete for attention with big events. Check for on your local calendar to ensure that it is not a long weekend public holiday as people tend to go on family vacation during that period. </p>
<p>Avoid summer and winter holiday periods when people tend to go on vacation. </p>
<p>In Thailand, avoid Songkran, Loy Krathong, Election dates, Christmas and New Year’s day. </p>
<p>It’s best to aim for a date between the middle of March and end of June or from early September to late November.</p>
<h6 id="check-the-school-calendar">Check the school calendar</h6>
<p>If students are also one of your target market, check on the local universities to ensure that they’re not having their exams or graduation during the dates. </p>
<p>Our current choice is in June as most universities are on summer break and we do not clash with other PyCons held around Asia Pacific. </p>
<h6 id="check-on-the-pycon-happening-around-your-continent">Check on the PyCon happening around your continent</h6>
<p>You don’t want to clash the dates among your neighbouring fellow organisers.
Contact the PyCon APAC organisers if you are unsure of their dates. </p>
<h6 id="weekdays-or-weekends-">Weekdays or weekends?</h6>
<p>We would suggest weekends. Most attendees probably won't be sent by their employers and would have to use up vacation time if the conference is held during the work-week.Or end of the week, so that traveling attendees get the chance
to stay behind and sightsee during their time off.
The best days could possibly be Saturday and Sunday or Friday and Saturday depending on your main target group of attendees.</p>
<p>Setting a date will give you a fixed point to count back from to better plan your preparations and also helps determine if your keynote speakers will be available during that period.</p>
</div><!--//section-block-->
<div id="step6" class="section-block">
<h3 class="block-title">Step 6: Book the venue </h3>
<p>Once you know the date, you can start looking for available venues that match your requirements.
For PyCon Thailand, It is not easy to handle venues especially when we handle multiple tracks. We need to ensure that every room fits in the estimated capacity of attendees and that the walking </p>
<p>In general, venues might fall into three categories:</p>
<p><strong>University campuses:</strong> These are best suited for smaller, academic events and are relatively cheap to hire.</p>
<p><strong>Hotels:</strong> These typically have dedicated conference facilities and own catering. They’re the best all-in-one choice since they offer both accommodation and conference space. They also tend to be the most expensive option.</p>
<p>Hotels are less practical for small conferences because they'll either charge you for using their meeting space or expect you to attract enough guests to fill a block of rooms. In either case, you're making more of a financial commitment and may end up losing money.</p>
<p><strong>Independent venues:</strong> This category includes all other types of venues that can host conferences. Many of these specialise in specific types of events.</p>
<p>But the cost of the venue is just one part of the puzzle. Here are a few other factors to consider when looking for the right venue:</p>
<h6 id="size-">Size:</h6>
<p>Booking a too-small venue where everybody has to squeeze into a tiny room is clearly a bad idea. Similarly,
securing a giant venue for a relatively modest crowd will not only hurt your wallet but also make the conference feel empty and poorly attended.
You can try to calculate the <a href="https://www.confpeople.co.uk/free-venue-finding/room-capacity-calculator" target="_blank">room capacity</a></p>
<p>If you’re running a 2 day conference, note that not everyone attend the entire conference. Some of them will wander off to get their office work done in a corner or arrive only on time to attend their favourite talks. Adding a little 10-15% more attendees on your keynote talks is actually feasible. </p>
<h6 id="location-">Location:</h6>
<p>Find location that are easily accessible by public transportation. Some feedback we got over the past reviewed that attendees prefer location where it’s not too secluded. And if you’re picking a more secluded place, make sure that you provide a solution for attendees who does not have their private transport.
