Many of us have been given the opportunity to run or help plan a SQL Saturday or another SQL Server event. This conclusion will dig much deeper into the nitty-gritty, such as planning food and budgeting. No two events are the same, and as such, not everything here will be the same for you. Consider these experiences a tool and list of ideas to pull from when deciding how to structure, divide, and conquer your conference!
我们中的许多人都有机会运行或帮助计划SQL Saturday（星期六）或其他SQL Server事件。 这个结论将更深入地探究细节，例如计划食物和预算。 没有两个事件是相同的，因此，这里的所有内容对您来说都不相同。 在决定如何组织，划分和征服会议时，请考虑这些经验作为工具和想法清单！
介绍 (Introduction)
We began this series with an overview of what goes into a conference, the main players, and some ideas for planning and organizing an event. The conclusion will tackle some of the more complex challenges, as well as try to organize many of the logistical decisions that can often bog us down during the planning process.
我们在本系列文章的开头概述了会议的内容，主要参与者以及计划和组织活动的一些想法。 结论将解决一些更复杂的挑战，并尝试组织许多后勤决策，而这些决策通常会使我们在计划过程中陷入困境。
While I will keep my cheesy development analogies to a minimum, continue to consider the process of planning a large event as being similar to designing a software application. Success is best attained when different aspects of the process are divided into distinct tasks amongst a team, and that there are resources available for code review and QA. Equally important is to find the right people to handle those tasks that may not come as easily to us, such as marketing and PR.
尽管我会尽量减少俗气的开发类比，但继续考虑将大型活动的计划过程视为与设计软件应用程序类似的过程。 将流程的不同方面划分为团队中的不同任务，并且有可用于代码审查和QA的资源，则可以获得最佳的成功。 同样重要的是找到合适的人来处理我们可能不容易完成的任务，例如市场营销和公关。
Some discussions here are optional, such as speaker dinners or precon events. If you do not plan on hosting these, then feel free to continue ahead and ignore them. In no way does an event need to be complex to succeed, and some of the ideas thrown around here may not be applicable to your locality or venue. Equally important—if you think of anything I haven’t mentioned here, please try it out! Creativity is important, and will lead to more unique and worthwhile events for everyone involved.
这里的一些讨论是可选的，例如演讲者晚宴或precon活动。 如果您不打算托管它们，请随时继续并忽略它们。 要成功举办活动，绝对不需要复杂，这里提出的一些想法可能不适用于您所在的地区或场所。 同样重要-如果您想到我在这里未提及的任何内容，请尝试一下！ 创造力很重要，它将为每个参与人员带来更多独特而有价值的活动。
预算 (Budget)
As with any sizable event, planning a SQL Saturday requires a budget. You will have money coming in from sponsors, attendee fees, and possible precon events. There will then be the inevitable bills to pay that will cover food, supplies, venue costs, printing, and anything else that comes up along the way. Keeping track of the budget accurately is critical to ensuring that the event doesn’t accidentally lose money, thus draining the user group’s bank account (or yours!)
与任何规模较大的事件一样，计划SQL星期六需要预算。 您会从赞助商，参加者的费用以及可能的precon活动中获得收益。 然后将有不可避免的支付账单，其中包括食物，用品，场地费用，印刷以及沿途发生的任何其他事情。 准确地跟踪预算对于确保事件不会意外地造成损失，从而耗尽用户组（或您的用户！）的银行账户至关重要。
The financial goal of a SQL Saturday is to neither make nor lose money, but to provide enough funds to adequately cover the conference. If any money is leftover, it can be put towards user group expenses, such as food, training, or networking opportunities.
SQL Saturday的财务目标是既不赚钱也不亏钱，而是提供足够的资金来充裕地支付会议费用。 如果有剩余资金，则可以将其用于用户组的支出，例如食物，培训或建立交流机会。
人数 (Head count)
The first step in budgeting is to determine how many people to plan for. This number will change as time passes and your event becomes closer. Many attendee estimates will not be needed until within a month of SQL Saturday, when bags, supplies, food, and other per-person items must be accounted for. Speaker numbers will be needed in order to budget for any speaker gifts/events. Having a simple schedule of when items need to be ordered or committed to will ensure that deadlines aren’t missed and that you get the most accurate estimates.
预算编制的第一步是确定要计划的人数。 该数字将随着时间的流逝而变化，并且您的活动越来越近。 在SQL周六的一个月之内，无需考虑许多与会者的估计，此时必须考虑袋子，用品，食物和其他每人的物品。 需要发言人号以便预算任何发言人的礼物/活动。 有一个简单的时间表来确定何时需要订购或承诺订购物品，这将确保不会错过最后期限，并且您可以获得最准确的估计。
Since it is nearly impossible to guess with perfect precision the number of attendees that will show up, you need to guess the maximum number that are likely to attend. Don’t over-order any items unless you know they can be afforded, can be reused, and won’t become a burden after the event. Optimism is admirable, but can lead to piles of leftover subs or hundreds of pounds of unneeded supplies. Non-perishable leftovers and supplies need to be stored after SQL Saturday is over, and the most likely place for this will be your house 🙂 Buying too many supplies, even things that seem small, such as shopping bags, can lead to your basement turning into permanent user groups storage. Perishable leftovers can be donated to a local soup kitchen or saved for events in the near future. While leftovers are guaranteed to some extent, waste should be minimized as to prevent excessive work at the end of the day, lost funds, and stuffing your house with unneeded supplies.
