* Apply to be a host== General Process ==
- Identify your venues for both While this is the general chronology of running the conference and , it never hurts to plan ahead. Before hosting proposals for the hotel (if different)next year are solicited, you can prepare some components of your proposal. This Before your proposal is criticalaccepted, as you'll want can recruit volunteers to get some cost estimates from eachserve on committees. When we hosted in CorvallisIn particular, the campus provided the conference space it helps to have at least a low cost, and this made running few initial people who will form the conference much more affordable. When we hosted the conference in Portland, and held everything in a single hotel, we had to acquire 2x the amount nucleus of sponsorship than what appears to be normalyour Local Planning Committee (LPC).
* When the call for next year's host goes out, '''prepare a proposal'''** See [[Successful Code4Lib Conference Proposals]] from prior years** '''Identify venues''' for both the conference and the hotel (if different).** '''Prepare cost estimates'''. The primary factors are:*** Lodging (hotels) - Speaking of sponsorshipsee if hotels offer discounted room block quotes*** Venues (conference, I believe workshop, reception, other activities)*** Catering*** Wireless: If you are proposing to host the conference on a campus, check with your IT folks about any additional costs. If you look at a hotel or other venue, make sure you talk to them about bandwidth and costs.*** Do you have organizational relationships which might ensure extra sponsorships? If so, factor in that this might reduce the registration cost. For instance, when we average around 20k per year were at the Library of Congress in sponsorships 2018, they were also [https://2018.code4lib.org/sponsors/ our largest sponsor].*** You can reference data from previous years to estimate minimums and maximums.** '''Use our conference planner (CONCENTRA)'''*** Since 2014 in NC, Code4lib has contracted with [https://www.concentra-cms.com CONCENTRA] to help run manage and plan the conference . Their expertise is invaluable. You can ask them questions while preparing your proposal. CONCENTRA knows Code4Lib and keep our unique structure and well as how to plan various aspects of conferences (hotel room block, catering, bus to reception, etc.). Look for Jennifer Cummings in Slack or use their site's contact link.*** See if your institution has a conference planning services group or something similar - if so, they can also be very helpful and will know more about campus spaces and costs (e.g. if there are free rooms to use for pre-conferences).* Get approved by the registration lowcommunity and start planning** Receive access to the Code4Lib Conference Drive folders with information from prior years** Construct a planning timeline (see templates in Drive)** Find a hotel, negotiate and sign a contract with them. Factor CONCENTRA does this into your budgetbut this [[Sample RFI]] is still a useful reference; '''note the WiFi requirements'''** Put out a call for committee volunteers (on the listserv, in Slack)* '''Put on an amazing conference!''' If you get this far, you have survived the worst part.* The final duties of LPC are putting out the call for next year's proposals and writing up reflections.
- Also, when you get cost estimates, don't forget to include food costs.== Location ==
- WIRELESS: Always an issue it seemsCode4Lib has been hosted on university campuses and also located purely in hotels. If you are proposing Campus facilities tend to host the conference on a campusbe more affordable, check with your IT folks about any additional costs. If you are looking at a hotel or other venue, make sure you talk to them about bandwidth but housing can be scattered and costschallenging. IMHO, the two things that really need to be addressed each year Hotels are connectivity and food - everything else generally manages itself in terms of facilitiesmore expensive but cohesive.
- See if If your institution campus or town has a conference planning services group or something similar - if it doescenter, then I highly recommend using themthat is a logical starting point. They'll handle registrationLarge hotels are also an option. In recent years, budgetingthe conference has been smaller (a little over 200 attendees). If you are unsure how many attendees to plan for, contractslook at [[Conference_Financial_History_At_A_Glance|historical attendance]] figures or ask in the code4libcon channel in Slack. In general, etc, and really make life easy200-400 attendees is a good range.
