Update: This is happening, Drupalcon Denver will be March 19-23 2012 in Denver Colorado! http://denver2012.drupal.org
A few weeks ago the Drupalcon North America organizing committee did a survey to gauge community interest on where to hold Drupalcons for 2012. One of the items on the list was Denver, but we never really had much discussion of it here in these Colorado groups.
So, what do folks think?
Would you be excited for Drupalcon to be here? Would the Colorado/nearby groups have enough volunteers to help advertise and coordinate on the tasks of the conference?
Keep in mind that the "new" model (used mostly in San Francisco) is that there is a professional event organization company that does most of the tasks and the local community is more responsible for things like marketing the event, session and bof curation/selection, scholarship administration, and any special events we choose to try to do. Some of these tasks can and should be distributed to people outside of the immediate area.
The venue decision, venue management, sponsor coordination, and a lot of other details are more on the shoulders of the Drupal Association's team or the professional events organization hired by the Association.
Comments
I'd like it.
I think it would be a great idea, and that we've got some fantastic venues to host a meeting like this. (As I remember, the Adams Mark that's become the Sheridan downtown has a fantastic amount of below-street-level space for a conference.)
I think we could step up and mange this sort of event.
-john
I'm in
I'd love to help throw a DCD.
So who would be the 'professional event organization company'? Chapter Three will be a tough act to follow, but I think we could pull it off.
I forget the name
I forget the name, but it's a company that has helped with Drupalcon DC, DCSF, and DCChicago and are the long term partners for the Drupal Association in throwing events.
Chapter 3 did a ton of work along with lots of other volunteers, but there is also this other firm that does a lot of work behind the scenes.
knaddison blog | Morris Animal Foundation
Groundswell Marketing
Speaking for the DrupalCon Chicago team, Diana at Groundswell has been a fantastic resource so far in helping us plan and organize the event. Her experience working with past DrupalCons and other events of similar scope has been tremendously helpful. Having a strong local Drupal community is important, but only goes so far as our primary expertise is in building websites, not running couple-thousand-person conferences.
Would that be BlueProjects or
Would that be BlueProjects or do they only help with the European Drupalcons?
I think it is an amazing
I think it is an amazing opportunity. Our team would be committed to helping make it happen, particularly since we would benefit a lot from having a local Drupalcon. We've rarely had the financial resources to send more than one or two people in the past, and this would allow us to send our entire staff + interns and many of our clients would benefit as well.
Open Media Foundation
Me Too
I'd love to see Drupalcon in Denver. Given the success with the Colorado DrupalCamps, with the help of a professional meeting company, I don't see any reason why the DBUG group couldn't pull it off.
I'll volunteer.
Yes*
I think DrupalCon Denver could be really great. Maybe this is jumping the gun a bit, but I would love to see a bit more detailed discussion of what exactly we're all committing to contribute. In addition to being very excited about the potential, I'm slightly concerned that we might be making a larger commitment than we could actually fulfill. A few of the more active volunteers at the last camp have since left town, and there were some tasks at the camp that everyone agreed would be good to do but no one ever actually did them, while other tasks had too many volunteers. I'd be a lot more comfortable getting behind this after seeing a list of roles and volunteers for each.
But even without that, I'm in. And I will volunteer to make Awesomer Sauce happen.
Coordinating Tasks would be More Structured, I Think...
I don't think we're committing to anything just yet. This is Greg starting a conversation, not the Drupal association letting us know we're on deck. :)
That said, I think with a DrupalCon coming up we'd probably go into a more structured system of organization than we usually do with the Drupalcamps. Also, with a professional company handling a lot of the nitty-gritty details, I suspect we'd do fine.
-john
I too, would like that as well also
I would definitely step out of my free-loading comfort zone and help out.
Cool
I think it would be great to have it here. I'd pitch in for sure.
Heck yeah!
I'd be down to help where I can! I'd love to go to a DrupalCon so why not go to one in my own backyard? hehe
-Dani
great opportunity
+1 on helping, this would be a great opportunity for Denver. Seems like our location would be a difficult sell after 2011 in Chicago (merlinofchaos already posted about this), but hopefully people will realize a central US location can be more of an asset than the lack of geographic distribution is a liability. Hope to see Examiner et al help push for it. Let me know how I can help.
--
Andrew Hawks
andy@andyhawks.com
yes please
heck yeah! denver would be a great city for drupal con!
I'm in
I'm not particularly active in the Drupal community (although I hope that will change), but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to have Drupalcon here. Contact me and let me know what I can do.
I'd love it
I live in Wisconsin but my mom lives just south of Denver. I might be able to get her to watch the kids while I'm at the con.
