Drupal Association Drupal Camp Organizer Survey Summary

Recently, I've been working with the Drupal Association in determining the most effective ways that the association can help user groups organize local Drupal camps. One of the first thing we realized was that we didn't have any hard data on how camps were actually organized. We decided to create a survey for camp organizers to collect some data.

The resulting survey has been available for about a month, and we've collected 31 responses. Not all surveys were completed, so not all of the responses total 31. If you're a DrupalCamp organizer and haven't completed the survey yet, please do so!

Here's a rundown of the results to date:

• 8 were one-day camps
• 20 were two-day camps
• 3 were three-day camps

12 countries were represented
Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Romainia, Spain, United Kingdome, and the United States.

It is not a big surprise that most camps were multi-day camps. I was surprised by the three-day camps. We didn't collect information about what took place each day, I'd be curious to know if the three-day camps were comprised of three days of sessions or something else (code sprint? coding for a cause?)

• Average attendance was 135 attendees, range was 45-375.
• 11 camps had less than 100 attendees
• 16 camps had between 100 and 200 attendees
• 3 camps has over 200 attendees
• Largest camp was DrupalCamp Spain 2010 with 375 attendees.
• The total combined number of attendees of all reported camps was 4,044.

• Average budget was $5,429.50
• Largest budget was $31,319 (DrupalCamp Spain 2010)!
• 11 camps had a budget of less than $2,500
• 8 camps had a budget of between $2,500 and $7,500
• 0 camps had a budget of between $7,500 and $10,000
• 5 camps had a budget of over $10,000
• The average cost per participant was $33.93 (low was $5.00, high was $90.91)
• The total combined budget of all reported camps was $130,308
• (all amounts in USD)

With the total number of attendees of 4,419, the reporting camps were collectively larger than DrupalCon SF 2010! For all camps, the average cost per participant was $29.49, roughly 10% of what a ticket to DrupalCon SF 2010 cost. Clearly, camps offer an amazing cost-effective opportunity for new and existing Drupalistas.

• 12 camps charged an admission fee ranging from $5 to $43
• 3 camps had their admission fee provide less than 25% of their total income
• 6 camps had their admission fee provide 25% and 50% of their total income
• 3 camps had their admission fee provide more than 50% of their total income

• 13 camps charged an admission fee to recover some costs of the camp
• 8 camps charged an admission fee to get a more accurate count of attendees
• 6 camps charged an admission fee to appear more professional
• 1 camp charged and admission fee because they wanted active developers, not newbies
• (multiple answers were allowed)

As one of the organizers of Florida DrupalCamp, we debated charging a small admission fee. Our main reason for ultimately deciding to charge $6 was that we felt it was important to have an accurate count of attendees for planning purposes. Obviously, being able to recover some of the costs of the camp was helpful as well, but there appears to be no negative repercussions from charging a small admission fee.

• 13 camps reported a profit
• 0 camps reported an loss
• Average profit was $1,620.46
• Largest profit was $8,000
• 6 camps had a profit of less than $1,000
• 7 camps had a profit of more than $1,000

While we didn't ask explicity what camps did with any operating profit, conversations I've had with other camp organizers indicate that most profit is saved to be used as seed money for a future camp.

• 8 camps paid for expenses out of pocket
• 14 camps had sponsors pay for expenses directly
• 9 camps paid for expenses out of a user group or camp account
• 4 camps had a 3rd party manage income and expenses

• 1 camp created a legal organization specifically for the event
• 5 camps partnered with a 501(c)3 organization
• 6 camps partnered with another type of organization
• 19 camps utilized no legal organization at all

• 1 camp purchased event insurance from their venue
• 2 camps purchased event insurance from an agent/carrier

Providing a financial and legal mechanism for camps is one way that the association has indicated that it might be interested in helping camps. Less than half of the camps utilized a legal entity or a dedicated account to handle finances. Surprisingly, only 3 camps purchased any kind of event insurance. Granted, some venues include event insurance as part of the rental fee, but this is something that should be considered for all camps - especially larger ones.

• 7 camps purchased t-shirts to give away to participants
• 5 camps purchased t-shirts to sell to participants
• 19 camps provided morning drinks/snacks
• 20 camps provided lunch
• 15 camps provided afternoon drinks/snacks
• 8 camps provided evening drinks/snacks
• 4 camps rented additional equipment (chairs, projectors, PA systems, venues, internet services)

Other items paid for by camps included: notebooks, fliers, posters, bags, badges, patches, lanyards, banners, raffle tickets, sign holders. In addition, it is assumed that at some camps, sponsors provided some of these items.

• 10 camps had 10 or less volunteers
• 13 camps had between 10 and 20 volunteers
• 1 camp had more than 20 volunteers
• The average participants per volunteer was 15.8 (low was 4, high was 61.67)

Larger camps tended to have a participant-to-volunteer ratio of between 10 and 15, while smaller camps were a bit lower. Three camps had participant-to-volunteer ratios over over 30, which skewed the average (and probably made for some very tired volunteers!)

• 2 camps organized their camp sessions a low degree ("unconference style")
• 9 camps organized their camp sessions to a medium degree ("seeded the camp")
• 13 camps organized their camp sessions to a high degree ("all sessions pre-planned")

Clearly, the majority of the camps were more conference-like than unconference-like. Conference-like camps add an additional layer of complexity, resulting in the need for additional volunteers (both organizers and speakers), but probably results in better attendance (more people might be willing to attend if they know what to expect) and a wider variety of Drupalistas (especially if there are different levels and topics of sessions). Another possible benefit might be an increase in the number of sponsors - if they see an organized program, they might be more willing to participate.

The last question of the survey was for camp organizers to add any additional comments they thought might be helpful. Here's a sample:

"We organized on a Google Wave, letting everyone who was interested join the conversation. We picked a good venue (Temple U, where one organizer works) who also donated the food and took care of a lot. We used a pretty basic site which we built in a one evening open sprint for the previous camp, and updated its theme with a new design. Overall, people step in and do what's needed and we don't do a whole lot of organizing and have no real power structure or people seeking power in the process. On the other hand, we always have our camps on a weekday because we are more professionals than hobbyists, and they've always managed to be smooth and professional."

"We held in the camp in a very small village in the West of Ireland. It was held in a beautiful venue - the Burren College of Art which was about a mile from Ballyvaughan village. The idea behind this was that in a small and lovely location, it would be very easy for socialise during the weekend - and so it proved. We found this was as helpful as the pre-planned sessions themselves and people loved having the camp in a place that had a unique character in itself. We also found that staff and management of the Burren College of Art (who gave the use of their venue for free) were also very enthusiastic and helpful as it was an unusual (to them) conference to host."

"Focused on track on beginners - soup-to-nuts intro to basics of Drupal core, how to install modules, some basic CCK & Views."

"We did a mini, regional Drupalcon for drupal 'professionals' - no newbie track."

"Having a focus on developers allowed us to get a lot of high-quality sessions, even with guest speakers from outside the Drupal world (php, mysql). The drawback was less sessions targeted at beginners (even though no restriction was imposed)."

"We got it organised, with 45 people signed up, within 2 weeks. Only marketing was through twitter."

"We partnered with local university for space, WiFi, most venue infrastructure."

"We had a great party the night before and planned sessions. Unconference-style, but with good people ready to give talks."