由于几乎不可能精确地猜测将要出现的出席人数，因此您需要猜测可能出席的最大人数。 除非您知道可以买得起，可以重复使用并且在活动结束后不会成为负担，否则不要过量订购任何物品。 乐观是令人钦佩的，但会导致堆积成堆的剩余物或数百磅的不必要供应。 SQL Saturday结束后，需要存储不易腐烂的剩余物资和用品，最可能的地方是你的房子🙂购买过多的用品，即使是看起来很小的东西，例如购物袋，也可能导致地下室的转弯放入永久用户组存储中。 易腐烂的剩菜可以捐赠给当地的汤品厨房，也可以保存以备不时之需。 尽管可以保证一定程度的剩菜剩馀，但应尽量减少浪费，以防止一天结束时工作过多，资金流失以及用不必要的用品塞满房子。
If another conference is held not too far from yours (whether a SQL Saturday or another), consider sharing supplies and costs. Many of the most expensive items, such as attendee bags, lanyards, soda, and chips, can all be shared across events. Branded items come at a bigger discount when ordered in larger quantities. Similarly, hand cards, battery chargers, video converters, and other utilities could prove invaluable for other events. Sharing supplies and information will make your life easier, reduce costs, and allow you to make some friends and allies in the world of event planning!
如果距离您的会议不太远（无论是SQL星期六还是其他），请考虑分担用品和费用。 许多最昂贵的物品，例如与会者包，挂绳，苏打水和薯条，都可以在活动之间共享。 大批量订购时，品牌商品的折扣更大。 同样，手持卡，电池充电器，视频转换器和其他工具对于其他事件也可能具有不可估量的价值。 共享用品和信息将使您的生活更轻松，降低成本，并使您可以在活动策划领域结识一些朋友和盟友！
午餐费 (The lunch fee)
You have the opportunity to charge for lunch, and this is generally a very good idea. The lunch fee is minimal (often $5-$15), but provides the needed funds to cover your food costs. A bigger bonus of this fee is that it gives a more significant to attendees to register AND attend. Free registration comes with no downside for attendees, but knowing that skipping out on SQL Saturday will mean lost money does improve the percentage of preregistered guests that show up. $10 may seem small, but it is still an investment and reminder that something has been paid for and that attending is worth it. Someone that may have registered for free will think twice before paying for an event they could potentially skip out on.
您有机会收取午餐费用，这通常是个好主意。 午餐费用很少（通常为5至15美元），但可以提供所需的资金来支付您的伙食费。 这项费用的最大好处是，它给与会人员注册和参加会议的意义更大。 免费注册对与会者没有不利影响，但是知道跳过SQL Saturday意味着损失金钱确实会提高预注册来宾的比例。 10美元看似微不足道，但这仍然是一项投资，提醒您已经花了一些钱，参加是值得的。 可能已经免费注册的人在为可能会跳过的活动付费之前会三思而后行。
变通 (Be flexible)
In addition to the attendance count, which will change over time as more guests register and the event gets closer, many expenses can be adjusted. If a month before SQL Saturday you realize that money is tight and you risk not breaking even, consider changing some of the food options to be a bit less expensive. Other line items, such as raffle prizes, speaker gifts, drinks, and post-event party details can be adjusted to ensure that money isn’t lost. Conversely, if you get a few extra sponsors, that money can be used to improve lunch, add a new raffle prize, or plan additional training events in the future. Always start conservative and only add optional expenses to your budget when you are certain funds will allow for those changes!
除了出席人数会随着时间的流逝而变化，随着越来越多的客人注册和活动越来越近，可以调整许多费用。 如果在SQL Saturday之前的一个月您意识到资金紧张，并且有可能收支平衡的风险，请考虑更改一些食品选择，使其价格便宜一些。 可以调整其他选项，例如抽奖，演讲者礼物，饮料和活动后聚会的详细信息，以确保钱不致损失。 相反，如果您得到一些额外的赞助商，那笔钱可以用来改善午餐，增加新的抽奖奖赏或计划将来的其他培训活动。 一定要保守一些，只有在您确定某些资金可以进行这些更改时，才在预算中添加可选费用！
会计 (Accounting)
Our first events are often run directly from our personal bank accounts. We rack up charges on our credit cards, pay them off with attendee and sponsor fees, and at the end square up with the user group. This is convenient up-front when you’re figuring out how everything works, but becomes a huge burden later on. There are many reasons why it is worth separating ALL professional activity from your personal finances as much as possible:
我们的第一个事件通常直接从我们的个人银行帐户运行。 我们在信用卡上收取费用，用与会者和赞助者的费用还清，最后与用户组挂钩。 当您弄清所有工作原理时，这很方便，但是后来却成为沉重的负担。 有许多原因值得将所有专业活动与您的个人财务尽可能分开：
Some sponsors will not feel comfortable, or be allowed to send money to an individual. They will request a PayPal account for the user group or an organization to pay instead. Two sponsors in our first year were unable to join us for this reason, as they were not allowed to accept tax forms from a non-organization for events.
一些赞助商会感到不自在，或被允许向个人汇款。 他们将要求该用户组或组织使用PayPal帐户付款。 由于我们的原因，第一年的两名赞助商无法加入我们，因为他们不允许接受来自非组织活动的报税表。
Taxes become complex afterwards. The next time you file taxes, the IRS will want to know about money that you accepted from sponsors, and you will need to declare those funds and their usage. This is not a bad thing, but it means additional paperwork for you, and an increased chance of your taxes getting audited if you make any mistakes or forget something.