- Regarding A couple of isolated rooms for the conference hotel, you'll want to make sure that there but away from the main space are blocks important for both the Community Support Squad to hold private discussions and to private a place of rooms available quiet respite for weary conference- not usually too bad an issue in larger towns, but in some college or smaller towns, hotel rooms may be limitedgoers.
- Remember, your institution is taking the risk of covering any costs not covered by registrations and sponsorships. To this point, I believe the conference has always ended up in the black, but there is always a chance it won't in a given year. Drafting a rough budget before submitting a proposal is critical.=== Workshops ===
Workshops have been held before and after the conference. They are referred to as "pre-conferences" or "post-conferences" in planning and publicity materials. There should be space to facilitate 10-20 workshops. It is helpful if they can be located in the same building but not necessary.
* Get approved by the community* Find These can be class or meeting rooms but should have a hotel, negotiate projector and sign ideally a contract with them* Invite the community to help with * Have a timelinewhiteboard. Electricity for attendees is also important.
=== Reception ===
== Important Public Resources ==* Past calls for host sites: [http://code4libA nice reception venue can be appealing to many attendees.org/node/275 2010] - * [http://deweyIn the past, we have gone to museums, libraries, and more fun venues.libraryIf Philadelphia, we went to The Mütter Museum.ndIn D.edu/mailing-lists/code4lib/ Code4Lib listserv]* [http://groupsC.google, we went to the Library of Congress.com/group/code4libcon Code4LibCon listserv]* Sponsorship info In Michigan, we went to "fowling" (publicfootball bowling)* [http://code4lib.org/logo/ Logos]
== Important Private Resources ==* Code4LibCon-hostsite listserv* Budgets from previous years* Sponsorship info (private)A nice reception at a separate location is not strictly necessary. It might be possible to do catering at the conference venue in the evening, for instance.
== Shortly before the Conference = Transportation ===
=== Keynotes ===# Contact speakers in advance Consider how folks coming into town will get to ask if they need anything, arrange their lodging. Is the airport pickup, etcfar? Are there free shuttles? Is it possible to get there via a major railway?
=== Freenode IRC connection ===HistoricallyIf lodging and the venue are separate, conference how will attendees have had trouble maintaining persistent connections get to the #code4lib IRC channel. We'd always assumed we were overwhelming the conference facility's Internet connection, but venue? Are there shuttles? If we were actually running into Freenode's IP-based connection limits. Freenode is supportive of the IRC-as-backchannel modelneed to purchase a bus, however, and they're happy to work with organizers to raise the connection limit.how much will it cost?
Contact Most years, we pay for a bus to the conference facility reception venue, as it tends to be in advance and see if you can find out what your ''public IP address range'' will be during the conference. (If it starts with 10.*, 192.168.*, or 172.16.*, ask again -- those are "private" IP ranges used for connection sharinga different location.)
Once you have the IP address or range, send an email to [mailto:ilines@freenode.net ilines@freenode.net] containing a request to raise the connection limit. Include conference info, IP range(s), and the expected number of connections. For example:=== Local Appeal ===
To: ilines@freenode.net Hello, I'm helping plan the code4lib 2010 conference, taking place Successful proposals in Asheville, NC next week. Since our backchannel runs through #code4lib on Freenode, we're trying to plan ahead to avoid running up against the connection limit. Would it past included local spots that attendees will be possible to raise the cap for us during the conference? Details follow. Conferenceinterested in: code4lib 2010 < http://code4lib.org/conference/2010/ > Dates: February 22-26cultural institutions, 2010 Attendees: 250 Location: Renaissance Asheville Hoteltourist attractions, Ashevillebook stores, libraries, restaurants, NC IP Ranges: 12.21.216.106 and the entire 12nightlife.21The Social Activities committee plans around these venues.217.0/24 block We encourage in-channel participation, so we expect It is nice to have a high percentage of attendees to nighttime location where Game Night can be held (which can be connected at oncea workshop room). We'll also have two or three channel bots connected from the conference for the lobby monitors. Please let me know if you need any further information, and thanks very much for your help! Michael
I received an automated reply There is nothing wrong with doing a ticket number almost instantly, but didnconference in a location we't hear back after ve been to before, or in a location thatis close to last year's location. I sent a quick followup early on In the morning of past, Code4Lib tended to bounce between the 22ndEast Coast, West Coast, and received Midwest, but that is not a response (requirement and should not dissuade any location from submitting a human) letting me know that it had been taken care ofproposal.
