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PyCon Asia Pacific 2017 Call for Participation

This is the announcement for the Call for Participation (CFP) for PyCon Asia Pacific (APAC) 2017. The purpose of this call is to select an Asia Pacific in-country team willing and able to organize the Python conference on-site at their country of origin. Introduction

The PyCon APAC conference series is presently ‘owned’ by a group of active volunteers that represent PyCon organizers in various Asia Pacific countries. In the past, such organizers were sought to host the PyCon APAC brand of the conference as part of their in-country PyCon. Since the first PyCon APAC in 2010, interest to host PyCon APAC has gradually increased, leading to this Call for Participation. It is our hope that different Asia Pacific countries will take turns to host as the momentum of Python develops in this region.

This Call for Participation is meant to collect proposals from teams wishing to help run PyCon Asia Pacific in 2017 in a location they are local to. PyCon APAC 2017 is intended to serve as a platform for Python users throughout Asia-Pacific countries to come together to meet with fellow Python users. The same can be said for anyone adopting an exploratory perspective towards Python.

Timeline for Proposals The Call for Participation will run until the following deadline for submissions. Proposals must be submitted until midnight on the deadline day, and must adhere to the requirements specified in this document. Please make sure to read the whole document carefully.

|01st March 2016 | CFP announcement| |30th April 2016 |Deadline for submissions + ~ 8 weeks | |15th May 2016| Deadline for PyCon APAC Committee (PAC) to review proposals + ~ 2 weeks | |30th May 2016 |Deadline for amended proposals + ~ 2 weeks| |15th June 2016 Decision on the next PyCon APAC host + ~ 2 weeks|

Proposal Workflow

1. Send your proposal as a PDF to: [email protected]
2. The committee will review the proposals and possibly request amendments directly from the submitters. This is done in private between the submitters and the Python APAC Committee (or PAC in short).
3. The final version of each proposal will be released to the public after the amendment deadline (with confidential information removed). The PAC will ask the Python community to provide comments relating to the proposals and take an active role in discussions.
4. The final decision for the selection of the on-site team and location will be announced by the PAC within two weeks after the deadline for amended proposals. What is PyCon APAC

PyCon APAC is the Python conference for countries in the Asia Pacific and Australasia region, including countries that do not organize their own PyCon conference. Unlike PyCon US and EuroPython where the number of participants are more stable, the number of participants at PyCon APAC varies depending on the hosting country. The following is an estimate of past PyCon APAC’s :  200+ participants in PyCon APAC (Singapore)  500+ participants in PyCon APAC (Tokyo, Japan)  700+ participants in PyCon APAC (Taipei, Taiwan) The main medium of communication in PyCon APAC is also dependent on the hosting country. To meet the needs of an international audience however, and as host of PyCon APAC, the use of English (or translation to English) in the main and parallel tracks is a requirement. PyCon APAC will have:  At least 2 conference days

 More than 2 parallel tracks, with at least 2 tracks in English Given the nature of PyCon APAC, we are open to accepting proposal which can only host fewer attendees, with 200 attendees being the minimum. On-Site Team Requirements These are the requirements that an on-site team will sign-up to when submitting a proposal. Changes to these requirements are possible, but they must be signed off by the PAC before they can be put in place.

