By kvantomme on

As advisory board member to the Drupal Association I was asked by the Drupal Association to chair and compose a new committee that will be selecting the destination for Drupalcon 2013.

The European Selection Committee is tasked with selecting ten potential locales for the European DrupalCon in 2013 based on a set of predetermined criteria for the selection. Once we have selected the cities, we will then provide a poll for the community to respond as to which location they would prefer. Once the top three locations have been decided, the DA's Events Director will then do the fiscal and logistical analysis as to which location would be cost effective and work out best for us.

I've asked 4 people to join me in the new committee, all are people that I got to know and trust through their involvement in the organization of and participation in events across Europe. All of them are part of the group of "national representatives" that meet up at the European Drupalcons. Myself I was previously involved in the selection of the destinations for Drupalcon Copenhagen, London and Munich first as chair and than later as committee member.

The people that I have asked to work with me on the committee are:

  • Vesa Palmu: A member of the board and active event organizer in the Finnish community. As CEO of Mearra a Drupal shop in Finland he can also help give input into the value of a destination for the business community (sufficient sponsorship is a key to keep attendee rates low).
  • Ivo Radulovski: Key instigator of several Drupal events in Europe including Drupalcamp Austria, Bulgaria, the Drupal Gov Days in Brussels and the Drupal Business Days in Vienna. Ivo is the CEO for Austria, Belgium & Germany at Propeople.
  • Jakub Suchy: a member of the security team, Jakub started the Czech Drupal community and used to organize Drupalcamp Prague before he moved to the UK. Jakub now lives in London where he is the head of professional services for Acquia Europe.
  • Stella Power: previously active as a developer for Civic Actions and now owner and developer at Annertech, Stella is an active member of the Irish Drupal community. Stella is also a member of the Drupal security team.

I've tried to include people from around Europe (North - Vesa; East - Ivo; Central - Jakub; West - Stella), I have however not included someone from the South this year since I really want the committee to seriously consider our options for a Drupalcon in Southern Europe (it is possible we still settle on another region though). Not having someone from the South, means that we can unbiased discuss different options without having to consider potential conflicts of interest.

Prior to starting work, we'd like to provide the community an opportunity to respond to our proposed team. Feel free to comment here, or email me directly at kvantomme@gmail.com by end of day Friday, January 13 (midnight EST).

⋅ Categories: EUSC

Comments

highermath’s picture

highermath commented

As important as the makeup of the Selection Committee (what happened to Regional Organizing Group?) might be, it is more important to identify its mission, beyond simply finding a place to hold an event. Since this committee has not been chartered by the Drupal Association Board, I am not sure that it can really be called a DA committee and it should not proceed as it it had a charter or defined mission. This was, BTW, why we originally went with the less specific Group designation.

Personally, I think that the European DrupalCon needs to serve all of Europe as well as meet the needs of Drupal's diverse constituencies, and I believe that it should be held in the place where it can best meet those needs. I don't think that meeting those needs would need necessarily fit with a goal of, say, strict geographic diversity.

While it is likely not a good idea to hold all European DrupalCons in, say, London, where we know we can draw a large crowd, it is important to consider ease of travel and possibly the existence of strong Drupal markets and community.

Anonymous’s picture

macjules (not verified) commented

Having been recently asked to check on venues for a conference my initial thought was Cannes, as being widely acknowledged as one of the world's conference hubs. Upon digging a bit more I find that Venice is almost on a par with Cannes.

I guess the main problem with any Southern European venue is going to be the heat at that time of the year, especially for those of us not used to it. The South of France can be like a blast furnace in August while Venice can be very temperate. Certainly there is a lot more within the immediate vicinity to see and do in Venice and I daresay that a conference centre would also be much, much cheaper than hiring the Palais des Festivals in Cannes.

For my choice I would go with Venice for 2013.

cybernostra’s picture

cybernostra commented

2013 will be the year that Marseille will be European Capital of Culture and the city will be available to host major international events. Marseille is located at the seaside and infrastructure are up to accommodate the public. The public will find entertainment in addition to the reasons for his move. Accommodation is cheaper than in other cities as well as being the same quality. ; conference facilities, international airport, TGV faster train, allow for easy access.

I can make the link with city congress agency for evaluate cost and opportunity.

Christian Artin

pmarciano’s picture

pmarciano commented

I think the most of the European countries have been covered, and now it's time for Italy. Milan (business and commercial Capital) or Rome (politic and tourist Capital) are the most elegible, Venice or Florence could be nice locations but small and expensive in summer.

Cheers,
Pierluigi Marciano by Wellnet - Milan

andypanix’s picture

andypanix commented

A DrupalCon in Italy could be a great way to promote Drupal in my country. Rome or Milan are probably the best candidates.

omissis’s picture

omissis commented

Hi, it's good to hear a Drupalcon might travel toward the south of Europe by 2013 :)
As a member of the italian Drupal association I'd like to help this process in any possible way, so if I can answer any question or prepare any document, just contact me.
Regards

Jeff Veit’s picture

Jeff Veit commented

I wasn't watching, and this passed me by, but I'm very pleased to see a new way of selecting possible destinations because I don't think that the selection process for London or Germany went terribly well.

As you know, the biggest single driver in running the conference is the venue; how much the tickets must cost, what spare money there is, how many people you can accommodate are all driven by the choice of venue. By choosing the potential cities first, you are limiting the choice of potential venue, which is what happened in London. While I was enormously pleased by the team at the conference centre and the job that they did, the choice of that particular venue was effectively forced on us by the huge price differential between the venue we used and the next cheapest venue.

That differential only existed because we were constrained to holding the conference in London, and at the size that the conference is reaching, we are limited by the number of possible venues: in London, there were only 8 or so that were capable of hosting the number of attendees we predicted. If we had held it outside of London, we would have had many more choices of venue, at lower cost, with more capacity.

I think that instead of having an initial focus on the city, we should instead first think about the host nation. Then we can look for suitable conferencing facilities that are not constrained by city, but can find the best mix of venue, reachability and price.