之后税收变得复杂。 下次您报税时，美国国税局（IRS）会想知道您从赞助商那里收到的款项，因此您需要申报这些款项及其用途。 这不是一件坏事，但这对您来说意味着更多的文书工作，并且如果您犯任何错误或忘记某些事情，您的税金被审核的机会也会增加。
When the event is over, your bank account becomes the makeshift user group account. This is a bit awkward and as with sponsorship, there is a chance that user group members or partner organizations may not be comfortable with this arrangement.
活动结束后，您的银行帐户将成为临时用户组帐户。 这有点尴尬，并且像赞助一样，用户组成员或合作伙伴组织可能对此安排不满意。
In order to simplify accounting for SQL training events in the future, the following steps can be taken to segregate all operations into distinct entities separate from your own:
为了简化将来对SQL培训事件的核算，可以采取以下步骤将所有操作分离到与您自己的实体分开的不同实体中：
Get a bank account for the event. It may not seem obvious, but accounts can be created for one-time or recurring events when needed. If you have a local user group, look into creating an account for them or using theirs, if one already exists. A tax ID number can easily be requested online, or at the bank while setting up the account. Be sure to give another officer or leader within the group signing power on the account. This prevents scenarios where money is needed and you are on vacation. It also prevents the need to write yourself checks for reimbursement of event costs, which can be awkward. Finding a bank that provides free/no-fee accounts for non-profit entities should not be difficult. Be sure to sign up for online and app access, which will save time when verifying balances or depositing checks using a mobile app.
获取活动的银行帐户。 看起来似乎并不明显，但是可以在需要时为一次性或重复事件创建帐户。 如果您有本地用户组，请考虑为他们创建一个帐户或使用他们的帐户（如果已经存在）。 在设置帐户时，可以轻松地在线或在银行要求提供税号。 确保授予该组中的其他官员或领导者对该帐户的签名权。 这样可以避免需要钱而您正在休假的情况。 这也避免了需要为事件费用的报销写支票，这可能很麻烦。 寻找一家为非营利实体提供免费/免费账户的银行并不难。 请确保注册在线访问和应用程序访问权限，这将节省使用移动应用程序验证余额或存入支票时的时间。
Order checks for your bank account. Vistaprint or a similar site can do this very inexpensively compared to ordering directly from the bank.
为您的银行帐户订购支票。 与直接从银行订购相比，Vistaprint或类似站点可以非常廉价地做到这一点。
Get an event email address. All event correspondences can be made to this email address instead of yours.
获取活动的电子邮件地址。 可以使用此电子邮件地址（而不是您的电子邮件地址）进行所有事件通信。
Set up a PayPal account for the event. This will allow electronic payments to be made in order to cover lunch fees, sponsorship payments, and some expenses that can be paid this way. Keep in mind that PayPal, while convenient, is not free. Each transaction has a small fee applied, often 2% – 5%. If a sponsor is OK paying by check, then you can save some money from transaction fees. For example, a silver ($500) sponsor that paid for our event this past July used PayPal and the amount we received after fees was $485.20.
设置活动的贝宝帐户。 这将允许进行电子支付，以支付午餐费，赞助费以及可以通过这种方式支付的一些费用。 请记住，PayPal虽然方便，但并非免费。 每笔交易都收取少量费用，通常为2％– 5％。 如果赞助商可以支票付款，那么您可以节省交易费。 例如，去年7月为我们的活动付费的白银（500美元）赞助商使用PayPal，扣除费用后我们收到的金额为485.20美元。
Having these steps accomplished, you can completely separate group activities from your own and greatly simplify the financial management of your SQL Saturday event.
完成这些步骤后，您可以将小组活动与自己的活动完全分开，并大大简化了SQL Saturday活动的财务管理。
预算订单项 (Budget line items)
Your budget will be made up of many line items that cover all of your expenses, income, and track details, such as how an expense was paid for, when a sponsorship fee was received, or where you ordered those delicious donuts from. The following is a list of ALL line items on our SQL Saturday Albany budget. I’ve included ballpark dollar amounts whenever I was able to, with the caveat that these can vary greatly between city and rural areas, as well as in other countries.
您的预算将由许多订单项组成，这些订单项涵盖了您的所有费用，收入和跟踪详细信息，例如付款方式，收到赞助费的时间或从何处订购美味甜甜圈的方式。 以下是我们SQL Saturday奥尔巴尼预算上的所有订单项的列表。 我会尽可能地包括预算美元金额，但要注意的是，这些金额在城市和农村地区以及其他国家之间可能会有很大差异。
Income: Sponsorships. This is where most of your funds will come from to run your SQL Saturday. This can range anywhere from $2000-$10000 or more, depending on the size of your event and costs.
收入：赞助。 这是您大部分资金来自运行SQL Saturday的地方。 根据活动的规模和成本，价格范围从$ 2000- $ 10000甚至更高。
Income: Attendee Fees. Any money collected for lunch fees can be used to pay for food at your event.
