On 2 October 2012 00:32, Andrei Alexandrescu <SeeWebsiteForEmail@erdani.org> wrote:
> On 10/1/12 12:46 PM, Iain Buclaw wrote:
>>
>> On 1 October 2012 17:25, Andrei Alexandrescu <SeeWebsiteForEmail@erdani.org>  wrote:
>>>
>>> The project is not live, it will be within a few days. In the spirit of
>>>
>>> having the community actively participate, I'm making this as transparent
>>> as
>>> it gets. Please comment:
>>>
>>> http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dlang/1177501541?token=df96761a
>>>
>>> Your feedback and suggestions are welcome.
>>>
>>
>> I will try my hardest to attend to it. :-)
>
>
> And we'll do our hardest to bring you here. We have a shoestring budget for sponsoring speakers, but sure as heck we must bring major players such as yourself. If your employer doesn't sponsor the trip, you and I will discuss on how to defray expenses.
>
> Andrei
>
>

Aww, thanks. I'm touched. :)


-- 
Iain Buclaw

*(p < e ? p++ : p) = (c & 0x0f) + '0';

On 10/3/2012 4:38 PM, Ali Çehreli wrote:
> Looking forward to meeting other D people. Let's make this happen! :)

I'm excited about it, too!

And I want to thank Andrei for taking point on making this happen.

On Wednesday, 3 October 2012 at 17:08:25 UTC, Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
> I hear you. We have a detailed budget model and we're not splurging in any way. Organizing a conference has quite a few odds and ends and weird pricing. As an example, location providers offer good prices for the location proper BUT they require using their own catering services, which is how they make money. I co-organized a few conferences and, believe me, a cookie has a different taste when you know it was $5.
>
> That being said, if anyone on this forum works in the Bay Area and takes this to their employer, we'd save a ton of expenses if a company could offer a meeting room. I have initiated such with Facebook, and they're looking into it. All - please email me if such an opportunity exists.

 Depending on how many people would be attending, and I'm sure most of us are far enough away that a place to stay becomes a question. A quick glance suggests room swill be anywhere from $80-$200, and if it hits tourist season that number can double (or triple) easily.

 At some conventions you could get a discount if you mentioned you were part of the group, but if this group isn't large enough to warrant that kind of attention then perhaps something else.

 Perhaps at no cost find/contact a few hotels and that are willing to give discounts (aren't far from the site and reasonably priced) and list them as preferred options for lodging.

 Potentially also if a single hotel (or two) can reserve say a hundred rooms (or whatever is decided), a larger discount may be given especially for stays lasting multiple day. In that situation whoever is managing can collect the cost for the rooms (up front, say 3 months in advance). Regarding deposits I'm sure we would each handle our own.

 Also a thought. If the discounts are comparable enough compared to normally without this effort, then that discount can then be donated towards the conference and may build that up faster/easier.

On Sat, Oct 6, 2012 at 4:20 PM, Era Scarecrow <rtcvb32@yahoo.com> wrote:

> On Wednesday, 3 October 2012 at 17:08:25 UTC, Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
>
>> I hear you. We have a detailed budget model and we're not splurging in
>> any way. Organizing a conference has quite a few odds and ends and weird
>> pricing. As an example, location providers offer good prices for the
>> location proper BUT they require using their own catering services, which
>> is how they make money. I co-organized a few conferences and, believe me, a
>> cookie has a different taste when you know it was $5.
>>
>> That being said, if anyone on this forum works in the Bay Area and takes this to their employer, we'd save a ton of expenses if a company could offer a meeting room. I have initiated such with Facebook, and they're looking into it. All - please email me if such an opportunity exists.
>>
>
>  Depending on how many people would be attending, and I'm sure most of us
> are far enough away that a place to stay becomes a question. A quick glance
> suggests room swill be anywhere from $80-$200, and if it hits tourist
> season that number can double (or triple) easily.
>

Palo Alto doesn't have a tourist season. I doubt any tourist wants to visit Palo Alto ;). I suspect Hotels are busy when school (Stanford) is starting/ending but even then it is probably not bad.

Looking forward to this. I would probably attend as I live in the hood.

Thank,
-Jose

On 10/6/12 7:20 PM, Era Scarecrow wrote:
> At some conventions you could get a discount if you mentioned you were
> part of the group, but if this group isn't large enough to warrant that
> kind of attention then perhaps something else.
>
> Perhaps at no cost find/contact a few hotels and that are willing to
> give discounts (aren't far from the site and reasonably priced) and list
> them as preferred options for lodging.

