Difference between revisions of "2014 Lessons Learned"
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Code4Lib 2014 Conference Planning -- Lessons Learned | Code4Lib 2014 Conference Planning -- Lessons Learned | ||
| − | + | '''Venue planning and negotiation''' | |
* A conference services planning organization, like CONCENTRA, has significant experience in contract details that volunteer planners would unlikely have. | * A conference services planning organization, like CONCENTRA, has significant experience in contract details that volunteer planners would unlikely have. | ||
* Venue negotiation takes a significant amount of time. Total of nearly four (5) months of visits, informational calls, and negotiations. | * Venue negotiation takes a significant amount of time. Total of nearly four (5) months of visits, informational calls, and negotiations. | ||
* | * | ||
| − | + | '''Sponsorships''' | |
* 46.8% of the estimated cost of C4L2014 was provided by sponsorships. The registration cost of $165 per person covered another 46.8%. The remaining balance of C4L2013 covered the remaining 6-7%. | * 46.8% of the estimated cost of C4L2014 was provided by sponsorships. The registration cost of $165 per person covered another 46.8%. The remaining balance of C4L2013 covered the remaining 6-7%. | ||
* To keep registration costs low, it is critical the Sponsorship Committee raise a minimum of $50,000 per year. | * To keep registration costs low, it is critical the Sponsorship Committee raise a minimum of $50,000 per year. | ||
Revision as of 15:40, 30 January 2014
Code4Lib 2014 Conference Planning -- Lessons Learned
Venue planning and negotiation
- A conference services planning organization, like CONCENTRA, has significant experience in contract details that volunteer planners would unlikely have.
- Venue negotiation takes a significant amount of time. Total of nearly four (5) months of visits, informational calls, and negotiations.
Sponsorships
- 46.8% of the estimated cost of C4L2014 was provided by sponsorships. The registration cost of $165 per person covered another 46.8%. The remaining balance of C4L2013 covered the remaining 6-7%.
- To keep registration costs low, it is critical the Sponsorship Committee raise a minimum of $50,000 per year.
- The Code4Lib2014 Sponsorship Prospectus was a significant tool in raising money this year.
T-shirts
- Getting sizing that works for everyone is hard.
- There may be some design fatigue in the community.
- Consider some other type of swag that doesn't involve sizing difficulties -- like re-usable coffee mugs (then attendees could use them all conference!)
Food and Beverage
- Coffee in unlimited quantities is valued more highly than food at breaks.
Pre-Conferences
- Consider a winnowing process for pre-conferences to limit them in advance of registration to the number of rooms that you have. Could either do advance voting like with talks, or say that you have x number of rooms and take the top x pre-conferences, etc. We set a 5-person registration minimum for A/V support this year, and found that all the pre-conferences met that limit (all 19 of them!) so it was not particularly useful.
- Ask ahead of time to find out if pre-conf organizers are planning to open their pre-confs to non-conference attendees.
A/V
- When talking to sales folks, get the REAL numbers on how many attendees will fit in a space (this means WITH A/V included, which could be 15% less or more than advertised capacities).
Organizing Volunteers
- It's helpful to have a local representative on all volunteer committees to help grease the wheels.