收入： 与会者费用 。 午餐费中收集到的任何款项都可以用于支付活动费用。
Expense: Event insurance. You will likely be required by your venue to have event insurance. Even if not required, it’s a good idea in case anything unfortunate happens, however unlikely that may seem. A site such as theeventhelper.com can allow you to purchase insurance quickly and inexpensively. Verify with your venue exactly what sort of insurance is required and any details on the liability limits that they need. Depending on location, insurance could run $100-$400 or possibly more. One reason that alcohol is rarely served at events in the US is due to the massive insurance increase that occurs once that decision is made.
费用：事件保险 。 您的场地可能会要求您购买活动保险。 即使不是必需的，这也是一个好主意，以防万一发生不幸的事情，尽管看起来不太可能。 诸如theeventhelper.com之类的网站可以让您快速而廉价地购买保险。 在您的场所确认需要什么类型的保险，以及有关责任限额的任何详细信息。 根据地点的不同，保险费可能在$ 100- $ 400或更高。 在美国很少有酒会的原因之一是，一旦做出决定，便会大量增加保险。
Expense: Breakfast. This is relatively inexpensive and having breakfast gets everyone off to a good start. Donuts and bagels are common, but you are free to get more creative if funds and time allow. We’ve spent about $300 on bagels, donuts, juice, and coffee for 200 attendees.
费用：早餐 。 这是相对便宜的，吃早餐使每个人都有一个良好的开端。 甜甜圈和百吉饼很常见，但是如果资金和时间允许，您可以自由地发挥更多的创造力。 我们已经在300百吉饼，甜甜圈，果汁和咖啡上花了300美元，可容纳200人。
Expense: Coffee, tea, juice, water, soda. This is very customizable. Needless to say, caffeine is greatly appreciated by attendees. Water is also very good to have as not everyone will want soda or coffee.
费用：咖啡，茶，果汁，水，苏打水。 这是非常可定制的。 不用说， 咖啡因深受与会者的赞赏。 喝水也很好，因为不是每个人都想要苏打水或咖啡。
Expense: Lunch. This is the more expensive meal, but you have many options available, depending on your budget and resources available to you at the venue. Subs are the common choice, but you can cater a hot meal or BBQ if convenient. Lunch has generally cost $800-$1000 for subs, chips, and cookies for 200 attendees.
费用：午餐 。 这是一顿比较昂贵的饭菜，但是您可以根据自己的预算和场地上的可用资源选择多种食物。 潜水艇是常见的选择，但如果方便，您可以提供热餐或烧烤。 午餐一般花费$ 800- $ 1000，包括200名与会者的潜水艇，薯条和饼干。
Expense: Printing. Schedules, raffle tickets, SpeedPasses, information about the event, sessions, the venue, the local area, and more can be printed and included in the attendee bags or handed out at your event. Evaluations can be done via paper or electronically, depending on your preference. We have spent $50-$200 on this in the past. Using electronic evaluations and online event guides will reduce this cost greatly! Some SQL Saturdays like using GuideBook as a way to organize their event for attendees and provide easy access to event info. It also allows for last-minute changes to be applied, without needing to reprint documentation or post changes/reminders at registration.
费用：印刷 。 日程安排，抽奖券，SpeedPass，有关事件，会议，地点，当地的信息以及更多信息都可以打印并包含在与会者的手提袋中或在您的活动中分发。 可以通过书面或电子方式进行评估，具体取决于您的偏好。 过去，我们为此花费了$ 50- $ 200。 使用电子评估和在线事件指南将大大降低此费用！ 一些SQL Saturdays喜欢使用GuideBook作为组织参加者的活动并提供对事件信息的轻松访问的方法。 它还允许应用最新更改，而无需重新打印文档或在注册时发布更改/提醒。
Expense: Speaker Dinner. This is optional, and very flexible. If you have a nice local place to host it at, then this dinner can become a very special event. It can also be done as a catered event, or even at a user group member’s house, if room allows. BBQ is also a possibility, if weather and facilities allow. I budget about $20-$25 per speaker, but you can easily adjust up or down based on sponsorships and the number of speakers.
费用：演讲者晚宴 。 这是可选的，非常灵活。 如果您在本地有个不错的地方可以举办宴会，那么这个晚餐可以成为一个非常特别的活动。 如果允许的话，也可以将其作为餐饮活动，甚至在用户组成员的家中进行。 如果天气和设施允许，烧烤也是可能的。 我的预算是每位演讲者20至25美元，但您可以根据赞助商和演讲者的数量轻松地上下调整。
Expense: Post-Event Party. Also optional, and very flexible. No need to include drinks or fancy steaks if the budget doesn’t allow for it. This is the only expense that will be realized after the event ends and the budget is near-finalized, providing you with exactly the funds available for it. Depending on whether drinks are included, this can be put on for a few hundred dollars, or much more as it is very flexible.
费用：活动后聚会 。 也是可选的，非常灵活。 如果预算不允许，则无需包括饮料或精美的牛排。 这是活动结束后预算将近确定的唯一支出，为您提供了可用的确切资金。 取决于是否包括饮料，这可以花费几百美元，甚至更多，因为它非常灵活。
Expense: Raffle Boxes/bowls. These can often be found for free, but if not, be sure to save them for future events so this does not need to be an expense every year. I got a deal at Staples on these several years ago for $2 each and have not bought new ones since!