Michelle
Jumping In
Drupal Camp Colorado 2010 was very successful. I am confident that a Drupalcon in Denver would be simply smashing.
I am jumping in with both feet!
We'd be hard pressed to top
We'd be hard pressed to top SF and Chicago I think, but it would be fun and I would definitely be interested in helping out in any way I could.
Contributors from outside of Denver
If we could segment tasks so that folks outside the Denver/Boulder area could contribute without traveling in to Denver, we could tap a bigger volunteer market, e.g. our Southern Colorado Drupal Users Group, etc.
Rick Nashleanas
www.monarchdigital.com
This would be fantastic
I would be so happy if DrupalCon came to Denver. I think as a Drupal community Colorado has a ton to offer, in my opinion we are one of the most passionate communities . I personally would come up from the Springs to Volunteer and help.
Another helper from Colorado Springs
I would definitely volunteer to help with a DrupalCon in Denver. It can be a bit tricky coordinating between efforts in Denver and Colorado Springs, but it can be done. I was involved in the Denvention 3 WorldCon (World Science Fiction Convention) that was in Denver in the summer of 2008 and it was also a big volunteer effort involving many people in both Denver and Colorado Springs. Having an external group handling the logistics of hotels, venue, etc would be a huge help since that's where most of the headaches with WorldCon were (it was also held two weeks before Democratic National Convention, which didn't help).
I definitely think Colorado has a great Drupal community and could pull this off.
Of course, by 2012 we might be talking about 10,000 people if DrupalCon keeps doubling.
I think Drupalcon Denver is a
I think Drupalcon Denver is a great idea, I'd love to see it happen and of course would help in whatever way I could.
That being said, we really shouldn't discount the enormous amount of work that goes into running these things, even with the 'new' model running a Drupalcon is far from a trivial task. Morten claims to have put in the range of 500-700 hours into Drupalcon Copenhagen. Whether that's an accurate number or an embellishment, I can't say, but I think it's clear that even with the new model the amount of effort that goes into pulling off a successful Drupalcon is several magnitudes greater than what it takes to run a camp.
Here are a few specific issues/challenges I see:
1) Who would be our 'lead'? Historically, there's usually 1-2 people on the local team who have put an enormous amount of effort into making the event run successfully. These people are of course backed up by a large team of volunteers, but I think it helps to have someone with the vision and leadership of what the event should be to take on this role.
2) Transportation. Denver is particularly challenged WRT to public transportation compared to nearly all of the recent Drupalcons. The only example of a city that's hosted a Drupalcon with worse public transit may be Szeged, but my understanding of Szeged is that it was small enough to not be an issue once you got there. Even the act of getting from the airport to a hotel could be painful for many people in Denver. Comparing our public transit to Boston, DC, SF, Paris, Chicago, London and Copenhagen we don't stand up in my opinion. There are enough hotels downtown that possibly this wouldn't be a deal breaker if we planned things with that in mind.
3) Venue size. It's not out of the question that at current growth rates a Drupalcon Denver could be looking in the range of 5000-6000 attendees or even more (Chicago is aiming for 5000 I believe). I know the Colorado Convention center is large enough to hold events of that size, but does it have a suitable place for a keynote where everyone can be in the same room? What are our options here?
Anyway, I fully support the idea of having a Drupalcon here in Denver, but there would definitely need to be some focussed discussion before I jump all the way in and say we definitely should or should not do it.
Capacity
The Wells Fargo Theater, part of the convention center holds 5,000. Some of the ballrooms can be configured to seat 3,500-4,700.
Of course you could have the general sessions at Invesco... ;-)
Throwing my 2 cents into the
Throwing my 2 cents into the mix. I think Denver is an excellent location for a Drupalcon due to the centralized downtown area in relation to the convention center. It wouldn't be as spread out as some of the larger cities which would lead to an increased likelihood of finding Drupal people to do those socially things with after the convention centers doors close. Lots of fun facts available at http://www.denver.org/convention/convention-center/colorado-convention-c... but it sounds like the convention center would be a good fit as long as it happened within the next couple US Drupalcons.
Either way I want to help with this if it happens and offer whatever is needed.
2 more cents
I agree with Kevin - Denver's downtown would provide a great setting for a DrupalCon. I'm confident our strong community here in Colorado would rise to the challenge of organizing such an event, and I'd love to help.
If it Denver is selected, I hope we can schedule it a bit later to take advantage of nicer weather. I know there are many more important factors to consider when scheduling this kind of event (including proximity to the European DrupalCon), but it would would be swell anyway.
It would be wonderful
Drupalcon Denver sounds great. Do we know if there is any serious consideration, or when we'd hear if it is even a remote possibility?