Towards a proposal for DrupalCon Montreal 2012
Montreal would be a great place to hold a DrupalCon. Not only is it a great city that people actually want to visit, being outside of the US avoids participants having to worry about crossing the US-border, which is a widely recognised as a limiting factor for international events that take place in the US.
I have already initiated discussions with the main conference center in Montreal to evaluate the potential costs associated to a DrupalCon in Montreal in 2012. Unfortunately, at this point I don't have a sense of the Drupal Association's interest in this proposal and, in any case, I'll very quickly run up against questions that I can't answer on my own.
So I'm writing to the North American Regional Organizing Group (copied to the Montreal group) in order to be put in touch with an appropriate representative and/or pointed to the formal procedures for moving forward with this.
Thanks in advance.
Omar
Ical feed
Follow-up...
I managed to get in touch with the folks responsible who are, understandably, busy with 2011. However, after seeing 2011 get booked so quickly I didn't want to take the chance of missing the boat for 2012... even if this is, admittedly, pretty far off at this point.
My goal at the moment, is just to get enough preliminary information in order to continue the discussions with the main conference center here in Montreal (I have a meeting with them scheduled for the 13th). My main question at this point related to the acceptable variation in timing for the North American event. DrupalCon Boston was in March, DC was in March, SF will be in April. Given the climate in Montreal I'd sure prefer to envisage a DrupalCon being sometime in June-August, but don't even know if this is within the realm of possibilities.
Any thoughts with respect to this would be appreciated.
As for the rest, I guess I'll just wait until the procedures get formalised/clarified in this group.
Omar
Co-founder - Koumbit.org - Drupal hosting and development in Montreal
Cool idea
Omar,
Great idea for 2012, and I also like the later date. However, the European Drupalcon is usually in September, so August would be way too late I think. We can probably get away with May if the last couple of years are anything to go by. April if we're really lucky. If the powers that be go for June, even better, but I wouldn't push for anything later than the beginning of June.
Dave
Early May is the latest
I've received word that the "requirement is that we avoid all holidays -- Easter, Passover, etc. -- and competing conferences, specifically SWSX media. Early March through early May is the target. "
Omar
Co-founder - Koumbit.org - Drupal hosting and development in Montreal
Early May is a great time of
Early May is a great time of year to be in Montreal!
Omar, Dave, are you guys coming to the meetup on the 17th? I'd love to discuss this further.
I should be there on the
I should be there on the 17th, but I might only get there around 7pm.
I wish I could...
... but I'll be out of town :-( Although, given that we are talking about 2012, we have some little time left ;-)
Omar
Co-founder - Koumbit.org - Drupal hosting and development in Montreal
DrupalCon
I've actually spent some time with the SF and steering committee people discussing that very topic; the faster we peg our intentions in people's minds the better, Let's meet and hammer out the basic proposal so that we can file it and claim the ground.
(My 63reasons account has been on the fritz on GDO since the September upgrade, which completely locked me out of previous discussions; I'll use this one while it is getting fixed.)
Yeah...
... getting "our intentions in people's minds" is the idea :-D ... although, I've essentially, been told that it is a little too early at this point... but I agree that the sooner we put together a basic proposal the better... hence the meeting that I'll have with the Palais des congrès folks later this week.
Omar
Co-founder - Koumbit.org - Drupal hosting and development in Montreal
Prévoir 5 000 participants!
Très bonne initiative.
Pour ma part je préfère le mois d'avril, ou le début du mois de mai.
Je crois que nous devrons prévoir une capacité de 5 000 en 2012 si la progression des DrupalCon nord-américain suit la même tendance. :-)
Follow-up on meeting with the Palais des Congrès
(My original meeting with them was delayed until this morning.)
The "Palais des congrès" would definitely be a top-notch venue for a DrupalCon, surpassing anything that we have experienced so far. It can accommodate as many people as well be able to attract (up to 5000 in one room alone if necessary) and allows for a wide range of configurations. Moreover, it is directly interconnected with the metro/subway system and is in close proximity to a wide range of restaurants, hotels and tourist attractions etc. I look forward to working with their team to help put together a rock-solid proposal for the North American Regional Organizing Group.
We are tentatively looking at the 14-18th of Mai 2012 which would allow us to overlap slightly with the WITSA (World Information Technology and Services Alliance) conference that will be taking place at the same venue. It is always important to look for opportunities to network with other influential communities and the WITSA is one of them.
Anyway, I just wanted to post an update. We'll discuss this at the next Montreal Drupal Meetup.
Omar
Co-founder - Koumbit.org - Drupal hosting and development in Montreal