费用：抽奖箱/碗。 这些通常可以免费找到，但如果不能找到，请务必将其保存以备将来使用，这样就不必每年都花钱了。 几年前，我在Staples上以每笔$ 2的价格获得了一笔交易，此后就再也没有购买新的了！
Expense: Shirts. If you buy shirts for the speakers and/or volunteers, then the cost is based on the number of speakers & volunteers you end up having. Athletic shirts are nice over the summer when it is hot out, while polos or dress shirts can look nice during the cooler months. I’ve budgeted $10-$20 each, though these are optional and other creative giveaways can be considered, too, such as umbrellas, aprons, hats, shorts, etc…
费用：衬衫。 如果您为演讲者和/或志愿者购买衬衫，则费用基于您最终拥有的演讲者和志愿者的数量。 炎热的夏天，运动衫很不错，而凉爽的月份，polo衫或男式衬衫可能会很不错。 我的预算是$ 10- $ 20，尽管这些是可选的，也可以考虑其他创意赠品，例如雨伞，围裙，帽子，短裤等…
Expense: Lanyards, Name Badges, and ribbons. These are generally inexpensive. No need to brand them if you don’t want to. They can also be reused if you have leftovers. Ribbons are the labels that go on name tags that indicate “volunteer”, “speaker”, or “sponsor” and are very much optional. The costs here are typically under a dollar per attendee.
费用：挂绳，名称徽章和缎带 。 这些通常很便宜。 如果您不想的话，则无需品牌化。 如果有剩余，它们也可以重用。 色带是名称标签上的标签，表示“ 志愿者 ”，“ 演讲者 ”或“ 赞助 者 ”，并且是非常可选的。 每位参与者的费用通常不到一美元。
Expense: Supplies. Buying supplies for events and the user group with extra funds is not a bad idea. Hand trucks for moving large volumes of items to and from SQL Saturday, coolers for ice and drinks, coffee makers, whiteboards or easels, and other items may cost some money up-front, but save time and resources in the future. For example, making your own coffee is significantly cheaper than buying it from restaurants, and allows you to manage it and keep it hot all day. Amazon and Target offer coolers and coffee makers under $30 that will serve your events for years to come! Cosco makes a variety of very portable and inexpensive hand trucks that can be ordered online for $50-$100, if needed.
费用：用品 。 为活动和用户群购买额外的耗材并不是一个坏主意。 用于将大量物品往返于SQL Saturday的手动卡车，用于冰和饮料的冷却器，咖啡机，白板或画架以及其他物品可能会预先花一些钱，但将来会节省时间和资源。 例如，自己制作咖啡要比从餐厅购买咖啡便宜得多，并且可以管理它并保持一整天都热。 亚马逊和塔吉特提供低于30美元的冷藏器和咖啡机，将在未来几年为您的活动提供服务！ 中远集团生产各种非常便携式且价格便宜的手推车，如果需要，可以在线订购，价格为$ 50- $ 100。
Expense: Dinner for volunteers. We held an event at my house a week before SQL Saturday in which we used an assembly line of ten volunteers to quickly assemble all of the attendee and speaker bags. This was an immense time-saver, and to show our thanks for the help, we bought everyone dinner. It’s a small thank you, but one that your volunteers will definitely appreciate!
费用：义工晚餐。 在SQL周六之前一周，我们在我家举行了一个活动，其中我们使用了由10名志愿者组成的装配线来快速装配所有与会者和演讲者包。 这是一个非常节省的时间，为了感谢我们的帮助，我们为大家买了晚餐。 谢谢您，但是您的志愿者一定会很感激！
Expense: Venue. If your venue charges for use of its facilities, then this will be on your budget. Our venue costs us $250 per lecture hall room used, but costs here will vary wildly between free and much more expensive. Be sure to shop around and find a combination of facilities and costs that meet your needs!
费用：场地。 如果您的场地因使用其设施而收费，那么这将在您的预算之内。 我们的会场每间演讲厅房间的使用费为250美元，但这里的费用在免费和昂贵之间差异很大。 确保货比三家，找到满足您需求的设施和费用的组合！
Expense: Tables & Chairs. There is a chance that your venue may not provide enough tables and chairs for registration and sponsors. If this is the case, you’ll need a line item for this. We had to rent them, though the cost was about $8 per table and $1 per chair…not a significant expense, but one we couldn’t overlook.
费用： 桌子和椅子 。 您的场地可能无法提供足够的桌椅供注册和赞助商使用。 在这种情况下，您需要一个订单项。 我们不得不租用它们，尽管每张桌子的成本约为8美元，每把椅子的成本为1美元……这不是一笔大数目，但我们不能忽略。
Expense: Attendee Bags. Reusable bags are useful for stuffing with sponsor swag/marketing materials, as well as pens, paper, and other useful info on your event. They can also be branded with sponsor logos if you’d like. $1-$2 per attendee will adequately cover this cost, and cinch sacks and other smaller bags can be had for less, if desired.