It will be perfect if the venue has calming, picturesque surroundings to help people relax and at the same time accessible via public transportation though it is not easy to find such location.</p>
<h6 id="atmosphere-">Atmosphere:</h6>
<p>It’s crucial that the vibe of the venue suits your target audience and theme. You don’t want to host a business conference inside a giant gym, for instance.</p>
<p>Does the venue have the right 'feel' for your event? Is this the atmosphere you want for your theme? Can you (and will you be allowed to) make changes to create the right atmosphere? If possible, visit the venue when another event is taking place,
so that you can assess the possibilities and limitations of the event space.</p>
<h6 id="facilities-">Facilities:</h6>
<p>Does the venue have the proper layout and the right conference room styles for your needs? Does it have the necessary facilities like e.g. smaller rooms for breakout sessions?</p>
<p>Useful facilities at a location may include:</p>
<p><em>Auditorium:</em> A large lecture-hall style room that can hold all the projected attendees (for keynote talks and an unconference's initial planning session).</p>
<p><em>Meeting rooms:</em>Smaller rooms that can only hold a fraction of the attendees. Useful if the program is broken up into different tracks, or for sprints.</p>
<p><em>Common area:</em>A common area in which groups of attendees can informally mingle.</p>
<p><em>Storage:</em>A secure room in which to keep supplies, such as electronic equipment and programs and other publications for the attendees.</p>
<p><em>Audio-visual equipment:</em> A public address system and a video projector are required; transparency (overhead) projectors may be useful, especially for lightning talks. It's good to have both wireless microphones as well as podium microphones.</p>
<p>Conferences like PyCon require several equipment like headsets for each track (speakers might be live coding), podium to place laptops, wireless mics for session leads, HDMI for video recording, etc to be taken into consideration.</p>
<p><em>Networking:</em>External access to the public Internet</p>
<p>All locations should be accessible by disabled persons, and held in controlled temperature environments (air-conditioned or heated as needed).</p>
<p>The location should be accessible by public transport. It's a bonus if there are interesting attractions nearby (museums, attractions, etc.). Small conferences probably won't provide food, so there should be some restaurants or other dining facilities nearby for lunch,
and enough of them to handle the conference attendance. If there's only one small restaurant within walking distance, it'll get swamped.</p>
<h6 id="accommodation-">Accommodation:</h6>
<p>Does the venue provide accommodation or are there hotels nearby?</p>
<p>If you're holding a multi-day conference or expect people will be traveling some distance, there should be a range of accommodations nearby or accessible through public transit. Special attention should be paid to inexpensive places to stay: motels, hostels, and low-end hotels.</p>
<h6 id="catering-">Catering:</h6>
<p>Is catering included or can external catering companies easily get to and work inside the venue? If not, are there suitable restaurants and cafes in the area? (Keep in mind any special dietary requirements: vegan, kosher, nut-free, etc.)</p>
<h6 id="transportation-">Transportation:</h6>
<p>How easy is it for participants to travel to the venue by public transport? Are there enough parking spots for those who drive?</p>
<h6 id="technical-aspects-">Technical aspects:</h6>
<p>Does the venue have the right IT, audio, and video equipment? You’ll need projection screens, microphones, plenty of charging spots for participants, and---of course---solid WiFi access.</p>
<p>Internet access is extremely important for a technical conference. Many people will have laptops, and attendees like to download the software being presented or look at related web sites.</p>
<p>You should plan to have enough networking capacity for almost all attendees simultaneously. Some locations may optimistically claim to support your projected number of attendees, but be assuming that only a small percentage of attendees will be using the network.
For a Python-oriented audience, it's safer to assume that 90% of the attendees will be using the network; plan accordingly.</p>
<p>Some facilities may have an existing wireless network. You should plan on bringing your own networking equipment to supplement it. If nothing else, try to get access to the facility's wired network and hang switches off that to minimize wireless congestion --
then encourage attendees to use the wired network.</p>
<p>When negotiating with potential venues, try to arrange for early access to the place so that you can do a “dry run” or a walkthrough with your team prior to the conference. You should be able to ensure that every detail is in place before the big day.</p>
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<h4 class="callout-title">Quick Tip</h4>
<p>Quick tip: If you find a great venue that’s just out of your budget,
see if you can negotiate a lower fee in return for a multiyear contract.
