Re: [Debconf-team] A few questions regarding DebConf organization and statistics
On Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 09:45:31AM +0200, Vedran wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>
> I'm Vedran Omeragic and I'm part of the DebConf11 local team. I
> volunteered to do some research into basic organization and statistics
> of DebConf. We're now progressively making huge preparations for the
> upcoming event. For the last few days we've been making Plan and
> Program, and now we came to harder part which include statistics and
> budget draft. I have read Final Reports from 4 available DebConfs
> (6,7,8,9), and they contain a great deal of information, which helps a
> lot. Unfortunately they do not cover some other topics, or they do but
> just partially. So, if you don't mind, I would appreciate some answers
> regarding the previously mentioned topic.
>
> Here are the questions. I appreciate any information which would help us
> in organization.
>
> How many people has Debian sponzored, and how many came at their own
> expense?
http://rkd.zgib.net/http/debconf/only-reconfirmed/registration-data.txt
132 wanted sponsored food + accom, about 20 wanted sponsored food or
accom. The total number of 400 is deceptive, there were likely never
that many people at once, and the number staying in accommodations
was more like a maximum of 200.
There are a lot of statistics in http://rkd.zgib.net/http/debconf/, in
particular the only-<status> directories.
It's very hard to manage and figure out registration numbers, as
discussed in one of my blog posts (see below).
> How much has Debian paid for accomodations and food per person. Is there
> a rule to a maximum payment or not?
Not more than we have budget for (sort of obvious...). And not more
than is economical, e.g. don't spend money just because you have it if
it could be used for future years. These kinds of decisions would
(should) probably be done in conjunction with the global team: "Here
are our options, here's what we think, what do you think?"
> How much was spent on organization (food and accommodations disincluded)?
Budget is here:
http://svn.debian.org/wsvn/debconf-data/dc10/budget.ods
Excluding food, accom, travel sponsorship, it is listed as $22000 for
this year.
It is messy, as DebConf budgets tend to be. I'm not sure if
everything is updated there, but it is a general idea.
> What was (is) the biggest cost when orginizing DebConf?
highest to lowest: Accommodation, Food, Travel Sponsorship, at least
this year.
> Is it a problem when a hotel is very expensive? If encountered on
> previous DebConfs, how did you manage to slove such problem, or at least
> how did you go around it?
Find somewhere cheaper, but most of this should have been worked out
during the bidding phase (making sure that there are sufficiently
affordable places to put on a DebConf).
My general advice would be: cheaper is always better. But if you have
the money, making things comfortable (nice hostel) is good. But
things like: accommodation+talk rooms+hacklabs being close together
are much more important than things being a five-star hotel. You
should communicate with the global team to help make these kind of
decisions.
Of course, if you have sponsorship there that is applicable _only_ to
DC11, then you may as well use that for DC11 (and non-local money
should be saved as an extra surplus).
> Is there a rule book or a guideline when orginizing DebConf, or do is it
> all up to a local team?
Hm....
This was sort of a problem with DC10, the local people going off on
their own a bit and not keeping aware of the historical context.
You should be aware of how things tend to go, and be aware when you do
things differently, you can let people know, get feedback, and avoid
surprises. See this post:
http://www.debian-administration.org/users/rkd/weblog/3
> What sort of advice can you give, in coming preparations of DebConf11?
Communicate and understand how things have been before. Have you been
reading my DebConf blog post series? It is in part designed to help
with things like this, helping everyone to be on the same page:
http://www.debian-administration.org/users/rkd/weblog
Let me know if you have other questions. In general, best is to let
the global team know what options you have and get feedback on them to
help make decisions.
Thanks for your work on DebConf,
- Richard
--
| Richard Darst - rkd@ - boltzmann: up 428 days, 16:37
| http://rkd.zgib.net - pgp 0xBD356740
| "Ye shall know the truth and -- the truth shall make you free"
Reply to: