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#the5
I like this line, ..."when participants arrive, they’re ready to collaborate and share, rather than passively listen."
I also agree about the 100% participant paid. It does 2 things: keeps things even more focused on a smaller, more involved crowd.
Excellent plans, really.
I'd say, have a game plan and communicate OFTEN with your team. It saves a lot of frustration the day of when everyone knows how to set up or who to go to for getting the doors unlocked and ready. Team conference calls weekly work like a charm for PCB.
We also need to be mindful that as much as the event is based in and around technology, not everyone attending is equally enabled. There should be some manual or standby communications tools, whiteboards (or chalkboards like at MIT) can be multi-purpose. Enables communication updates on schedule changes or enables cross event participation, people finding, birds of a feather, etc.
Podcamp Ottawa 2 was held this weekend and here's what I liked about the format.
Small: Registration was limited to 80 people, in part I think, due to time, space and manageability constraints. In the end, we had about 30 people, which is about a third more than last year.
Short: PC Ott is a 1 day, six hour event. There were 5 sessions in all. Originally there were two tracks but we ended up all participating in one conversation. They were focused, not too long, and Mark kept his eye on the time so we could keep the day moving.
Informal: We sat on the floor in a circle (as you see in Julien's photo http://tinyurl.com/6zr2sa) and it was very casual and lent itself well to conversation and participation.
Don't get me wrong, I love the bigger PC events. I'm all for organization and for participant-paid models. My point is, there is something to be said for keeping it super small and simple. We all got a lot out of the day and nobody was stressed by months of planning. This is a great way to run a PC event for anyone living in a smaller community or who just wants to get up and running without massive expense or time.
But i still like the parties.
With all due respect Chris, this is a terrible idea. If things are tight for companies, they are tighter for many individuals. Keeping Podcamps (well, most Podcamps) free sends the right message in a time of trouble, that being that communities don't turn to grabbing cash when things get tough.
I'd recommend leveraging social connections and barter for goods and services if money is tight. Also if you can't find sponsors, drop perks like lunches and t-shirts. People can brown bag if things are tight, it also puts less stress on organizers and causes less waste. And hey, don't we all have enough white cotton t-shirts with little logos on them anyway? Just sayin'...