If you think finding the right venue is too demanding, consider getting an event organiser to take care of it for you.</p>
</p>
</div><!--//content-->
</div>
</div><!--//section-block-->
<div id="step7" class="section-block">
<h3 class="block-title">Step 7: Line up your speakers </h3>
<p>This may just be the <strong>most</strong> critical step of all. Your speakers are the stars of your conference. You want a solid lineup in order to attract attendees and guarantee a professional experience.</p>
<p>One sure way to gain traction here is to first secure one big-name speaker. Someone who is well-known and respected within the field. This will boost your credibility in the eyes of other potential speakers and make them more likely to sign up.</p>
<p><strong>Timeline</strong></p>
<p>Start to open for talks 6 months before the conference and close 3 months before the event. </p>
<p><strong>Topics</strong></p>
<p>Keep a list of topics on hand that you know your local market will be interested in from a market survey or feedback you receive in the previous years.</p>
<p>Many conferences, such as PyCon, will post a Call for Proposals and wait for people to apply to give talks. The resulting mix of talks will therefore depend on the quality of the proposals received. If one field is underrepresented in the proposals,
the resulting conference program won't cover that field very well.</p>
<p>Past EuroPython conferences have started with the organizers deciding on a set of topics: scientific programming, web applications, beginner tutorials, etc. For each chosen topic, a topic chair chooses a set of talks. How the talks are chosen is up
to the chair; s/he may post an open call or invite specific people who've worked in the application area. Inviting people can be very effective: people are often shy and think "No one would want to listen to a talk from me", but will enthusiastically respond to an invitation.</p>
<p>PyCon Thailand 2019 used stickers with different subject topics for delegates to choose what interest them and to stick onto their badges. At the end of the event, we’ve collected the leftover stickers and were able to calculate the topics that interest the delegates most. </p>
<p>Start looking for thought leaders that focus on the same themes as your conference. Create a prioritised list of potential speakers you’d like to invite. Then start making those calls and writing those emails.</p>
<p>Make sure that the choice of the topics has close relationship with Python. Topics related to </p>
<p><strong><em> Here are a few things to address:</em></strong></p>
<p><strong>Compensation</strong> </p>
<p>Do they require a speaker fee or other forms of compensation to participate?
Supporting equipment: Does their presentation rely on specific IT equipment or other props?</p>
<p><strong>Special requirements</strong> </p>
<p>Do they have specific dietary preferences? Will they need to have transportation and accommodation arranged for them?</p>
<p>Work through your list as you gradually fill up the allotted time slots with quality speakers.</p>
<p>But don’t throw away that list just yet! You want to have plenty of backup speakers in case some of your first-priority ones cancel. You should always have a Plan B.</p>
<p>Don’t forget that you’re representing a specific demographic location. Make sure that you have a substantial percentage of local speakers too. You’ll save on transportation and lend an air of authenticity to the conference.</p>
</div><!--//section-block-->
<div id="step8" class="section-block">
<h3 class="block-title">Step 8: Put together an agenda </h3>
<p>Now that the key elements are in place, it’s time to shape them into a detailed agenda. Ideally, you want your agenda to be in place at least four months before the conference starts.</p>
<p>Remember that the conference’s main objective is to inspire people and expand their horizons. You can’t do that without an understanding of your attendees.</p>
<p>Try to get inside the mind of a typical attendee and answer a few key questions: What are their expectations? What knowledge do they already have and what would they like to learn more about? What types of sessions <em>(presentations, workshops, etc.)</em> could best help them absorb the ideas discussed?</p>
<p>Set a time limit to each talk ranging from 20-30 mins, lightning talks 5-10mins and workshops 3-4 hours.</p>
<p>Armed with this information, you can begin drafting an agenda.
