Step 5: Settle on a date
Now it’s time to decide when your conference will take place. As discussed, that date should be anywhere from six months to a year ahead.
The more number of attendees, the earlier you need to prepare. The best solution will be to book one year in advance as popular venues are usually booked at least one year in advance.
Bangkok is a popular venue for not only local conferences but also international conferences due to it’s well-situated geographic location.
PyCon AU did a great job by preparing more than a year in advance and revealing next year’s date and venue on the last day of their conference. If you are able to do so, that will be perfect.
You also need to decide how long the conference will last. Whether it is going to be single track or multiple tracks. PyCon Thailand started off with 3 tracks, 2-days conference and several workshops included.
Work within the ability of work team. Be realistic. Being too ambitious is just going to tire the entire team out. Also make sure that it will be feasible for the venue.
Here are some great rules of thumb to keep in mind:
Check on major events and public holidays
Pick a date that doesn’t conflict with other major events like festivals. City-wide events make booking flights more expensive and generally hinder transportation to and from the conference.
Besides, you don’t want your conference to compete for attention with big events. Check for on your local calendar to ensure that it is not a long weekend public holiday as people tend to go on family vacation during that period.
Avoid summer and winter holiday periods when people tend to go on vacation.
In Thailand, avoid Songkran, Loy Krathong, Election dates, Christmas and New Year’s day.
It’s best to aim for a date between the middle of March and end of June or from early September to late November.
Check the school calendar
If students are also one of your target market, check on the local universities to ensure that they’re not having their exams or graduation during the dates.
Our current choice is in June as most universities are on summer break and we do not clash with other PyCons held around Asia Pacific.
Check on the PyCon happening around your continent
You don’t want to clash the dates among your neighbouring fellow organisers.
Contact the PyCon APAC organisers if you are unsure of their dates.
Weekdays or weekends?
We would suggest weekends. Most attendees probably won't be sent by their employers and would have to use up vacation time if the conference is held during the work-week.Or end of the week, so that traveling attendees get the chance
to stay behind and sightsee during their time off.
The best days could possibly be Saturday and Sunday or Friday and Saturday depending on your main target group of attendees.
Setting a date will give you a fixed point to count back from to better plan your preparations and also helps determine if your keynote speakers will be available during that period.
Step 6: Book the venue
Once you know the date, you can start looking for available venues that match your requirements.
For PyCon Thailand, It is not easy to handle venues especially when we handle multiple tracks. We need to ensure that every room fits in the estimated capacity of attendees and that the walking
In general, venues might fall into three categories:
University campuses: These are best suited for smaller, academic events and are relatively cheap to hire.
Hotels: These typically have dedicated conference facilities and own catering. They’re the best all-in-one choice since they offer both accommodation and conference space. They also tend to be the most expensive option.
Hotels are less practical for small conferences because they'll either charge you for using their meeting space or expect you to attract enough guests to fill a block of rooms. In either case, you're making more of a financial commitment and may end up losing money.
Independent venues: This category includes all other types of venues that can host conferences. Many of these specialise in specific types of events.
But the cost of the venue is just one part of the puzzle. Here are a few other factors to consider when looking for the right venue:
Size:
Booking a too-small venue where everybody has to squeeze into a tiny room is clearly a bad idea. Similarly,
securing a giant venue for a relatively modest crowd will not only hurt your wallet but also make the conference feel empty and poorly attended.
You can try to calculate the room capacity
If you’re running a 2 day conference, note that not everyone attend the entire conference. Some of them will wander off to get their office work done in a corner or arrive only on time to attend their favourite talks. Adding a little 10-15% more attendees on your keynote talks is actually feasible.
Location:
Find location that are easily accessible by public transportation. Some feedback we got over the past reviewed that attendees prefer location where it’s not too secluded. And if you’re picking a more secluded place, make sure that you provide a solution for attendees who does not have their private transport.
It will be perfect if the venue has calming, picturesque surroundings to help people relax and at the same time accessible via public transportation though it is not easy to find such location.
Atmosphere:
It’s crucial that the vibe of the venue suits your target audience and theme. You don’t want to host a business conference inside a giant gym, for instance.
Does the venue have the right 'feel' for your event? Is this the atmosphere you want for your theme? Can you (and will you be allowed to) make changes to create the right atmosphere? If possible, visit the venue when another event is taking place,
so that you can assess the possibilities and limitations of the event space.
Facilities:
Does the venue have the proper layout and the right conference room styles for your needs? Does it have the necessary facilities like e.g. smaller rooms for breakout sessions?
Useful facilities at a location may include:
Auditorium: A large lecture-hall style room that can hold all the projected attendees (for keynote talks and an unconference's initial planning session).
Meeting rooms:Smaller rooms that can only hold a fraction of the attendees. Useful if the program is broken up into different tracks, or for sprints.
Common area:A common area in which groups of attendees can informally mingle.
