Re: Guidelines for events

Hi Santiago!

On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 7:31 AM, Santiago Zarate <santiago(at)zarate(dot)net(dot)ve> wrote:
> Hello!.. well im planning a small postgreSQL even in Venezuela... but
> i'm wondering if there are some guidelines for pg-related evens or so
> (its my first time as organizer :p)...
>
> I've been thinking about some talks (3-4) and workshops....

We don't have detailed guidelines laid out, but there have been a few
email posts from those of us who have run PgDays.

The Italian group has most of their info linked from:
http://wiki.itpug.org/PgDay

UK PUG ran a one-day conference recently: http://www.postgresql.org.uk/

I think the basic outline is:

0) Pick a day and location
-- Universities are good places: talk to student groups or
professors who you know and can sponsor you (free space!)
-- try other government locations like Libraries and public meeting
spaces (sometimes free!)
-- talk to a local company that can help you (and maybe they can sponsor too)

1) Ask 1-2 other people to help you organize and set up a mailing list
to keep track of what you're doing
-- These don't have to be technical people! Anyone wiling to help
and you know will be reliable :)
-- Getting non-technical volunteers to help can really be good
because they will see things from different perspectives, and can get
the added benefit of meeting a bunch of geeks that can help them with
business and technical problems :)
-- Mailing list helps you keep track of things
-- Also create a mailing list for attendees to subscribe to so that
you can give them information about last minute changes

2) Recruit speakers -- send out a message to pgsql-general,
pgsql-advocacy and your local mailing list asking for speakers

3) Set up a web page
-- You're welcome to use http://pugs.postgresql.org and set up
unique pages -- talk to me if you need help
-- You can also set up your own website!

4) Ask local companies if they will sponsor your conference
-- Sponsored items can include: breakfast (coffee, pastries, tea),
lunch (this is expensive though - we usually do not provide this),
posters, tshirts
-- Remember that you don't really NEED sponsors though, you can
just ask people to have breakfast before they arrive, and everyone can
go out to lunch together.
-- I also have potlucks sometimes - where everyone brings food and
drink to share

5) Choose your speakers, and announce your PgDay to mailing lists!

6) Plan out your day
-- Round up supplies - projector, computer, dry erase markers,
paper, business cards, nametags, markers for nametags
-- Make sure you have nametags (can just be "Hello my name is..." stickers)
-- Be sure to bring markers even if you print out nametags ahead of time
-- If you're not providing breakfast or lunch, make lists of places
that people can go and have that printed out
-- Arrange for a place at your conference site to greet people and
give them nametags when they arrive
-- Make a list of speakers and have a printed version for all attendees

7) Ask for 1-2 volunteers to help keep the conference running smoothly

8) Remind everyone 2 weeks, 1 week, and the day of your conference
that it is happening!

9) Have a great time :)

Also:
You can ask jdrake(at)postgresql(dot)org for help with funding fliers,
posters and other stuff for your conference
-- write a proposal that includes: what you'd like to buy, why it
is important for your conference and how much it will cost (quotes
from vendors are good for this)

I took this info and put it up on the wiki for other people to expand on.
http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/PgDayManual

--
Selena Deckelmann
United States PostgreSQL Association - http://www.postgresql.us
PDXPUG - http://pugs.postgresql.org/pdx
Me - http://www.chesnok.com/daily