Dates for Zabbix Conference 2012

[sersor]

I hope many of you have enjoyed participating at Zabbix Conference 2011. To make next conference even more valuable and fun to all the Zabbix community, we want to start planning much earlier.

And first thing is to decide on dates. We want to keep the same Friday-Saturday format and the same season - end of September. So the proposed dates are September 21-22, 2012.

Please let me know the reasons why this is not good. I will be waiting for your comments for few weeks, than I will go on with discussing other conference related questions.

[nelsonab]

I think you should set a date when discussion of new ideas is closed.

Also I would suggest having it somewhere else in the World. I know that makes planning more difficult for you, but that may help make it easier for people to make it. In that vein I suggest The DC area around the same time. Dulles airport is a major hub and is accessible from Europe and most of South America directly. I believe there are even some direct flights from Asia as well to DC. In addition the US dollar is weaker than many world currencies, making most items here cheaper for holders of those foreign currencies.

However the one downside to DC is that you cannot purchase Balzam here...

[sersor]

We want to check for any conflicts on those proposed dates.

Yes, we are open to any new ideas about location, format, events, guests, free of charge or package price etc.

So through as many ideas as you can.

What about pricing of conference premises in DC? Do you have any ideas (names) to start with?

[nelsonab]

Marriott hotels often have deals for meetings and conferences. There are also a a few Marriott hotels to choose in the DC area. In addition all of the other major chains will have conference spaces at many of their DC area hotels. The same holds true for pretty much every city in the US with regards to the major hotel chains. The smaller the city the cheaper the conference space may be, but the tradeoff may be a less convenient place to travel to. I'm sure few people would argue with Las Vegas, oh wait "No WiFi". (For those who don't know the special meaning for the term "No WiFi", you had to be at the 2K11 conference to understand). Also feel free to email me if you need my help getting information on some ideas in the US.

As a secondary option I know someone who is heavily involved with Hack DC (http://www.hacdc.org/), the local hacker space here in DC, I can ask to see if they have some ideas.

I still recommend you set a close date for all open suggestions. This way you can more easily keep to the schedule you need to in order to get things done in a timely manner.

[sersor]

I would see December 1 as a close date for all suggestions/objections.

We may meanwhile discuss the location which is the second important thing to start with. So we now have to options: Latvia and DC (USA), which is better in terms of travel, but harder for Zabbix team to manage. Any other proposals/ideas?

Of course, we would be happy to get a nice location free of charge to save money for more interesting stuff.

[qix]

I don't see any problem at this moment with the mentioned date.

However, I'm no too sure about the US for a location though.
I think I can get company sponsoring on a trip to anywhere in Europe, the US may not be so easy.

Unless of course, Zabbix SIA is going to sponsor travel tickets for speakers...then I still see an opportunity.

[nelsonab]

I think therein lies the problem with almost any location. Those who live close to the even will require a smaller budget. The main reason for suggesting the US is to provide some means of kick starting further interest in the US. Zabbix already has a strong presence in Europe and Japan, but the US presence is not as string as I wish it was. To be honest I would be shocked if DC was the only other location suggested.

Besides, why are you grumbling about travel costs... ;-) Some of us flew further distances, used some of our precious vacation time and paid for it out of our own pockets. ;-) And in the end the time spent in Riga was worth it. :-)

[sersor]

I would agree with Nelsonab. Of course, we have plenty of places to show in Latvia. But I think for many our users from South or Western Europe travel expenses to Latvia or to DC would not make a large difference. Russia may suffer more. On the other hand, South America may save some money on travel and definitely it would be much easier for the USA.

[0siris]

How about starting a poll under the previous attendees?
That's about 100 people that have shown up before, likely eager to go again.
Ask questions about the previous conference, ask about the next location, continents, cities, with the possibility of an "other" answer.
I'm willing to help with the questions if you like.

[exkg]

... my two cents:

I agree with Nelson that will be good/needed carry ZABBIX Conference closer to another users (USA, Brazil, etc).

I think that 'ZABBIX Partners' can help to hold the 'ZABBIX Conference' outside Latvia ... if ZABBIX SIA decides to.

My sugestion:

- one year we can have ZABBIX Conference in Latvia;
- the next one we can have ZABBIX Conference in another country (with the help of local ZABBIX Partners);
- the next one in Latvia again ... and so on;

But ... (remember, its just my two cents) I think that we have a lot more 'participants' in EUROPE because countries are too closer. I don't know if the same people that go to EUROPE (to ZABBIX Conference) will go to USA or Brazil for example.


[]s,
Luciano

[nelsonab]

I think Exkg has a good idea with regards to using the Zabbix partners, and the two year rotation.

In that case I volunteer to be the US partner for the event. :-D I'm willing to invest if necessary to make it happen. :-)

[exkg]

Ok ... we also are willing to help/invest/work here in Brazil.

[sersor]

exkg. really thank you for this idea/proposal. because it scares me a bit to manage an event from overseas. but partner idea gives a relief on that.
my personal opinion (but not official position of Zabbix) is to have next conference in the USA.

I understand 0siris point, but I think that the poll under the previous attendees will give a false results. Many potential attendees did not come to the conference due to travel issues. If we always ask previous attendees, we will never move any further than Latvia, since many locals have attended the conference.

I see that our discussion moved from dates (and I did not hear any objections on those proposed) to location. So may be we have to concentrate now more on location and those partners that can help in organizing the event?

[nelsonab]

Sersor I think identifying locations would be the best idea for now, and in doing so try to identify people/partners who are willing to help make it happen. Zabbix SIA will still need to play a part, but the partner can be the local guide on the ground.

[sersor]

OK. than I am looking for location proposals. at this moment we have:
- Washington DC, the USA;
- Riga, Latvia.
waiting for other location/partner ideas.