Additional support is available == Committee List == Each year we copy the prior year's list of committees (see [[:Category:Conference Committees]]) to a new wiki page. If you are looking for information on a committee or new volunteers, prior years can provide some names, but know that not all committees keep their membership on the wiki up to date. Brief descriptions of the primary committees: * Planning (LPC) - primary committee, should have delegates on most others, makes major decisions* Website - creates and updates the website using a template and data provided by other committees* Sponsorship - acquires sponsorships to reduce costs* Keynote - solicits suggestions from community and communicates with keynote candidates* Pre-conference - plans workshops* Program - plans posters and conference talks* Scholarship - solicits diversity scholarship applications and selects candidates* Community Support Squad (CSS) - enforces the helpful volunteer Freenode staff [https://github.com/code4lib/code-of-conduct Code of Conduct]* T-Shirt - solicits T-Shirt designs* Social Activities - plans social events at the conference such as Game Night* Streaming - runs the livestream* Host Voting - solicits proposals for next year* Accessibility - consults on physical and digital accessibility, e.g. of venues and the conference websites You will also need on-site volunteers during the conference for tasks like MCing the conference, timing talks, and running microphones for audience questions. Code4Lib is democratic; most committees faced with multiple options (keynote, pre-conference, program, t-shirt, host voting) host community votes to determine some or all of their choices. Some committees are small, even a single person. Some years may have some unique committees not present in the #freenode channellist above. For more information on any particular committee, look in their Drive folder or on the wiki. == Planning == === Budgeting === * [[Conference_Financial_History_At_A_Glance]] === Wireless === Historically, Code4Lib has had trouble with wifi bandwidth at venues. Hotels will lie about their wifi. Try to receive assurance that every attendee will be able to simultaneously have 1-2 devices connected to the network. It's best if you are able to visit the venue to verify its network characteristics. It is good if the venue allows VPN traffic as many folks use a work VPN. It's also nice if commonly used ports, like 22 for ssh/git, are usable. Aspiration Tech (an org doing unconference facilitation) has developed a [http://facilitation.aspirationtech.org/index.php?title=Logistics:Wireless_Best_Practices great list for assessing and negotiating event wifi].
== At the Conference ==
===KeynotesCode of Conduct ===# Water at the podium# Speaker gifts# Dinner plans
LPC may be consulted by the CSS if a Code of Conduct violation occurs. These have sometimes necessitated someone being removed from the conference or an announcement being made from the stage. === Timers Keynotes === * Sit in the front of the roomSpeaker gifts* Have several peopleSmall honorarium* You may want Offer to use an extra machine* Here's what some of the software looks like: http://www.flickr.com/photos/schwartzray/4393891356/ (ask Ed Corrado for details)* Dan Chudnov says the best free timer app for OSX is http://www.apimac.com/timer/make dinner plans
=== Lightning Talks ===
* Everybody lines up ahead of time (image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/schwartzray/4393881044/ )
* Sign up ahead of time on papers in the venue
* Load slides onto the podium in the break before
* Everybody lines during the time slot (image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/schwartzray/4393881044/ )
=== Conference ===
* Power - everyone would like to plug in their laptop (and possibly their phone)
=== Photography ===
Code4Lib uses different colored lanyards to articulate personal photography preferences.
