How to Organize a JoomlaDay™

Creating a Joomla!Day requires a combination of good leadership, teamwork, and lots of energy. A successful Joomla!Day isn't measured solely on the number of attendees, but rather the value of the information shared and the new connections made within the local community. This is a simple guide that Joomla!Day organizers can use in creating their own Joomla!Days. Even better, this page should be used by past Joomla!Day organizers to share their knowledge. The more information the better!

Choosing a City

The city where the event shall be should be easy to reach for the targeted audience. Public transportation should be available to the city and to the venue. There should also be enough hotels (check prices!).

Larger cities offer better infrastructure, but mostly the venues are more expensive. Don't forget to check smaller cities with good infrastructure.

Checklist:

• possibly in the centre of your country / region
• public transportation (airport, train, bus)
• Hotels / Hostels
• available locations for social events
• price range of available venues

The final decision for the city should be made together with the venue.

Choosing a Venue

Before choosing the venue, some key facts should be planned:

• expected number of attendees (audience + team + speaker + sponsors)
• rough timetable (how many rooms?)
• catering
• BUDGET

There are a lot of different types of venues possible: conference hotels, companies, university, ... All of them have advantages and disadvantages. A venue at a university can be very cheap - but normally, you have to care for everything on your own (technical equipment, catering, cleaning, ...) while conference hotels offer full service, but are most expensive.

When you compare the prices for the venues, don't forget to include the technical equipment (Beamer, WiFi, Whiteboards, Sound, ...). If this is not included, this may be expensive to rent.

Choosing a Date and Time

Check the following dates:

• vacation / holidays
• other large events in the selected city
• other events in the Joomla-Community (esp. if you plan to invite international speakers)
• other web/development related events

There should be at least 2 weeks between other similar events.

The event should be planned at least (!) 6 - 8 months in advance!

Choosing the Schedule Structure

Lecture, breakout rooms, and unconference modes.

Choosing Speakers

Where possible you should aim to have local speakers. Having international speakers can be a great attraction for your event but try to avoid having too many speakers who are not presenting in the native language of the JoomlaDay.

Finding Fiscal Support and Sponsors

When you try to find sponsors, don't forget that you are dealing with companies. They expect professional and reliable information and agreements.

Before contacting sponsors, prepare

• sponsoring options (e.g. gold-sponsor, silver-sponsor, ...)
• sponsoring packages (what does the sponsor get)
• prices for options and packages
• sponsoring contract and invoice
• some information about Joomla, the event and the expected audience

• one person in the team should be responsible for the sponsors
• create a list of possible sponsors
• set up a webpage for sponsors
• set up an emailaddress like sponsor@yourevent.tld