1. The conference will be financially and legally run by an entity registered at the hosting country and for which the on-site team is part of.
2. The on-site team must be geographically located in a country in the Asia Pacific and Australasia region.
3. The on-site team must be willing to actively coordinate with the PAC board and the other regional Python groups or Python workgroups where applicable, so that all parts of the PyCon APAC ecosystem can work together in a productive way. Of importance is the quality of the presentations which should be kept relevant, current and to a good/high level. a) This can be assisted with a panel of expert reviewers that ensures the quality of proposals submitted. The feedback of reviewers must be afforded to the proposers in order to assist improvements to their presentations where applicable.
4. The on-site team must be composed of at least five (5) active members and the team, or a majority of its members thereof has previously organized at least one (1) PyCon conference before. Five members is the bare minimum for the on-site team to successfully handle the amount of work required to organize the conference. a) Please keep in mind that the team is required to grow significantly during the conference days and it is considered an advantage, if the on-site team can show that they already have a good number of volunteers to count on during the conference days.
5. The on-site team should provide details of suggested keynote speakers. At least 2 such speakers should be part of the plan.
6. The on-site team should ideally provide 2 available venue options, together with catering options for the venues. The size of the venue will depend on the size of past PyCon conferences in the host country plus between 10 – 20% more in view of PyCon APAC. a) The venue must provide breakout rooms for the number of expected attendees and the number of parallel tracks, with 2 English-based tracks being the minimum. Note: In past PyCon APAC’s, on-site teams have sought and collaborated with institutions of higher learning (IHL’s) as they can provide the venues required at no or low cost.
7. The conference must provide the following services to all attendees. Proposals will have to provide details about how these can be implemented at the proposed venues. a) Food and drinks for lunches and breaks on all conference days (and tutorials and sprints where applicable) b) Optionally, breakfast on all conference days (not necessarily on the tutorial and sprint days where applicable) c) WLAN service to access the Internet during the conference (and the tutorial and sprints if applicable) d) At least one social event, which can be a dinner, a show or some other form of entertainment, where food and drinks are served. The main social event should ideally be available to all attendees, but may also be limited to a lower number of people, if the selected venue cannot serve as many participants. e) Audio/video facilities to support speakers and talk recordings.
8. The conference must take place within the following preferred timeframe: May 1st - October 31th. It is possible to propose more than just one set of conference dates if necessary, since the costs may vary across this timeframe.
9. The on-site team must provide a local expenses budget plan as part of the proposal. An example budget plan can be provided on request. The on-site team will provide details of how they will be funding for the conference in support of the expenses expected. a) In as far as possible, conference fees should be kept to a minimum to support the participation of attendees from the Asia Pacific / Australasia region. b) In support of the potential PyCon APAC host, requests for financial support can be made to the PAC to cover for specific items of the budget plan. c) The finances associated with the running of the conference must be maintained in a manner that ensures transparency and proper financial governance.
10. The on-site team must be able to provide supporting letters for visa applicants wanting to attend the conference. Proposal Structure The proposal must cover all of the following points:
11. A proposal introduction which describes the motivation for the proposal.
12. A description of the on-site team, its members and history in the context of their local Python community.
13. Short biography of the key members and their previous experience in conference and events organizations.
14. Previous conference history of the on-site team (if any). Describe which conferences were run and provide some figures on their size (registrations, tracks, total income)
15. Assignment of key positions to on-site team members. Positions to be assigned (one member can be responsible for more than one of the following roles): a) Chairperson of the on-site team workgroup: usually also the conference chair and representative of the conference for that year b) Sponsor manager: on-site contact for all sponsor activities, responsible for local sponsors c) Venue manager: handling all contacts with the venue and caterer d) Logistics manager: handling all aspects of local logistics and customs e) Conference desk manager: responsible for the on-site help desk, on-site registrations, tickets, cash refunds, attendee support, etc.
16. List of all team members that will be present during the conference itself as volunteers (but not necessarily help before the conference begins), and/or sources from which people can be or will be acquired if needed (e.g.: universities, other local associations, etc.). This list is indicative, as most of the volunteers helping during the conference are usually enrolled during the last months/weeks before the conference.
17. List of potential international and local sponsors. Note : Local sponsors help a lot in funding the conference. These are often smaller companies which will not move to new locations with the conference, so a local contact is highly beneficial in attracting these sponsors. a) The PAC can assist with contacts with international sponsors where possible
18. Proposed dates for PyCon APAC 2017.
19. Keynote speakers proposed.
20. Conference events. Describe which kind of (social) events you can propose for the conference and are able to provide support for.
21. Expected differences from previous PyCon APAC conferences (2014 and 2015). Please highlight what things would need to be changed in the way the conference is run on-site. Examples of things we would consider worthwhile to mention: a) “We can get additional support from the local government / city council” b) “We need to provide tickets to city locals at reduced prices” c) “We intend to serve meals in a different venue” d) “We have some extra space available for posters / sponsors” e) “We want to have our local Python conference run as satellite event” etc.
22. Venue proposal. Describe the following sub-items: a) Location, reachability by car, train, plane b) Venue floor plans, catering floor plans (if different from venue) c) Total capacity for talk rooms, training rooms, plenary sessions, booth space and catering/restaurants; if possible, including room plans d) A/V equipment e) Video recording, availability of on-site support for A/V recordings, possibly even including live- or post-editing f) Lightning equipment, availability of on-site support for lighting g) Upstream internet connection (at least 100MB up and downstream) h) WLAN structure, service provider, their experience with similar events (The WLAN has to be able to handle at least the number of participant devices expected without problems) i) Available space for conference desk, sponsor booths, posters, social event, etc., planned locations of these on the floor plans
23. Accommodation. Describe the following sub-items: a) Available hotels/hostels near the conference venues, their distance from the conference venue, city centre, airport and train station b) Rates for the hotels/hostels and, optionally, special rates which can be made available to attendees c) The above for three different categories: high end, average and low end d) Optionally, a “main” hotel that serves as default choice for conference attendees and serves as a social hub
24. City tourist information. Describe the following sub-items: a) General information: touristic information, restaurants, mobility b) Travel information: how to get to the city and to the conference venue. This information should indicate how easily the conference city and venue are accessible. It should also answer questions like: Are there convenient ways to get to the conference venue from airports/trains and bus stations and without having a car/taxi? c) Travel costs from the previous mentioned travel hubs to the conference venue
25. Visa. If attendees may require a visa to enter the country/city, please provide detailed information.
26. Proposed local budget. a) The budget should include all expected costs for the on-site support, including the venue costs, catering, on-site rental of equipment, costs for venue services and logistics, extras like public transport passes, etc. Optional budget positions should be indicated as such, to give more flexibility in comparing proposals. b) The budget must handle different scenarios related to different venues, where applicable, including fixed rooms costs, catering, services, etc. Please provide cost estimates for 200, 400, 600 and 800 attendees (if possible with the venue). c) Please write to the PAC if you need help with setting up a budget plan. Proposal Format Some things to consider when sending the proposal document:  Please mark information that you consider confidential in the proposal, so that we can remove those parts from the version that will be published during the Call for Participation process.  The proposal itself should be sent as PDF, LibreOffice, Word document, or shared as Google Docs document.  When using third party content (e.g. pictures, graphics, special fonts), please add a section which includes the references for these elements of the proposal. We need to publish the proposals to the general public and thus adhere to copyright restrictions that may apply to the content. PyCon APAC – On the Longer Term A longer term goal of PyCon APAC is to integrate on-site teams to workgroups within a PyCon APAC framework wherein tasks which do not need to be done by on-site team members can be implemented by distributed workgroups that can work remotely and persist from location to location. This framework will help: a) reduce the loss of institutional knowledge b) reduce the amount of work and financial risk for on-site teams and c) encourage the wider APAC community to take part in the organization process beside the on-site team The PyCon APAC framework can take reference from models such as those of EuroPython.(http://www.europythonsociety.org/post/99718376575/europythonworkgr oupscallforvolunteers)