费用：与会者包 。 可重复使用的包装袋对于塞满赞助商赃物/营销材料以及笔，纸和其他有关活动的有用信息很有用。 如果您愿意，它们也可以贴上赞助商徽标。 每位参加者$ 1-2美元就足够支付这笔费用，如果需要，可以用更少的钱束紧腰带和其他较小的袋子。
Expense: Speaker & Volunteer gifts. We gave out some thank-you gifts to all speakers and volunteers to show our appreciation for their time and energy. We’ve given out chocolate and gift cards before, as well as many fun branded items, such as SQL Saturday umbrellas, rubik’s cubes, grill mitts, ice scrapers, and beach balls. What to give out is 100% at your discretion. Have fun and include whatever fits your budget 🙂
费用：演讲者和志愿者礼物 。 我们向所有演讲者和志愿者们赠送了一些感谢礼物，以感谢他们的时间和精力。 之前，我们已经分发了巧克力和礼品卡，以及许多有趣的品牌商品，例如SQL Saturday雨伞，魔方，烧烤手套，刮冰器和沙滩球。 给出的是100％的自由裁量权。 玩得开心，包括适合您预算的一切🙂
Expense: Precon. If you run precon events, then there will be expenses associated with this, such as meeting space, meals, and A/V supplies. These costs vary greatly depending on the facilities that you use. Be sure to shop around and adjust the precon attendee costs based on what you decide on here.
费用：Precon。 如果您运行precon活动，则将有与此相关的费用，例如会议空间，进餐和A / V用品。 根据您使用的设施，这些费用差异很大。 请务必货比三家，并根据您的决定调整precon参加者的费用。
Income: Precon. If you run precon events, you’ll be able to charge enough to cover all costs of the events. See the “Precon” section below for more information on this. We have charged $150 for entrance to our precon events in order to more than adequately cover costs. If you are hosting a precon, it’s important to charge enough to ensure you will not lose money, even if only six people show up! Budget to break even for the absolute smallest number of attendees you could imagine showing up. This will remove any budgetary stress from your precons, if you choose to host them.
收入： Precon 。 如果您运行precon活动，您将能够支付足够的费用来支付活动的所有费用。 有关更多信息，请参见下面的“ Precon”部分。 为了支付足够的费用，我们已为参加precon活动收取150美元的费用。 如果您要托管一个precon，则重要的是要收费，以确保即使只有六个人出现，也不会亏钱！ 您可以想象出现的绝对最小人数的预算收支平衡。 如果您选择托管，这将消除您的前提条件带来的任何预算压力。
税收 (Taxes)
Once your user group has its own bank account and tax identification number, it will be expected to file taxes. You won’t need to pay anything as your receipts will be likely be too low for that, but you will have to document income and expenses, as well as the purpose of the organization. The 990EZ form is what we used, and can be used by any tax-exempt organizations with receipts under $50,000.
一旦您的用户组拥有自己的银行帐户和税号，就可以提交税款。 您不需要支付任何费用，因为收据可能太低了，但是您必须记录收入和支出以及组织的目的。 990EZ表格是我们使用的表格，任何收入低于$ 50,000的免税组织都可以使用。
If you have any questions about taxes, or are uncertain about how to file, please ask a tax professional for advice, or a financial representative from a partner company or organization. As an organization with very little profit, you will not be expected to pay tons of money for your activities, but if you fail to file or the IRS audits you, then it could cost your group time and possibly money. Better safe than sorry, as always!
如果您对税收有任何疑问，或不确定如何申报，请向税务专业人士寻求建议，或从合伙公司或组织的财务代表那里获得咨询。 作为一家利润微薄的组织，您不会为自己的活动付出大量金钱，但是，如果您未能提交文件或IRS对您进行审核，则可能会花费您的团队时间甚至金钱。 一如既往，安全胜过后悔！
营销学 (Marketing)
Getting the word out about your event is critical to getting good speaker selection, attracting sponsors, and drawing a sizable crowd. This is an area where delegation and enlisting the help of others in a variety of roles can greatly help! Not only do you not need to do this all yourself, but many other organizations are willing to help—look around your local area for these marketing possibilities:
宣传您的活动对获得良好的演讲者选择，吸引赞助商和吸引大量人群至关重要。 在这个领域，委派和以各种角色争取他人的帮助将大有帮助！ 您不仅不需要自己做所有事情，而且许多其他组织都愿意提供帮助-在您的本地范围内寻找这些营销可能性：
Venue: Your venue may be willing to poster, email, and otherwise advertise SQL Saturday. A school, technical institute, college, or company stands only to gain by getting their employees, students, and faculty to attend.
地点 ：您的地点可能愿意张贴海报，发送电子邮件，或者以其他方式宣传SQL Saturday。 学校，技术学院，学院或公司只能通过让其员工，学生和教职员工参与来获得收益。
Sponsors: Sponsors have a vested interest in your event and will help advertise, often without your prompting. Encourage representatives of sponsors to speak and keep them up-to-date with information on the schedule and precons (if you are holding any). Provide all sponsors with any marketing materials you use and encourage them to spread the word!
赞助商 ：赞助商对您的活动有既得利益，通常会在没有您提示的情况下帮助做广告。 鼓励赞助商代表发言，并及时了解时间表和前提条件的信息（如果您持有）。 向所有赞助商提供您使用的任何营销材料，并鼓励他们进行宣传！
Speakers: All speakers, regardless of who they are affiliated with, will want to draw a nice crowd to their session and get the most out of SQL Saturday. While some speak for fun and education, others are consultants and rely on conferences as important networking opportunities. Provide speakers with marketing information and encourage them to blog, tweet, and otherwise talk about your event.
演讲者 ：所有演讲者，无论与谁有关系，都希望吸引大量与会者参加会议，并从SQL Saturday获得最大收益。 虽然有些代表娱乐和教育，但另一些则是顾问，他们依赖会议作为重要的交流机会。 向演讲者提供营销信息，并鼓励他们写博客，发推文或谈论您的活动。
Libraries and Other Public Places: Any educational institution provides a solid source of interested folks. Hang up a few posters at local libraries and you are guaranteed to pull in at least a handful of attendees that otherwise would have had no clue that your event was occurring. Coffee shops, parks, taverns, companies, Bistros (such as Panera Bread), government agencies, and schools are also great places to poster and call/email about SQL Saturday. Always ask permission before postering!
