The group chatted a little bit about this on Skype, but I need to get my thoughts together and we need to get a discussion going. Soon.
The SacDUG has floated the idea of hosting a DrupalCamp for about six months now. Many of us think that this is a totally do-able thing, and a few people have stepped forward to help.
Location:
The School of Education at UC Davis has graciously agreed to provide facilities at no cost. This is assuming, of course, that it doesn't conflict with instruction, or any other event that has already been planned.
Available for use are 5 classrooms all close together in the Academic Surge Building:
- 2368/2372 - Capacity: 48 (Can be separated into two rooms, but very rarely is)
- 2362/2366 - Capacity: 42 (Can be separated into two rooms, but very rarely is)
- 2363 - Capacity: 42 (I'm thinking this room as the Registration / Sponsor / Snacks Room)
- 2375 - Capacity: 30
- 2377 - Capacity: 30
And 1 classroom in the nearby Temporary Classroom Building:
- TC3 - Capacity: 80 (Depending on our needs, we may choose to not use this room.)
The capacity listed for these rooms is the "Fire Marshall will break up the party" limits. It's probably a good idea that we don't plan for that many people total. If we decide not to use TC3, I'm thinking we plan for 100 attendees, but cap the registration at 120 because there will likely be fall-off.
I also think that I could get a nearby auditorium for an opening welcome session on Saturday morning, but not for the whole weekend.
Each room is equipped with an LCD projector, and Wifi is available throughout the classrooms.
Also nearby is the Tercero Residence Hall, and its Dining Commons which costs something like $8-$10 for lunch.
Dates:
So, here is the real sticker. At this point, these are the dates that UCD is available to us:
- April 30-May 1 (No way. Too soon.)
- May 21-22 (Also probably too soon. Also, Maker Faire Bay Area is that weekend, and I really want to go to that.)
- May 28-29 (Memorial Day Weekend. Likely to get some fall-off)
- July 23-24 (At this point, we're getting really close to DrupalCamp LA, which is usually held in early August.)
After that, we have DrupalCon London which is August 23-25, and it's not a good idea to be too close to that.
If we start looking at weekends in September, we'll have to wait until our Fall Academic Schedule gets set in stone. But we have time, so that's okay.
And then BADCamp is usually in October or November.
I just don't know when we'll be able to squeeze in a camp. I really think that late April to early May is the best time to do it, but we really don't have enough time to pull that off this year. Should we just wait till next year? If we're going to do it in July, we better start getting our act together.
Sponsors:
We have several sponsors who have come forward to vaguely indicate that they'll be willing to sponsor. I'm not worried about this aspect of it so much... except for the handling of the money (see below).
A Major Drupal Training Shop has also offered to do a full-day training on the Friday just before the camp, much like BADCamp had.
Money:
Even though I don't think that funding is going to be a big issue for this camp, handling that funding could be. I participated in a couple BOFs at DrupalCon Chicago where we discussed DrupalCamps, and I got a couple things out of it that we need to pay attention to, including a financial management plan.
There are two ways we can go about handling money at a camp:
- We don't touch ANY money - This means that we just ask sponsors to handle specific tasks: UCD provides facilities, A Major Drupal Training Shop provides training, One Sponsor pays for the after-party, Another Sponsor brings snacks, A Third Sponsor provides signage and printed materials. You get the idea. This may SEEM easier, but it can be a coordination nightmare.
- We hire a financial manager - This means that we create sponsor levels, sponsors give us cash, and we spend the cash. This also means that Someone needs to be Responsible for this money. It also means we need a bank account, preferably with a credit card, and Someone needs to keep VERY accurate books, to be sure that all the sponsors come through, and everything purchased is accounted for. It was advised during this BOF to pay a firm to do this, or partner with another non-profit who is more organized than we are and has a dedicated bookkeeper. The cost for this service normally comes in at 5-10% of your revenue. This sounds like a drag, and perhaps it is, but it's necessary.
We also have to be sure that we don't MAKE any money after all is said and done. Otherwise we have to pay taxes. This is frequently handled by donating all remaining money to the Drupal Association.
It was also recommended that every camp budget $500 to donate to the COD project, since we're all benefiting from it for the camp web sites. I endorse this suggestion.
Insurance:
It was also recommended that every camp carries insurance. This might be covered by UCD, but it might not. I'll be sure to check into that.
Thoughts??
So, this is totally do-able, right?
Let's get the discussion going here. Speak up if you want to volunteer. Speak up if you have ideas. I'd like to have a pretty good idea of our plans before our April SacDUG meeting.