Warpstock Cookbook

Monday, September 01 2008 @ 11:22 AM

This document collects all of the tasks related to putting on a Warpstock Conference. It is intended to guide a team in creating a conference. It is also intended to make it easier to delegate tasks to members of the event team.

Initial Bid

The instructions for making a bid are on the Warpstock Website. These instructions are complete as far as they go. Boiling the instructions down to a couple of sentences, a bidder needs to find a place to hold the conference, and to estimate the cost of the facility. The bid can be done by a single person, who will contact the facility and get a clear statement from them.

It is important to know that in 2007, we had 32 attendees and for 2008 we had 33 attendees. Some attendees will bring guests. This number will increase slightly because of improvements in marketing.

The facility should have a room for us to use as the Warpstock Cafe, a hangout with Internet and refreshments and space for the OS/2 Museum, exhibitors and a registration desk. There should be room for two classrooms, one of which should be able to hold all the participants.

Once a bid is accepted, quite a few items should be completed before announcing Warpstock.

In 2008, we bundled all the fees together, and we saw a lot of resistance. Fees should be structured separately. A one day admission should be priced very low. The whole conference admission should represent a discount from separate one-day admissions. Housing, meals, the social and transportation should be separate.

A spreadsheet was created for Warpstock 2008 to estimate the budget. This spreadsheet should be enhanced and used to set future fees.

The logo should be obtained before the first announcement. We have artists available who did prior years' logos.

A complete list of transportation should be available before the first announcement. This includes recommendations for the closest airport, airport shuttles, mass transit if any and parking. Driving instructions and maps should be provided.

There should be an agenda with a list of speakers. The list does not have to be complete for the first announcement, but there needs to be a list of tracks – developer's track and user's track, for example. As many speakers as possible should be listed in the first announcement.

We should solicit exhibitors before the first announcement, and include any early responders in that announcement.

If there is going to be a social event, then that should be arranged in time for the first announcement. In 2008, we had Shakespeare Santa Cruz. In retrospect, it would have been better to book a cruise on a chartered sailboat.

Before the first announcement, the website should be complete. It should be obvious how to register and how to get all information about the event. The 2008 website was much too complex and required too many links to reach key information.

We are investigating streaming video. If we do it, we will include that information in the first announcement.

The registration cutoff and schedule for deposits and forms should be established before the first announcement. We should arrange to have walk-in registration if possible.

The signup period is between the first announcement and the final registration cutoff.

We must try to reach out to potential attendees. Weekly announcements are good, but not enough. A team should make targets and post on websites, e-mail lists, newspapers and anything else we can reach. This is the one place where we keep Warpstock small by failing to reach potential attendees, and we need to focus on this task.

There should be a list of attendees with name and e-mail address for inclusion in the program and on badges. I think real address would be nice here, too. This list also keeps count of the money we've collected.

Lewis handled all of these for Warpstock 2008. A schedule of cutoff dates makes it easier to know what to do and when.

Create a packet to be distributed to the attendees. These will be passed out by a volunteer at the Warpstock registration desk.

A list of attendees should be included in the packet given out at the registration desk.

Make badge inserts and assemble them. These will be passed out by a volunteer at the Warpstock registration desk.

A list of big signs on stiff paper/cardboard. Warpstock Cafe, Registration Desk, Developer's Track, User's Track, OS/2 Museum, Raffle.

Set up the OS/2 Museum before opening.

Set up the Raffle table before opening.

We will set up the projector in the classrooms before classes.. We need long cords and duct tape and screens.

We will set up a registration desk in the Warpstock Cafe before opening. This is where we will have additional handouts and/or schedules and badges. Set up some kind of bulletin board for announements and rides.

We will include the speakers schedule in the packet, and post it by the sign on each classroom, and on the registration desk.

I made instructions for connecting to the UCSC network, and put them in the packet for attendees.

Event team instructions will be passed out to the directors, event team and other volunteers. Make a schedule for staffing both classrooms and the cafe. There should be complete coverage.

A description of the social with specific instructions has been sent to participants. The description was included in the packet. Plan to gather at the cafe, and then go to the social event.

We will tear down and pack the OS/2 museum, signs and projectors after the final session. Local storage by the event person would be a plus.

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