图书馆和其他公共场所 ：任何教育机构都可以为感兴趣的人们提供可靠的资源。 在本地图书馆挂几张海报，可以保证至少吸引了少数与会者，否则他们将不会知道您的活动正在进行。 咖啡店，公园，小酒馆，公司，小酒馆（例如Panera Bread），政府机构和学校也是有关SQL Saturday张贴海报和致电/电子邮件的好地方。 张贴海报之前，请务必征得其同意！
Volunteers: Typically, these are the strongest members of your user group and are going to be there for you throughout event planning, execution, and wrap-up. They will be happy to advertise to their workplaces, friends, and colleagues. If any take a particular interest in marketing, ask if they wouldn’t mind doing some more planning and coordination of PR efforts. Marketing is the one area where you cannot have too much help! If someone volunteers to help with marketing and ends up not having any free time, the loss is negligible, but if they end up finding a few key speakers or sponsors, then they have added significant value to your event!
志愿者 ：通常，这些是您用户组中最强大的成员，并且在整个事件计划，执行和总结中都将为您服务。 他们将很乐意向自己的工作场所，朋友和同事做广告。 如果有人对市场营销特别感兴趣，问他们是否愿意对PR工作进行更多的计划和协调。 营销是您无法提供过多帮助的领域！ 如果有人自愿提供营销帮助，而最终却没有空余时间，那么损失是微不足道的，但是如果最终找到一些重要的演讲者或赞助商，那么他们为您的活动增加了重要价值！
Tourism/Convention Bureau: Most cities and towns have local agencies whose sole goal is to increase tourism and draw people into the area. SQL Saturday is an opportunity for them to get visitors to travel into town for a weekend, book hotels, shop, and enjoy what the area has to offer. The cost to them to help you is small, and the potential gains are quite huge! We contacted the Albany Convention & Visitors Bureau and they were immensely helpful in creating connections with agencies and regional areas that we simply had no visibility to. We appreciated their help and they were happy to gain visibility into our annual event—an all-around win-win!
旅游/公约局 ：大多数城镇都有地方机构，其唯一目标是增加旅游业并吸引人们进入该地区。 SQL Saturday为他们提供了一个机会，可以吸引游客前往城市度过一个周末，预订酒店，购物，并享受该地区的特色。 他们为您提供帮助的成本很小，而且潜在的收益是巨大的！ 我们联系了奥尔巴尼会议及游客局，他们在与我们根本看不见的机构和地区建立联系方面提供了极大的帮助。 我们感谢他们的帮助，他们很高兴获得我们年度活动的知名度-全方位双赢！
Other User Groups: Feel free to contact other professional groups, including groups specializing in SQL, software development, QA Automation, UI/UX, and more! If you know anyone that attends other professional groups, ask if they could hand out some fliers and say a few words about your event. SQL Server user groups exist all over the place, and attendees are generally OK with driving up to 2-3 hours to attend an event, if they think it will be worthwhile. Therefore, even if a group is located an hour away, it’s possible some members commute to get there and may be closer to your event than you think!
其他用户组 ：欢迎与其他专业组联系，包括专门从事SQL，软件开发，QA Automation，UI / UX等的组！ 如果您认识参加其他专业团体的任何人，请询问他们是否可以派出传单，对您的活动说几句话。 SQL Server用户组遍布各地，如果他们认为值得的话，与会人员通常可以开车最多2-3个小时参加一个活动。 因此，即使一个小组位于一个小时的距离内，也有可能一些成员通勤到达那里，并且可能比您想像的更接近您的活动！
Online: It goes without saying that you should be posting periodically to any social media sites that you use about your SQL Saturday. Create events on Facebook or Meetup and encourage everyone you know to invite everyone they know to join. The reach of these actions, even if you don’t pay for any additional advertising on their sites, can be immense! Ask anyone else involved (volunteers, speakers, sponsors) to do the same.
在线 ：不用说，您应该定期将其发布到您关于SQL Saturday的任何社交媒体网站上。 在Facebook或Meetup上创建活动，并鼓励您认识的所有人邀请他们认识的所有人加入。 即使您不为他们的网站支付任何额外的广告费用，这些措施的影响范围也是巨大的！ 让其他相关人员（志愿者，演讲者，赞助者）也这样做。
Other Events: If you speak or attend other events, or if anyone you know does, bring some handouts along and take the opportunity to briefly advertise your event. Speakers can include a slide at the end of their sessions with info on your SQL Saturday if they’d like to. The organizers are also likely OK with you leaving some marketing materials at registration or somewhere else central at the event. These are events full of people that are the exact demographic that will attend your event, and therefore will be more interested than the average person off the street.
其他活动 ：如果您发言或参加其他活动，或者您认识的人参加，请带上一些讲义，并借此机会简要宣传您的活动。 演讲者可以在会议结束时添加一张幻灯片，并根据需要在SQL Saturday上提供信息。 组织者也可能会同意您在注册时或活动中心其他地方留下一些营销材料的。 这些活动充满了参加活动的确切人群，因此比街上的普通人更感兴趣。
Whenever you are selling your event, be sure to mention the need for sponsors and speakers early on. Very often, a single contact can result in many positive experiences at the big event. For example, a sponsor advertises the event to its employees. Some attend and one decides to speak. The speaker begins advertising their session and in the process finds out about your precon events and draws an additional four employees to the precons. Any one person or entity can help market your event!
