[Openstack-operators] Scaling the Ops Meetup

matt matt at nycresistor.com
Tue Jun 30 16:04:46 UTC 2015


+1 on the no booths rule.

-1 on paid registration, I think we need to be mindful of the smaller
openstack deployers, their voice is an important one, and their access to
the larger operations teams is invaluable to them.  I like the idea of
local teams showing up because it's in the neighborhood and they don't need
to hassle their budgeting managers too much for travel approval /
expenses.  This is more accessible currently than the summits for many
operators.  Let's keep it that way.

-matt

On Tue, Jun 30, 2015 at 11:56 AM, Joe Topjian <joe at topjian.net> wrote:

> Hi Tom,
>
> I think this is a great problem to have. Difficult to solve, but it shows
> how popular / important these meetups are.
>
> I'm definitely in favor of a "no booths" type meetup. I feel if a company
> wants to sponsor, they're doing it out of good will and any recognition
> would come from that.
>
> I'd love to keep the meetups as inclusive as possible. I found the
> Philadelphia meetup to be extremely valuable networking-wise (as well as
> extremely valuable in general). A lot of people I talked to may not have
> attended if there was some kind of bar placed on entry.
>
> I think the current schedule format is still working: open discussions
> bring in a lot of feedback and tips, working groups continue to shape and
> produce actions. Open discussions may become unwieldy as attendance grows,
> but maybe having two tracks would solve that.
>
> Do you have a good indication that the number of attendees will continue
> to grow? Maybe it has hit (or will soon hit) a steady level?
>
> I wouldn't be opposed to having a paid registration for the meetup. Could
> the amount be polled if paid registration is considered?
>
> Thanks, Tom. I don't envy your position, but I do very much appreciate the
> work that goes into planning this. :)
>
> Joe
>
> On Mon, Jun 29, 2015 at 10:33 PM, Tom Fifield <tom at openstack.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Right now, behind-the-scenes, we're working on getting a venue for next
>> ops mid-cycle. It's taking a little longer than normal, but rest assured
>> it is happening.
>>
>> Why is it so difficult? As you may have noticed, we're reaching the size
>> of event where both physically and financially, only the largest
>> organisations can host us.
>>
>> We thought we might get away with organising this one old-school with a
>> single host and sponsor. Then, for the next, start a brainstorming
>> discussion with you about how we scale these events into the future -
>> since once we get up and beyond a few hundred people, we're looking at
>> having to hire a venue as well as make some changes to the format of the
>> event.
>>
>> However, it seems that even this might be too late. We already had a
>> company that proposed to host the meetup at a west coast US hotel
>> instead of their place, and wanted to scope out other companies to
>> sponsor food.
>>
>> This would be a change in the model, so let's commence the discussion of
>> how we want to scale this event :)
>>
>> So far I've heard things like:
>> * "my $CORPORATE_BENEFACTOR would be fine to share sponsorship with
>> others"
>> * "I really don't want to get to the point where we want booths at the
>> ops meetup"
>>
>> Which are promising! It seems like we have a shared understanding of
>> what to take this forward with.
>>
>> So, as the ops meetup grows - what would it look like for you?
>>
>> How do you think we can manage the venue selection and financial side of
>> things? What about the session layout and the scheduling with the
>> growing numbers of attendees?
>>
>> Current data can be found at
>> https://wiki.openstack.org/wiki/Operations/Meetups#Venue_Selection .
>>
>> I would also be interested in your thoughts about how these events have
>> only been in a limited geographical area so far, and how we can address
>> that issue.
>>
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>>
>> Tom
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
>
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