Ideas for 2013

Code4Lib 2013 ideas

Schedule

1. Keep Super Bowl Sunday free
2. Avoid snow and bitter cold!
3. no breakout reports - many feel they are unnecessary - as long as notes go on wiki or someplace
4. explicitly state that presentation with (most/least) votes will be on day 3, since so many people plan to leave early -- could affect their planning.
5. Breakout sessions could be proposed and voted on prior to conference -- ad hoc breakouts didn't provide much interest to some of us.

Social Schedule

1. Newcomer welcome on first night?
2. Beer party needs a big enough space
3. Have a reception in a museum or library, if possible
4. Maybe some evening groups for music, shows, etc.

Food

1. If you do the preconferences in the main conference space (vs. in spread-out off-site spots), many people will expect breakfast or at least regular coffee/tea/soft-drink breaks throughout the day (so have them?)
2. Is it possible to get a hot breakfast with/instead of continental?
3. Consider Vegetarians / Vegans
4. Decent lunch menu - not taco or spaghetti :-)
   1. (Note: some attendees really like tacos and/or spaghetti, and think these are excellent lunch choices. YMMV.)
5. Automated Testing
6. Two words: Soft pretzels.

Registration

• Use EventBrite--it's worth the admin money for the ease of use, and the reports that can be generated
• Choose talks before registration

T-shirts

• Men's and ladies sizes -- can it be done?
• 100% cotton is worth it.
• How about blind submissions to tee shirt vote? I.e., submitter name not associated with submissions during voting.
  • How about going blind from some t-shirt submissions?  ;-)

Suggestions from dchuds talk

• less complacency from overall committee--less burden on local org committee
• Advisory committee - made up of representatives from past hosts
• Programming committee - don't have voting on talks
• do work in the open
• build on experience from past conferences
• code4lib multicore
• multi-track conference
• support 500 people
• make it more like PyCon

Other ideas

• more regional c4l (but drop the "regional" suffix)
• keep voting on programming!!!
• Name tags should have irc handle as well as name; code{4}lib can be smaller; IRC handle and Name and Institution should be readable at a glance.
• Announce scholarship winners the first day so that folks have a chance to meet them
• microphones for audience
• sign on podium "repeat the question"
• mc tells each presenter how to use the mic effectively
• Have one projection screen above or beside speaker so possible to view speaker and slides at the same time.
• attendee list handouts should have name, institution, irc handle ... (preferably a sorted mapping from irc handle -> names, a sort by firstname, and maybe a sort by last name)