summercon 2008 A new tradition of organization (5/30-6/1)

This is a short interview with one of the Summercon volunteers that helped organize the 2003 and 2004 Summercon held at the University Club in Pittsburgh, PA.

jonlin: What did you help with these 2 years that Summercon was held in Pittsburgh?
A. Patel: Finding a location, running weekly conference calls, bitching at people to get their shit done, umm, making sure all the A/V and technical crap that needed to be there was there, interfacing with the hotels, figuring out T-Shirts, making sure all the logistics... everything had to get there, running the registration table.

jonlin: What made you decide on the University Club?
AP: It was cheap, there was a bar next door, it was a central location to the Universities, it was in Oakland which had lots of restaurants and plenty of things to do for night-life. We needed to make sure to keep our operating budget to a minimum. We really just wanted to break even this year.

jonlin: What were the other locations that you were looking at?
AP: Carnegie Mellon University, other hotels in the area, like the Holiday Inn and the Wyndam Gardens in Oakland.

jonlin: Why did summercon return to Pittsburgh for a second year in 2004?
AP: We had a very high turnout the first year for both speakers and attendees. And the hotel (University Club) really appreciated our business and loved to have us back.

jonlin: Was it because you were lazy?
AP: No. <glare>

jonlin: So you think that the conference went really well these 2 years?
AP: Yeah, I think they went pretty well both years.

jonlin: Did you have a good time?
AP: Yeah. I had a fucking awesome time.

jonlin: Why didn't Summercon return to Pittsburgh for a 3rd year, it isn't unprecedented since it remained in Atlanta for 3 years?
AP: We wanted to bring it to another smaller city and we felt that Austin was a place that we haven't been before. We felt there was interest in the Austin area because there were many technological companies there and that the city itself offered many things for the people attending the conference.

jonlin: What was probably the hardest thing about organizing Summercon?
AP: We had different committees working on different aspects of Summercon, organizing events when everyone had full-time jobs. Also there was a timezone difference between the committee members and it was hard to find a common time to meet.

jonlin: Would you help with the organization of Summercon again in the future?
AP: Yes, I would.