A top-level conference agenda might look something like this:</p>
</div><!--//section-block-->
<section id="tables-section" class="doc-section">
<div class="section-block">
<h6>Day 1</h6>
<div class="table-responsive">
<table class="table table-bordered">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Time</th>
<th>Track 1</th>
<th>Track 2</th>
<th>Track 3</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th scope="row">9:00 - 9:30</th>
<td>Keynote and</td>
<td>-</td>
<td>-</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">9:30 - 10:30</th>
<td>Breakout 1</td>
<td>Breakout 2</td>
<td>Breakout 3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">10:30 - 11:00</th>
<td>Coffee Break</td>
<td>Coffee Break</td>
<td>Coffee Break</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">11:00 - 13:00</th>
<td>Breakout 1</td>
<td>Breakout 2</td>
<td>Breakout 3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">13:00 - 15:30</th>
<td>Breakout 1</td>
<td>Breakout 2</td>
<td>Breakout 3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">15:30 - 17:00</th>
<td>Breakout 1</td>
<td>Breakout 2</td>
<td>Breakout 3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">17:00 - 17:30</th>
<td>Lightning talk</td>
<td>-</td>
<td>-</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">17:30 - 18:00</th>
<td>Keynote</td>
<td>-</td>
<td>-</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">19:00 - 21:30</th>
<td>Party</td>
<td>-</td>
<td>-</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div><!--//table-responsive-->
<h6>Day 2</h6>
<div class="table-responsive">
<table class="table table-bordered">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Time</th>
<th>Track 1</th>
<th>Track 2</th>
<th>Track 3</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th scope="row">9:00 - 9:30</th>
<td>Keynote</td>
<td>-</td>
<td>-</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">9:30 - 10:30</th>
<td>Breakout 1</td>
<td>Breakout 2</td>
<td>Breakout 3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">10:30 - 11:00</th>
<td>Coffee Break</td>
<td>Coffee Break</td>
<td>Coffee Break</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">11:00 - 13:00</th>
<td>Breakout 1</td>
<td>Breakout 2</td>
<td>Breakout 3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">13:00 - 15:30</th>
<td>Breakout 1</td>
<td>Breakout 2</td>
<td>Breakout 3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">15:30 - 17:00</th>
<td>Breakout 1</td>
<td>Breakout 2</td>
<td>Breakout 3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">17:00 - 17:30</th>
<td>Lightning talk</td>
<td>-</td>
<td>-</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">17:30 - 18:00</th>
<td>Keynote and closing</td>
<td>-</td>
<td>-</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div><!--//table-responsive-->
</div><!--//section-block-->
</section><!--//doc-section-->
<section id="publicity" class="doc-section">
<h2 class="section-title">Publicity</h2>
<div class="section-block">
<div id="step9" class="section-block">
<h3 class="block-title"> Step 9: Start registering attendees </h3>
<p>It’s finally time to get people to sign up for your conference!</p>
<p>Your best choice is to make a professional website for the conference. Try to keep to the same domain to maintain consistency and to prevent losing attendees from previous year. PyCon Thailand has a registered domain and previous years’ has been archived. </p>
<p>The very minimum details should include:</p>
<ul>
<li>All must-know details about the conference (where, when, who, what, why)</li>
<li>Browsable conference calendar / programme</li>
<li>Registration form where people can sign up or buy tickets</li>
<li>You’ll be adding your conference website to all marketing and info material going forward.</li>
</ul>
<p>Make use of online ticketing sales websites. PyCon previously used Eventpop and is currently using Ticket Melon.</p>
<p>In addition to that, ticketing sites take care of processing payments,issuing tickets on your behalf, online checking in which saves you the headache of worrying about extra administrative tasks and provide demographics of your attendees. </p>
<p>If your conference isn’t free to attend, you’ll want to settle on the right price. On the one hand, the conference fees should help cover your costs. On the other hand, you don’t want to price interested attendees out and end up with a half-booked conference. Consider a sliding pay scale based on people’s career status (e.g. students pay lower fees).</p>
<p>Current PyCon Thailand basically has 3 different categories:</p>
<p><em>Normal/Business</em> - Able to claim for tax refund, this ticket is the most elevated but it also helps to subsidise other ticket categories.</p>
<p><em>Subsidised</em> - For individual whose tickets are not subsidised by their companies.</p>
<p><em>Students</em> - special rate and subsidised both by business tickets and PyCon.</p>
<div id="step10" class="section-block">
<h3 class="block-title"> Step 10: Promote your conference </h3>
<p>Publicizing your conference is important for attracting people who don't attend regular user group meetings or aren't aware of them. You can reach out to people who don't see themselves primarily as Python users, but as programmers or sysadmins or researchers who happen to use Python.