Storage:A secure room in which to keep supplies, such as electronic equipment and programs and other publications for the attendees.
Audio-visual equipment: A public address system and a video projector are required; transparency (overhead) projectors may be useful, especially for lightning talks. It's good to have both wireless microphones as well as podium microphones.
Conferences like PyCon require several equipment like headsets for each track (speakers might be live coding), podium to place laptops, wireless mics for session leads, HDMI for video recording, etc to be taken into consideration.
Networking:External access to the public Internet
All locations should be accessible by disabled persons, and held in controlled temperature environments (air-conditioned or heated as needed).
The location should be accessible by public transport. It's a bonus if there are interesting attractions nearby (museums, attractions, etc.). Small conferences probably won't provide food, so there should be some restaurants or other dining facilities nearby for lunch,
and enough of them to handle the conference attendance. If there's only one small restaurant within walking distance, it'll get swamped.
Accommodation:
Does the venue provide accommodation or are there hotels nearby?
If you're holding a multi-day conference or expect people will be traveling some distance, there should be a range of accommodations nearby or accessible through public transit. Special attention should be paid to inexpensive places to stay: motels, hostels, and low-end hotels.
Catering:
Is catering included or can external catering companies easily get to and work inside the venue? If not, are there suitable restaurants and cafes in the area? (Keep in mind any special dietary requirements: vegan, kosher, nut-free, etc.)
Transportation:
How easy is it for participants to travel to the venue by public transport? Are there enough parking spots for those who drive?
Technical aspects:
Does the venue have the right IT, audio, and video equipment? You’ll need projection screens, microphones, plenty of charging spots for participants, and---of course---solid WiFi access.
Internet access is extremely important for a technical conference. Many people will have laptops, and attendees like to download the software being presented or look at related web sites.
You should plan to have enough networking capacity for almost all attendees simultaneously. Some locations may optimistically claim to support your projected number of attendees, but be assuming that only a small percentage of attendees will be using the network.
For a Python-oriented audience, it's safer to assume that 90% of the attendees will be using the network; plan accordingly.
Some facilities may have an existing wireless network. You should plan on bringing your own networking equipment to supplement it. If nothing else, try to get access to the facility's wired network and hang switches off that to minimize wireless congestion --
then encourage attendees to use the wired network.
When negotiating with potential venues, try to arrange for early access to the place so that you can do a “dry run” or a walkthrough with your team prior to the conference. You should be able to ensure that every detail is in place before the big day.
Quick Tip
Quick tip: If you find a great venue that’s just out of your budget,
see if you can negotiate a lower fee in return for a multiyear contract.
If you think finding the right venue is too demanding, consider getting an event organiser to take care of it for you.
Step 7: Line up your speakers
This may just be the most critical step of all. Your speakers are the stars of your conference. You want a solid lineup in order to attract attendees and guarantee a professional experience.
One sure way to gain traction here is to first secure one big-name speaker. Someone who is well-known and respected within the field. This will boost your credibility in the eyes of other potential speakers and make them more likely to sign up.
Timeline
Start to open for talks 6 months before the conference and close 3 months before the event.
Topics
Keep a list of topics on hand that you know your local market will be interested in from a market survey or feedback you receive in the previous years.
Many conferences, such as PyCon, will post a Call for Proposals and wait for people to apply to give talks. The resulting mix of talks will therefore depend on the quality of the proposals received. If one field is underrepresented in the proposals,
the resulting conference program won't cover that field very well.
Past EuroPython conferences have started with the organizers deciding on a set of topics: scientific programming, web applications, beginner tutorials, etc. For each chosen topic, a topic chair chooses a set of talks. How the talks are chosen is up
to the chair; s/he may post an open call or invite specific people who've worked in the application area. Inviting people can be very effective: people are often shy and think "No one would want to listen to a talk from me", but will enthusiastically respond to an invitation.
PyCon Thailand 2019 used stickers with different subject topics for delegates to choose what interest them and to stick onto their badges. At the end of the event, we’ve collected the leftover stickers and were able to calculate the topics that interest the delegates most.
Start looking for thought leaders that focus on the same themes as your conference. Create a prioritised list of potential speakers you’d like to invite. Then start making those calls and writing those emails.
Make sure that the choice of the topics has close relationship with Python. Topics related to
Here are a few things to address:
Compensation
Do they require a speaker fee or other forms of compensation to participate?
Supporting equipment: Does their presentation rely on specific IT equipment or other props?
Special requirements
Do they have specific dietary preferences? Will they need to have transportation and accommodation arranged for them?
Work through your list as you gradually fill up the allotted time slots with quality speakers.
But don’t throw away that list just yet! You want to have plenty of backup speakers in case some of your first-priority ones cancel. You should always have a Plan B.
Don’t forget that you’re representing a specific demographic location. Make sure that you have a substantial percentage of local speakers too. You’ll save on transportation and lend an air of authenticity to the conference.
