Conference HOW-TO

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Notes for OpenOffice.org Conference organising teams

At proposal time

Place

You'll have to ensure that

• an airport and transport facilities are all around the place you've chosen for the manifestation
• taxis are also available for VIP or Companies.
• Number of conference/meeting rooms is extensible.
• Connexion to Internet is available and can be extended.

Team

Part of the team have to be in the town where you organize the conference. This is really important because this team (2 or 3 persons) will manage all the relations.

This part should also have good connexion with the organization hosting the OOoCon but also the administration. It will help to organize the side events and it will be easier to get the several prior authorization needed.

Don't hesitate to work with the local LUG(s), even if they have not a lot to gain because it's not a local event where they would have more visibility, they have been of great help for us, bringing their ideas, knowledge of the town (they already may have organized events) and formalities that are required for such crowded manifestations.

Think of one or 2 persons that are always complementary available.

Signed engagement with the hosts

You have to be as precise as possible when signing this engagement :

• availability of the rooms and the keys (at least 2 days before the OooCon)
• cleaning before, during and after the conference,
• a technical person available able to solve all the small details like
  • printing documents,
  • have root access to the network when needed (for streaming for example)
  • direct access to administration issues
• check with them before how many indication panels you will need and don't forget to change everything if the room are moved during the preparation time.

Signed engagement with sponsors

Some of what was in our sponsor agreement was nonsense :

• one page of advertisement in the conference program : this is possible if you have one or two sponsors but having more, there is an issue with the place (you'll see the number or pages growing very fast!) and the more sponsors you have the more difficulties you'll met to get all their materials (logos, advertisement, and so on) in time.
• Be sure that you get ssh access during the conference for uploading the news promised in the agreement (that was not our case :-(

Preparing the conference

Think of a place where every body can meet, something like a life center close from the conference rooms.

Have a list of taxis, plans and a list of shops where to buy “souvenirs” for your attendees. Have regular meetings with the organization team and the people hosting the conf (INSA for us) to ensure that everything is clear.

Maintaining the OooCon site takes a lot of time, so having to people dedicated to it would be good.

The same for the program preparation (many details have to be set).

Keep quiet in any circumstances ;-)

Think of presents for those who are hosting you (Town hall and INSA for us)

During the conference

The help desk is the most important place and need a lot of energy and patience. I think having 3 people available here is a good number.

Bottles of water in every conf rooms and renew them for each conf.

Have a planing of rooms available for small private meeting

Check that the video material is supporting several formats (there is difference between American, European, etc...)

Have a room for the luggages of the attendees.