You now have your venue, key speakers, a clear conference programme, and a website (or event page) to guide people to. From now on, your main focus is promoting the conference via all available channels.</p>
<p>Having a wiki is convenient; it lets presenters and attendees assemble their own information. You don't need to set up and administer your own wiki. Instead you can use the Python wiki at <a href="http://wiki.python.org/moin/">http://wiki.python.org/moin/</a> ; create a page for your event and let attendees create new sub-pages as they wish.</p>
<p>Keeping a conference weblog will increase your visibility. A continual flow of announcements keeps your conference in people's minds and increases their excitement. Send a note to the python.org webmaster and get your weblog added to Planet Python. <a href="http://planet.python.org/">http://planet.python.org/</a></p>
<p>Post announcements to relevant mailing lists.
Post to the announcement lists of other user groups in your area, too. Java user groups may be interested in Jython, web developer groups will want to hear about Django, and a polite note can be posted to local Perl or Ruby groups, etc.</p>
<p>Once the dates of the conference have been confirmed, add your event to various online event calendars. Doing so is usually free. Here are a bunch of calendars; doubtless there are more sites out there.</p>
<p><a href="http://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonEvents">http://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonEvents</a>
<a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/xstatic/community/events">http://www.linuxjournal.com/xstatic/community/events</a>
<a href="http://lwn.net/Calendar/">http://lwn.net/Calendar/</a>
<a href="http://campus.acm.org/public/calendar/">http://campus.acm.org/public/calendar/</a>
<a href="http://www.tsnn.com/">http://www.tsnn.com/</a>
<a href="http://techvenue.com/">http://techvenue.com/</a></p>
<p>The IEEE conference calendar at computer.org</p>
<p><a href="http://www.linux-magazine.com/Readers/Events">http://www.linux-magazine.com/Readers/Events</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.eventful.com">http://www.eventful.com</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.upcoming.org">http://www.upcoming.org</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.linux.org/event/">http://www.linux.org/event/</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.devtownstation.com/ddj.asp">http://www.devtownstation.com/ddj.asp</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www2.cio.com/events/index.cfm">http://www2.cio.com/events/index.cfm</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.conferencealerts.com">http://www.conferencealerts.com</a></p>
<p>Write a formal press release and e-mail it to people. Getting your press release distributed by a commercial press service will cost a few hundred dollars and probably isn't worth the expense. Instead you can track down addresses one-by-one and e-mail people directly:</p>
<p> Dr. Dobbs Journal <a href="http://ddj.com/contact.html">http://ddj.com/contact.html</a></p>
<p>Linux Journal : events page <a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/xstatic/community/events">http://www.linuxjournal.com/xstatic/community/events</a></p>
<p>ACM Queue <a href="http://acmqueue.com/modules.php?name=Sections&op=showpage&pid=32&secid=10">http://acmqueue.com/modules.php?name=Sections&op=showpage&pid=32&secid=10</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.linuxgazette.net">http://www.linuxgazette.net</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.linuxgazette.com">http://www.linuxgazette.com</a></p>
<p><a href="http://techrepublic.com.com/">http://techrepublic.com.com/</a></p>
<p>Baseline: <a href="http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,1540,64,00.asp">http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,1540,64,00.asp</a></p>
<p>IEEE Computer: <a href="http://www.computer.org">http://www.computer.org</a></p>
<p>Identify the paper's technology reporter and e-mail them. Don't expect a response; reporters get many press releases every day.</p>
<p>School or campus newspapers.</p>
<p>Less formally, you can write a one- or two-paragraph note about your event and e-mail it to computer science departments at local universities. If you have contacts inside the school, ask them to post an announcement on the departmental bulletin board.</p>
<p>If a reporter is interested in attending, don't just leave him/her to their own devices. Help arrange interviews with speakers or attendees who will interest them: speakers with an interesting project, staff from a local company, etc.
