Drupal Asia Pacific Conference cancelled?
I just received an email from Hannover Fairs saying the Drupal Conference has been cancelled. This is terrible news. I've already booked flights and what about the people coming from Asia and New Zealand. Are we getting our flights refunded?
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Yes this is really sad
Yes this is really sad news.
Gordon Heydon
Lead Drupal Developer - Lonely Planet
You're kidding?
Really? Is this legitimate?
If so, I suggest the organising committee looks to transfer this somewhere else as people are already booked to come and it would be a wasted opportunity if not utilised.
Is the Joomla conference still on?
--
Mark
www.caignwebs.com.au
Could we still meet up?
What about a less formal meetup in Sydney for the cancelled Drupal developers travelling from far and wide? My main reason for coming was to meet some like-minded developers. Maybe we can still meet and discuss Drupal in a less structured setting?
Who are the organisers of the cancelled Drupal Conference? I'd like to contact them directly.
Cancellation of the CeBIT Co-hosted Drupal APC
This is Gilad from Hannover Fairs Australia, the organisers of CeBIT.
We can of course understand the disappointment, it was not easy for us to take this decision. During the organisation of the event a few delays occurred that were beyond our influence. Instead of taking the risk of having to cancel the conference a few days in advance we decided to take this step now when only a few delegates have purchased passes.
Needless to say we are refunding the conference passes.
Joomla!Day conference is on as usual.
Thats me...
Tanc,
You can see our announcement on the conference website for more details. We have discussed holding an informal meetup for the developers that are already booked with travel. You can contact me directly or through the conference website if you'd like to discuss the details of a meetup or if you have further questions about this change of plan.
Thanks,
Ryan Cross
link
The link to the announcement on the conference website is:
http://drupalapc.org/conference-changes
Thanks
Thanks for that. Its also on the front page of the website now in case someone hasn't seen it.
--Ryan
postponed until...?
Hey Ryan
So the official announcement is that the conference has been postponed - so you'll have another crack? Here are my suggestions for next time.
-- I don't see the value in linking up with a conference like CeBIT. Based on what I learnt, it seemed very expensive to be involved, and it's not like participants are exposing ourselves to a customer base - since the conference is about IT networking. Not that running before/after/parallel is bad, but you could have done that without being an official part of CeBIT. That said, it would be cool to go in with a design conference or the like, since there is much to be gained there.
-- How about a real DrupalCon? I understand you initial proposal was an application for a DrupalCon. This would mean following a full application process against submissions from other parts of Asia. I'm not against have a large non-DrupalCon-conference in Australia - but in the end it is much easier to throw support behind a conference that has been approved by the association.
-- Have your details locked in much earlier. It sucks to make the commitment, I know from experience, but it's kinda crucial.
Hope this is useful.
Thanks
Simon
until a better time with more support
Hey Simon,
We don't have a specific date in mind for postponing till. We do still want to organize a conference though and we just need to get enough time, resources, and support to put it together. In regards to your points:
-- I can see benefits and drawbacks to linking up with CeBIT. The main benefits were enhanced exposure to a broader/new audience, additional clout/momentum from a partnering event, and we were promised logistical/organizational help. The draw backs are that there were additional expenses that could've been avoided with a different venue, and the increased difficulty of integrating with a commercial conference, plus the timeline. Yes, a design conference might be a good idea for next time or working with CeBIT in a different capacity.
-- Yes, this was our original intention. We also submitted a full application and went through that process (from what I understand). I am very open to more support to get this going, otherwise I think it might be best to organize a DrupalCamp-type event as an intermediate step to a full DrupalCon. (this was also suggested by the association/jacob)
-- I was highly confident our details were assured. We had bookings, etc - otherwise I wouldn't have announced the details that I did. I was not delaying a commitment, it was quite the opposite. If you (or anyone else) would like to discuss details of the steps leading to these changes, please contact me privately.
--Ryan
well -- CRAP!! We've booked
well -- CRAP!!
We've booked flights from New Zealand, and paid for hotels.
Anyone got a venue - big bit
Anyone got a venue - big bit of office space or a giant board room?
how about we have a opensource cms barcamp? free entry. Then retire to a bar with wifi for a patch-review-fest.
(seeing as my flights are non-refundable, this is more fun thatn seeing the Syds aquarium for the 10th time)
Possible - need $$
Hey Brenda,
I had come up with some alternative venues for similar dates, but obviously we need some $$ to book those. I am aware of some potential sponsors (which we were not able to lock in due to delays with our CeBIT integration) but in the end the rest of the people I was working with just didn't feel there was enough time to put the conference together.
