BarCamp Canterbury 2012
Updates on the blog have been a bit thin and far between recently, but that’s because a lot of us have been busy organising BarCamp Canterbury. The event was run a couple of weekends ago (Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th of April 2012) and thankfully all our preparation was worth it as the event went without a (noticeable) hitch.
I thought it would be helpful to share what we have learned, for any one else thinking of organising a BarCamp.
Tickets
- Use EventBrite, their service is brilliant, and made keeping track of people/tickets sold a piece of cake.
- Oversubscribe. We have a 30% no show. If your limit is 100 people you can probably issue 120+ tickets safely.
Food and Drink
- Fifty people got through 140 pints of Ale and 40 pints of cider.
- Sainsburys do Catering!
- People get grumpy without coffee.
Sponsorship
- Follow up with sponsors. Some companies only replied to second email.
- Make it clear what you expect from your sponsors, and what they should expect from you.
- Ask for “stuff” many companies won’t give money but they will hand out freebies.
I hope this helps you if your thinking of running a BarCamp or similar event yourself. Please leave a comment if you think of anything else that would be helpful.