Promoting your conference offline? You want to make a high-quality poster with the conference outline and a visible link to your website or the ticketing site.</p>
<p>Online, you have numerous ways to promote your conference on a relatively small budget:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Social media sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter - all depending on your audience)</p>
</li>
<li><p>Relevant forums where potential attendees might hang out (e.g. a community for engineers where you can promote your tech conference) You can promote in meet ups too. </p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Own blogs and press releases
Consider a catchy hashtag that can be used throughout your promotion and that you can use whenever you post about the upcoming conference.</p>
<p>Don’t forget to encourage your speakers to promote the conference to their audience on their own channels. They have a vested interest in doing so and can expose the conference to people who are more likely to be interested (after all, they already like your speakers, right?).</p>
<p>Invite journalists within your chosen niche to cover---and maybe even attend---the conference. When reaching out to the media, it’s best to keep your pitch simple and short (up to one page), focusing mainly on the 5Ws (who, what, when, where, and why).</p>
<div id="step11" class="section-block">
<h3 class="block-title"> Step 11: Arrange catering & party</h3>
<p>Providing food is a major source of complications. Food is expensive, especially if the location requires you to use a particular catering service. Food needs to be stored and served carefully for health (and legal!) reasons. You also need to worry about providing options for vegetarians or people with food allergies. Attendees will really appreciate special attention given in this aspect.</p>
<p>Typically, a dedicated conference venue will also provide on-site catering. If that’s not the case, you’ll need to bring in external vendors.</p>
<p>Decide on what type of refreshments you want to offer and how many breaks there’ll be for food. Reserve at least 1 hour for lunch and a few 15-20 minute breaks for coffee and snacks. Remember: If there’s room in your budget, it’s always best to go for proper hot meals instead of sandwiches when it comes to lunch.</p>
<p>You want to be sure that the catering company can handle the logistics on the day of the event. Your best bet is to find a local company close to the conference venue to avoid potential traffic-related issues and delays.</p>
<p>Don’t forget to check how far in advance the caterer needs to know the final headcount, the menu, and any special dietary requirements. That way you’ll also know what “RSVP by” date to put on the conference invite.</p>
<p><br/>For a low-effort conference, you could choose not providing any food. Instead:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Choose a location where restaurants and stores are within walking distance.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Schedule a long-enough lunch break (90 minutes or two hours) so that people can visit a nearby restaurant. Before the conference, you can explore the surrounding area and draw up a list of restaurants. Restaurant maps may also be available from your local chamber of commerce.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><p>Or, look for a location where there's a cafeteria that will be open.
Make sure that your caterer handles specific dietary requirements.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Ask the location whether attendees can order pizza or other food and have it delivered. This works well for activities such as sprints where people are in small groups; a small group can quickly decide what to order and everyone can contribute a minimum sum. Many areas in Bangkok have food delivery services that obtain food from regular restaurants.</p>
</li>
</ul>
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<div class="content">
<h4 class="callout-title">Quick Tip</h4>
<p>Sponsored cater food can also be another solution out (e.g: this lunch is provided by ABC Ltd)</p>
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</div>
<h6 id="party">Party</h6>
<p>PyCon attendees are not only interested in good quality talks. After a long day concentrating on all the contents and details, they would love to let their hair down, enjoy a great beer, enjoy some kind of entertainment, and most of all, do some networking. If budget allows, consider an after party for those who would like to continue networking and have an extra beer or two. Remember to consider the convenience of the location. </p>
<p>A well-organised party can be something to be remembered for the attendees too. PyCon Thailand 2019’s party was extremely well received and almost all attendees gave the party a 5-star review!</p>
<div id="step12" class="section-block">
<h3 class="block-title"> Step 12: On-site Planning</h3>
<p>In this step you get down to the nitty-gritty details to address how attendees will physically navigate the venue on the day. This is the day where you will have a whole team of volunteers eager to participate and waiting for your call on what their responsibilities will be. </p>
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<h4 class="callout-title">Here are just some of the questions you’ll want to answer:</h4><br/>
<p><em>Who will man the doors and scan tickets?</em></p>