* Green = it's ok to take my picture
* Yellow = please ask before taking my picture
* Red = don't take my picture
=== Podium ===
# Water at the podium
# Provide height adjustable podium, if available. Otherwise:
# Provide a stand (apple box?) for presenters who would like to use one
=== Video ===
# Videos are streamed at https://youtube.com/code4lib
# Presenters can opt out of having their likeness recorded and streamed. They may not opt out of having their voice and presentation (i.e. slides, etc.) recorded and streamed.
# Presenters must not use unlicensed music in their presentation. Likewise, unlicensed music must not be used between presentations.
# Video must be able to work with the house A/V crew and set up the day before the main con begins.
# Lighting must be provided for the speakers.
=== Calls for Hosting ===
'''To do''': This has not been kept up to date. We should use examples from recent years and remove older ones.
See [[:Category:Conference Hosting Proposals]].
{| class="wikitable"! Year of proposal! Text of call! Call issued! Deadline for submission! Weeks to submit! Voting start! Voting end! Weeks to vote! Announcement|-|2010|[https://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=CODE4LIB;tBeDRg;201002051132430800 Code4Lib 2011 Hosting Proposals Solicited]|5 Feb|5 Mar|4 weeks|||||-|2011|[https://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2= Ask Anything===CODE4LIB;R8d%2FBw;20101210153936%2B0000 Code4Lib 2012 Call for Host Proposals]* Need mics |10 Dec, 2010|23 Jan (Sun)|6 weeks + 3 days|25 Jan (Tue)|9 Feb (3rd day of conf)|2 weeks + 2 days|10 Feb (last day of conf)|-|2012|[https://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=CODE4LIB;9k0n8A;20111201184554%2B0000 Code4Lib 2013 Call for people to line up at Host Proposals]|1 Dec, 2011|22 Jan (image: httpSun)|7 weeks + 4 days|25 Jan (Wed)|8 Feb (3rd day of conf)|2 weeks + 1 day|9 Feb (last day of conf)|-|2013||||||||15 April?|-|2014|[https://wwwlistserv.flickrnd.comedu/photoscgi-bin/schwartzraywa?A2=CODE4LIB;f5d2e9cb.1401 Call for proposals to host Code4Lib Conference in 2015]|29 Jan|12 Mar (Wed)|6 weeks + 1 day|14 Mar (Fri)|26 Mar|1 week + 6 days|27 Mar (Thursday; last day of conf)|-|2015|[https:/4393838640/ listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=CODE4LIB;1b38757a.1501 Call for proposals to host Code4Lib Conference in 2016]|8 Jan|20 Feb (Fri)|6 weeks + 2 days|23 Feb (Mon)|6 Mar|1 week + 5 days|9 Mar (Mon)|-|2016||19 Jan (Tue)|1 Mar (Tue)|6 weeks|3 Mar (Thu)|15 Mar (Tue)|1 week + 5 days (note conf is Mar 7-10)|16 Mar (Fri)|}
==Further Readings =Book Raffle===* (image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/schwartzray/4393619144/ with people for context: http://www.flickr.com/photos/schwartzray/4393623802/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/schwartzray/4384550127/ ), better if there's a table
=== Flipcharts ===Flipcharts can be useful, but itThe most recent year's important Lessons Learned (in Drive) are more likely to decide what to put be relevant. Some of these links are quite old but may still contain valuable insight on problems that have happened over the wiki/website and what to put on a flipchart:images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/schwartzray/4392998501/ http://www.flickryears.com/photos/47860563@N05/4388430079/
== Suggested Timeline ==* [[Code4Lib Conference Lessons Learned]] (from 2014)* See [[C4L2010planning2017_Lessons_Learned]] for an example * [https://medium.com/@louisrosenfeld/how-to-organize-a-conference-567fb50ccdbd How To Organize a Conference] - Some excellent thoughts on conferences in general.
[[Category: Code4Lib2010]][[Category: Code4Lib2011Code4LibCon Planning]]