Hello fellow Nixer,
TL;DR: the NixCon 2019 organizers team (orga team for short) is now recruiting helping hands for the next edition.
We have heard it from you, loud and clear: attending NixCon is a unique and special experience, different from any other OS/FOSS conference. The attendees of NixCon 2019 gave us a rating of 4.8 out of 5. Thank you so much! That makes us very happy and proud of our work, and we wish that future NixCons keep on being as successful and productive. 
Therefore it’s not too early to start thinking about the next edition. The first step is to build the next team, but there is more: we wish to create a non-profit legal entity to handle the financials of the event a bit more smoothly. There will be separate teams for both tasks, so feel free to join one of them or both as you see fit.
Read below if you are interested in helping create a NixCon non-profit and/or organizing NixCon 2020, and eventually host the 2021 edition.
How to organize a NixCon
To join the orga team, you must:
- Participate in the regular conference calls, and
- Do your assigned tasks.
That’s it.
The first conference call will be in the next few weeks, depending on the availability of the participants. We estimate conference calls every 2-3 weeks, more often as the event date approaches.
For you to have an idea of what to expect, here are some of the most important aspects we need to discuss and plan:
- Location: Requirements, costs, available services and amenities, booking, etc
- Event format: More or fewer talks/workshops/tracks/hackdays/…? Collaboration areas outside the talk rooms?
- Preparing A/V equipment, recording software, who does it
- Attendee comfort: Reaching the event, affordable lodging nearby, catering, …
- Ticketing/CFP system (eventually new features required)
- Communicate with sponsors
- Event “swag” (a.k.a. Yet Another NixCon Mug/T-shirt - or maybe not?)
- Helper shifts at the event
- Update social media accounts
- Announce event on the NixOS website (oops.
)
Starting a NixCon non-profit
Until now we have had a more or less informal approach, meaning that there is not one legal entity but a group of individuals organizing the NixCon. This makes some tasks a bit difficult, especially when it comes to handling money and issuing related documents. We propose to create a non-profit just for the purpose of organizing the NixCon.
Kick-off meeting for those interested in shaping the legal entity that will be responsible for building and deploying NixCons will also take place in early December, depending on the availability of the participants.
Main tasks ahead:
- In which country to create the legal entity? Pros & cons
- Drafting the articles of incorporation
- Founding act: mostly boils down to gathering enough people to sign paperwork and pay some fees
Last but not least: hosting a NixCon
Judging from all the proposals we have been receiving over the years, every single one of you would love to host the next NixCon in their backyard.
However, hosting and organizing a conference is a surprising amount of work, barely visible to the regular attendee. Even more so if we want to meet the standards of awesomeness set by previous editions.
Some of the current orga team members have been planning and preparing the conference several years in a row. We cannot do this forever, and should distribute the knowledge in the community.
In order to pass the baton and also to prevent surprises, stress, and potential failure, we propose that one may only host a NixCon if they have participated actively in the the previous NixCon’s orga team, independently of their experience with other events. This is of course subject to discussion and change, but it’s strong advice from people who have been organizing NixCons.
In other words: If you want to host NixCon 2021 we suggest you join the orga team for NixCon 2020 now.
Please let us know in the comments below whether you are interested, so that we can start planning the dates of the first conference calls.
Cheers,
Ye Olde Orga Team
(adisbladis, andi-, flokli, martyet-o, megfault, snajpa, zimbatm)