<p><em>Which locale will be used for the main event?</em></p>
<p><em>What rooms should be reserved for the breakout sessions?</em></p>
<p><em>Where will refreshments be served?</em></p>
<p><em>Will you have an exhibition area where sponsors and vendors can set up a booth?</em></p>
</div>
</div><!--//content-->
<p>The best way to go about this is to walk through the day’s agenda and put yourself in your attendees' shoes. Try to imagine how they will act on the day and what needs they might have.</p>
<p>Note down all the possible scenarios that could happen and how you can actually overcome such issue in the attendees’ point of view. If you have a team of volunteers under your call, make sure they are well trained and preferably a rehearsal one day in advance to be sure of their commitment and also ensure they are clear with their responsibilities.</p>
<p>It’s best to gain early access to the venue so you can examine the space and prepare a detailed plan in advance. If you have external caterers or other vendors, plan a walkthrough so they also familiarise themselves with the layout, the location of the kitchen, and so on.</p>
<p>By checking things out in person you’re far better prepared to address any issues that might arise on the day of the conference.</p>
<div id="step13" class="section-block">
<h3 class="block-title"> Step 13: Host the conference </h3>
<p>The big day is finally here!</p>
<p>Provided that you’ve followed all the above steps and have a team of volunteers in charge of on-the-day activities, there shouldn’t be much for you to worry about.</p>
<p>Here are a few situations that might require your attention:</p>
<ul>
<li>Calling up backup speakers in case of any last-minute cancellations</li>
<li>Personally introducing the conference and the main speakers</li>
<li>Making sure presentations don’t run past the allotted time</li>
<li>Participating in networking and facilitating conversations</li>
<li>Gathering in-person attendee feedback as the conference unfolds</li>
<li>Communicating with journalists and others reporting on the conference</li>
</ul>
<p>Today, you reap the fruits of your hard work and get to enjoy the (hopefully) inspiring conference.</p>
<div id="step14" class="section-block">
<h3 class="block-title"> Step 14: Follow up after the conference </h3>
<p>After it’s all over, you still have a bit of work to do.</p>
<p>You should follow up with all the people involved: your team, speakers, volunteers, vendors, and---of course---the attendees. You want to follow up for two main reasons:</p>
<p>Say "Thank you": You should thank everyone for their participation and efforts. Not only is this a common courtesy but you’ll also get to leave a positive impression. There’s a good chance this isn’t your last conference, so you want to nurture any connections you’ve made.
Collect feedback: This is the perfect opportunity to hear what people thought of the conference and what could be done better in the future.
The easiest way to gather input is to email everyone a link to an online survey. Keep it relatively short and focus on a few main themes: What did they like the most about the conference? How would they rate the different elements (presentations, refreshments, accommodation, etc.)? What would they change or improve?</p>
<p>Try to follow up within a few days at most, while the conference is still fresh in everyone’s mind. People have busy schedules and a limited attention span, so don’t wait too long to get in touch.</p>
</section><!--//doc-section-->
</section><!--//doc-section-->
</div><!--//content-inner-->
</div><!--//doc-content-->
<div class="doc-sidebar col-md-3 col-12 order-0 d-none d-md-flex">
<div id="doc-nav" class="doc-nav">
<nav id="doc-menu" class="nav doc-menu flex-column sticky">
<a class="nav-link scrollto" href="#installation-section">Structure</a>
<nav class="doc-sub-menu nav flex-column">
<a class="nav-link scrollto" href="#step1">1. Theme</a>
<a class="nav-link scrollto" href="#step2">2. The A-Team</a>
<a class="nav-link scrollto" href="#step3">3. The Budget</a>
</nav><!--//nav-->
<a class="nav-link scrollto" href="#contents">Contents</a>
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<a class="nav-link scrollto" href="#step4">4. Sponsors</a>
<a class="nav-link scrollto" href="#step5">5. Event Date</a>
<a class="nav-link scrollto" href="#step6">6. Venue</a>
<a class="nav-link scrollto" href="#step7">7. Speakers</a>
<a class="nav-link scrollto" href="#step8">8. Programme</a>
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<a class="nav-link scrollto" href="#publicity">Publicity</a>
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<a class="nav-link scrollto" href="#step9">9. Ticketing</a>
<a class="nav-link scrollto" href="#step10">10. Marketing</a>
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<a class="nav-link scrollto" href="#mechanics">Mechanics</a>
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<a class="nav-link scrollto" href="#step11">11. Catering & Party</a>
<a class="nav-link scrollto" href="#step12">12. Logistics</a>
<a class="nav-link scrollto" href="#step13">13. Hosting</a>
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<a class="nav-link scrollto" href="#assessment">Assessment</a>
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<a class="nav-link scrollto" href="#step14">14. Follow Up</a>
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