Lessons from a first time Drupal Camp organizer Camilo Bravo @cambraca
A presentation at DrupalDevDays Transylvania in June 2019 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania by Camilo Bravo
Lessons from a first time Drupal Camp organizer Camilo Bravo @cambraca
12 – 14 oct 2017
“ Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong Murphy’s law
Rec ord Budget n otio m ro Website P Schedule Desig n Sponsors e Venu Speaker s Team Post Social s Logistic
May 2017 22 weeks until the event
Team
Team
Team Core Team <= 3 people Extended Team
Team It’s good to have backup
When should we have a DrupalCamp? dar n e l a ic c sity m r e e v d i a n Ac at u s m r Midte Schedule Other Drupal events DrupalCon Vienna General inte rest 2018 World Cup qualific ation Local holidays
In what order should things happen? Venue Sponsorships Design Promotion Pre-registration Registration Website Call for Proposals Schedule Program
Prepare and anticipate Schedule
Venue
150 15 May First approach by email 141 24 May Meeting with head of department 113 21 Jun Denied 101 3 Jul Meeting with person in charge of events 97 7 Jul Venue approved PONR! Venue
Design Logo d1 Roun d Roun 2 d3 Roun
Design
Design
Rec ord Budget n otio m ro Website P Schedule Desig n Sponsors e Venu Speaker s Team Post Social s Logistic
June 2017 18 weeks until the event
Website
Stages 1. Requirements 2. Event / signup 3. Session submissions 4. Sponsors 5. Calendar 6. Feedback / post-event Website
drupalec.org Org-level website ✦ “Event” content type ✦ “Session” group Website
Do not spend all your time working on the website Website
Promotion Start with what you already have Previous events ✦ photos ✦ videos ✦ design* ✦ contact lists ✦ chat groups ✦ social media *if usable
Promotion Email is a lot of work
Social media Promotion Manual labor contacting groups, e.g. Girls in Tech Paid promotion $69 spent on 9 Facebook ads over 15 weeks Regular posts Facebook, Twitter
Promotion Other Drupal sites groups.drupal.org Latin America group buildamodule.com druplical.com
Promotion Contact local newspapers
Rec ord Budget n otio m Pro Website Schedule Desig n Sponsors e Venu Speaker s Team Post Social s Logistic
July 2017 13 weeks until the event
Just two sponsor tiers Sponsors ✦ Placement++ ✦ Placement ‣ website ‣ certificates ‣ event roll-up ‣ emails ‣ credentials FB banner ‣ brochure ‣ Silver Gold ✦ Company roll-up ✦ Social media mentions ✦ Booth ✦ Closing act mention ✦ Intervention at inauguration
Sponsors Photo by Cerqueira on Unsplash
Sponsors 97 7 Jul Gold sponsor (venue) 72 1 Aug Gold sponsor event now possible! 41 1 Sep Gold sponsor 37 5 Sep Silver sponsor 34 8 Sep Gold sponsors (organizers) 23 19 Sep Silver sponsor (post-event meeting) 19 23 Sep Silver sponsor (speakers workshop) 7 5 Oct Sponsor changed Gold -> Silver ! Photo by Cerqueira on Unsplash
Total spent: Losses Silver Gold USD 2 853.39 Printing Catering T-shirts Workshop Social media Budget
Total spent: USD 2 853.39 Loss per organizer: Losses Silver USD 184.46 Gold Budget
Total spent: USD 2 853.39 Not pictured: ✦ Recording rs so on Sp ✦ Venue ✦ Design ✦ Head of logistics ✦ Organizers’ salaries Budget
Total spent: USD 2 853.39 Also not pictured: ✦ Ticket sales Losses Silver Gold Budget
Free event ✦ Well, it’s free! ✦ Boost to our community ✦ Unreliable attendance 45% ✦ Budget Budget
Rec ord Budget n otio m ro Website P Schedule Desig n Sponsors e Venu Speaker s Team Post Social s Logistic
September 2017 4 weeks until the event
Speakers
Selection process 3. Speakers
My personal process 3. Speakers Points added (or removed) based on: ✦ Special session type (e.g. panel) ✦ Excellent description ✦ Multiple-speaker talk (rare) ✦ Clear session objective ✦ Speaker diversity ✦ Topic is unique ✦ Foreign speaker ✦ Topic is relevant ✦ Has previous experience ✦ Topic is current ✦ Good impression from workshop
Rec ord Budget n otio m ro Website P Schedule Desig n Sponsors e Venu Speaker s Team Post Social s Logistic
October 2017
October 2017
Logistics
Seriously, it’s a nightmare Speakers Need projector? sound? laptop? Small introduction for each Do they know where to go and when? Filming / photos Dedicated team. Equipment. SD cards. Do they know where to go and when? Catering and coffee breaks Special meal requirements Do they know where to go and when? Rooms Sound check for keynotes Testing streaming remote talk Setting up the rooms before each session Logistics
Seriously, it’s a nightmare Registration table Credentials, welcome package Pointing people in the right direction Venue Wi-Fi setup Rooms unlocked in time Volunteers Specific tasks for each Is someone late? missing? Do they know where to go and when? Group photo Does everyone know where to go and when? Inventory Keeping track of roll-ups, cables, adapters, tables, signs, laptops, etc. Logistics
There should be someone other than you dedicated to all this Logistics
Unless you have a separate team* for recording, editing, and social media, just do your best *which we did! Record Social
Rec ord Budget n otio m ro Website P Schedule Desig n Sponsors e Venu Speaker s Team Post Social s Logistic
Later…
Immediately after Social gathering ✦ Somewhere to wind down ✦ A Silver sponsor provided this space Post
Immediately after Updates on social media and website ✦ Cleaning up Facebook page “signup button” => “learn more” ✦ Remove event registration link on website Post
After a few days ✦ “Thank you” emails ✦ Data entry: attendants to each session ✦ Send feedback forms to attendants ✦ Upload session recordings Post
After a few weeks ✦ Disable “photo uploads” ✦ Post to social media ✦ Send feedback results to speakers ✦ Website adjustments Post
Prepare for all this beforehand Post
Other lessons ✦ No matter how much you prepare, the last few days before the event are always crazy ✦ Look for stronger support from companies / universities sooner ✦ Too many talks at the same time leads to some of them having a very small audience Post
WHAT DID YOU THINK? Locate this session at the Drupal Developer Days Transylvania 2019 website: https://cluj2019.drupaldays.org/schedule Take the survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/drupaltransylvania THANK YOU!
