SQL Saturday Oregon and SW Washington 2023 is in the books and I hope everyone had a good time. As always, it was fantastic to see many people from the #SQLFamily. As always, I was running around like a chicken with my head cutoff due to many issues including coffee…. I expect that. It’s hard to manage any size of group, and there will always be issues, especially when people are involved. We already had our AAR for the conference and have made plans for next year. We being our excellent leadership team of Jessica and William Aguilar, Paul Turley, and myself. Not to mention we had some really good and willing volunteers this year!
But, I wanted to talk about the basics. A new friend, Tonie Huizer, asked me a lot of questions about doing his own event in the Netherlands, and we talked about what needs to happen.
The fundamentals:
- Your site. This will be your biggest expense unless you can find a deal somewhere. Sometimes one of your sponsors will have space they can let you use, but as the conference grows, you’re going to need a big space with proper restrooms, parking, access, and even a kitchen. Having all of those items will most likely cost money. I highly recommended checking out your local schools, colleges, churches, Masonic Lodges, and granges. Make sure you have that non-profit status set up and be sure to ASK FOR A DISCOUNT!
- Insurance. You’ll need liability insurance of some sort, but usually it’s only a few hundred dollars at most.
- Food. How will you feed your guests? How will you pay for it? There’s a lot of questions here to be discussed later, but somehow that food has to be paid for, and it’s a balancing act of having enough without going over!
- Speaker Dinner. This goes without saying, and it’s the really fun part when everyone can relax a bit and catch up with each other. Most restaurants and bars will provide the space for free as long as you commit to a minimum amount.
- Speaker Gifts. Another nice item that lets your speakers know how much you appreciate their time and effort.
- Coffee. Just plan on buying coffee!
- Sponsors. How else are you going to pay for everything?!?
- Your Leadership Team, Advisory Board, Community. Remember, this has been done before. Be sure to ask for help as needed!
Be sure to come back for more detailed posts on these various fundamentals!