I know the people here seem very keen, so I would still be interested in helping to put something together but we need more than just a handful of people to make something work.
--Ryan
@rcross can you book a large
@rcross can you book a large bar somewhere in Sydney now? somewhere with wifi, long tables, and prefereably free to hire if we're all buying ourselves lunch+drinks.
Then announce it.
It doesn't need to be a huge number of people - but your registration numbers, and a event with signup button on groups.d.o will guide you.
We can all do shortened version of our presentations, in a barcamp style (meaning who ever turns up sets the agenda on the day) and degenerate into a full out hackfest through the issue queue (either core or contrib), do some drupal6 installfests, some patch reviews, and i'd be keen to start folks going simpletest driven regression tests. The real value in the conference is the networking we'll do.
I'm sure we can come up with content enough to fill a day, maybe two - i'm sure in a city the size of Sydney there's a suitable bar somewhere - and I hope to hide a keg of NZ beer in my luggage to contribute.
We folks need to know before the end of the weekend - monday at the latest - so us put out folks can decide whether to insurance claim their useless airline tickets, or attempt refunds, or rescheduling flights etc. etc.
I'm happy to help in anyway i can. I don't know Sydney well, but I do know a ton of people in Sydney. If you can't find a venue I can ask around what have been used for previous events in SydneyTown. (and catalyst have a small office there too).
Fees to secure venue
There's definitely still a window to get something organised. I still have tickets booked too but not for long.
I'm sure the major obstacle is $FUNDING, which is required so a venue can be booked. Can fees be set and a payment facility be set up on drupalapc.org? Set payment deadline sometime next week so you should have the funds in hand to make the booking.
I agree with others that there is a will to have this thing happen.
--
Mark
www.caignwebs.com.au
I have flights booked
I have flights booked already as well
What do we need to make this work? $cost, # of people?
How many people are actually still interested? already have flights booked.
What $$?
Surely a venue can be organised? Ryan, don't you go to uni? Why not just hire out a lecture room?
Other than that, everything is set - you've got speakers, an audience, and the good faith of those who have committed to this thing happening. I can see no reason why this can't go ahead in a different form.
Conclusion?
Are there any conclusive decisions being made about an alternative to the conference? I'm holding off cancelling my flights as I'd still like to come if there is going to be some benefit in it.
It would be great to get some conclusive answers before the end of the week so that people can make an informed decision about what to do with their flights. If there is no feeling from the Sydney crew about hosting an informal event then I'd like a posting on this group to that effect.
Yes
Hi,
I have posted an short announcement about what we will be doing. In short, I will organize something for people to get together but I wouldn't expect anything particularly formal. Please see http://drupalapc.org/small-update-please-respond for more details or check your email.
--Ryan
Travel Insurance
When I book for these kinds of things I always purchase insurance that reduces the risk for me if the event is canceled. It also protects me from lots of other things, like medical costs, lost baggage, etc.
========================
Dennis M. Gray
Far East Information Resources Pty Ltd
Skype: d0325mgray
Mobile: (0418) 646267 +61 418 646 267
Phone: (02) 9310 7907 +61 2 9310 7907
Makes sense
@ozyank: That makes sense and I'll do that next time. This is the first conference I've booked personally and it didn't occur to me to get insurance. Can you recommend an insurance company that would cover event cancellation for future reference?
@tanc If you book on many
@tanc If you book on many credit cards you get get insurance automatically -- unfortunately that only applies to personal cards and not my company's card. -- I'm only able to postpone my booking, and we still know know when it's postponed to - or if there will be something on the original date.
Credit Card Ins Terms and Conditions
I believe some CCI only starts when the journey begins, i.e. you're covered once you're travelling. Any unforeseen events that happen beforehand cannot be claimed. If you're relying on CCI then check the T&C.
Your Travel Agency should know
There are lots of ways to cover yourself. Your travel agent is a good source of information.
========================
Dennis M. Gray
Far East Information Resources Pty Ltd
Skype: d0325mgray
Mobile: (0418) 646267 +61 418 646 267
Phone: (02) 9310 7907 +61 2 9310 7907
Updates
For those not on the mailing list, I've been trying to get feedback about how many people are actually interested in meeting up. I need to get a good idea of how many people to expect before booking any venues or anything. Please see http://drupalapc.org/last-chance-final-reminder for more information
--Ryan