That does indeed work, but the hotels offer a discount rate for a guaranteed minimum attendance. For example (numbers in the ballpark), we could get 20% off if we guarantee occupancy of 40 rooms for 3 nights.

The converse problem is that if we can't meet the minimum we still need to pay them.


Andrei

On 1 October 2012 19:25, Andrei Alexandrescu <SeeWebsiteForEmail@erdani.org>wrote:

> The project is not live, it will be within a few days. In the spirit of having the community actively participate, I'm making this as transparent as it gets. Please comment:
>
> http://www.kickstarter.com/**projects/dlang/1177501541?**token=df96761a<http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dlang/1177501541?token=df96761a>
>
> Your feedback and suggestions are welcome.
>

Seems like a big budget, what are the projected numbers? (10s? 100s? ...
1000s?) ;)

On 7 October 2012 00:20, Era Scarecrow <rtcvb32@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Wednesday, 3 October 2012 at 17:08:25 UTC, Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
>>
>> I hear you. We have a detailed budget model and we're not splurging in any way. Organizing a conference has quite a few odds and ends and weird pricing. As an example, location providers offer good prices for the location proper BUT they require using their own catering services, which is how they make money. I co-organized a few conferences and, believe me, a cookie has a different taste when you know it was $5.
>>
>> That being said, if anyone on this forum works in the Bay Area and takes this to their employer, we'd save a ton of expenses if a company could offer a meeting room. I have initiated such with Facebook, and they're looking into it. All - please email me if such an opportunity exists.
>
>
>  Depending on how many people would be attending, and I'm sure most of us
> are far enough away that a place to stay becomes a question. A quick glance
> suggests room swill be anywhere from $80-$200, and if it hits tourist season
> that number can double (or triple) easily.
>

I'd rather bring a tent and pitch up on a golf course. :-)


-- 
Iain Buclaw

*(p < e ? p++ : p) = (c & 0x0f) + '0';

On 10/7/12 8:42 AM, Manu wrote:
>
>
> On 1 October 2012 19:25, Andrei Alexandrescu
> <SeeWebsiteForEmail@erdani.org <mailto:SeeWebsiteForEmail@erdani.org>>
> wrote:
>
>     The project is not live, it will be within a few days. In the spirit
>     of having the community actively participate, I'm making this as
>     transparent as it gets. Please comment:
>
>     http://www.kickstarter.com/__projects/dlang/1177501541?__token=df96761a
>     <http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dlang/1177501541?token=df96761a>
>
>     Your feedback and suggestions are welcome.
>
>
> Seems like a big budget, what are the projected numbers? (10s? 100s?
> .... 1000s?) ;)

The budget would cover around 55 attendees for 3 days. That includes (in decreasing order of cost) food, conference space, speaker support, A/V, staff remuneration, T-shirts/swag, and many smaller items.

Andrei

On Sunday, 7 October 2012 at 15:20:44 UTC, Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
>> Seems like a big budget, what are the projected numbers? (10s? 100s? .... 1000s?) ;)

> The budget would cover around 55 attendees for 3 days. That includes (in decreasing order of cost) food, conference space, speaker support, A/V, staff remuneration, T-shirts/swag, and many smaller items.>

 Seems like a low number. I also assumed we would pack our own lunches, and food during the event would end up costing for 55 attendees is roughly $2000 (at least as an estimate). I figured the numbers would be closer to 200-300, but depending on how many speakers and how big the conference room...

 Just off hand I'm remembering that some hotels have a rentable room for conferences and meetings that may handle about 55 (Which sometimes is their continental breakfast area after the first thing in the morning), and assuming you wouldn't have a huge speaker system set up to disturb the normal customers in the lobby (assuming it's nearby) then in the case there isn't already a projector you can bring and set one up, although it wouldn't likely be too terribly big unless they have a blank white wall....

 Mmmm... Having the meetings in the same hotel/motel you are staying it... Takes care of any commuting issue once you get settled in.

On Monday, 1 October 2012 at 16:25:12 UTC, Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
> The project is not live, it will be within a few days. In the spirit of having the community actively participate, I'm making this as transparent as it gets. Please comment:
>
> http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dlang/1177501541?token=df96761a
>
> Your feedback and suggestions are welcome.
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Andrei

How about any special online materials for backers that can't really attend? :)
( Those Europe-to-USA tickets do not tolerate poor students :( )