每当您出售活动时，请务必提早提及赞助商和演讲者的需求。 通常，单次联系可以在大型活动中带来许多积极的经历。 例如，赞助商将活动广告发布给其员工。 一些人参加，一个人决定发言。 演讲者开始宣传他们的会议，并在此过程中查找有关您的precon活动的信息，并吸引另外四名员工参加precon。 任何人或实体都可以帮助您推销您的活动！
Maintain a contact list for everyone you meet, talk to, or that gets involved in your SQL Saturday. This list will get long quickly, as you’ll ad dozens of potential speakers, sponsors, volunteers, user group leaders, colleagues, professors, teachers, and so on. Keep everyone’s contact information up-to-date and don’t feel shy about offering your help as well. Many of the best conferences are the product of collaboration by many groups that work together, rather than individuals. I was recently approached by our convention bureau about advertising a local Star Trek convention, and given my love of Star Trek, would I ever say no to that!? BTW: NORTHEAST TREK CON 2016
为您遇到，与之交谈或与之相关的每个人维护一个联系列表。 这个清单很快就会变得很长，因为您会在广告中招募到数十名潜在的演讲者，赞助者，志愿者，用户小组负责人，同事，教授，老师等。 保持每个人的联系信息为最新，也不要为提供帮助而感到害羞。 许多最好的会议是许多相互协作而不是个人协作的产品。 我们的会议局最近与我联系，为我在当地星际迷航大会上做广告做广告，鉴于我对《星际迷航》的热爱，我会拒绝吗？ 顺便说一句： 东北迷航2016
餐饮 (Food)
Learning about data is tiring and makes us hungry! Ordering, delivering, and setting up food & drinks for the event is very important, and is one of the most logistically intensive portions of planning an event. This is an area where delegation is very important—find one or two people that are responsible and can manage the entire process, from ordering food to coordinating payment, delivery, set-up, and clean-up. As the event coordinator, doing all of this yourself will be very stressful and distract you from every other issue that comes up and will require your attention.
了解数据非常累人，使我们感到饥饿！ 订购，交付和设置活动的食品和饮料非常重要，并且是规划活动中最需要物流的部分之一。 在这方面，委派非常重要-寻找一个或两个负责任的人员，并可以管理整个过程，从订购食物到协调付款，交付，设置和清理。 作为活动协调员，您自己要做的所有事情都会给您带来很大的压力，使您无法集中精力解决其他所有问题，并且需要引起您的注意。
早餐 (Breakfast)
As the first meal of the day, breakfast requires early set-up. Ideally, it will be ready to go as attendees start arriving. Find a few additional early-birds that can help get everything together, brew coffee, manage waste and leftovers, and keep things clean. If your breakfast is catered, then your efforts here are minimal. Be sure to start as early as possible! It can take a while to get everything fully ready for attendees, and if you brew your own coffee or tea, that may take 30 minutes or more for a very large coffee pot.
作为一天的第一餐，早餐需要提前准备。 理想情况下，当与会者开始到达时，它将准备就绪。 寻找一些其他的早起的鸟儿，这些鸟儿可以帮助您收集所有东西，煮咖啡，管理废物和剩菜并保持物品清洁。 如果您的早餐适合您，那么您在这里所做的工作就很少。 确保尽早开始！ 为与会者准备好一切可能需要一段时间，如果您自己煮咖啡或茶，则可能需要30分钟或更长时间来准备一个非常大的咖啡壶。
Leftovers can remain out for much of the morning as late/hungry attendees will appreciate it.
剩下的时间可能会在早上的大部分时间里停留，因为迟到/饥饿的与会者会很高兴的。
午餐 (Lunch)
This is the easier of the two meals to plan as you will have all day to get ready for it. I definitely recommend having lunch ready early. For example, if lunch officially starts at 11:30, have it ready at 11:15, or maybe even 11:00 if it is being delivered or you are concerned about timeliness. It is far preferable for lunch to be ready early than late.
这是您计划两餐时比较容易的事情，因为您将全天准备。 我绝对建议早点准备午餐。 例如，如果正式在11:30开始午餐，则在11:15准备午餐，如果正在交付，甚至可能是11:00，或者您担心及时性。 午餐早点准备好比晚点准备好得多。
饮料和零食 (Drinks & snacks)
Be sure to have plenty of drinks available for attendees and volunteers. Water is a necessity, but you can also have juice, iced tea, soda, lemonade, and so on. Keep some drinks in the speaker room so that your speakers can quickly grab something to bring to their sessions for while they are speaking.
确保为与会者和志愿者提供大量饮料。 水是必须的，但您也可以喝果汁，冰茶，苏打水，柠檬水等。 在演讲者房间内喝些酒，以便演讲者可以在发言时快速抓取一些东西带到会议中。
Snacks are also a nice touch for lunch, and also for the speaker room. Chips, cookies, candy, and other snacks can be gotten inexpensively at wholesale clubs, and ensure everyone is happy throughout the day.
小吃也是午餐和演讲室的不错选择。 薯片，饼干，糖果和其他零食可以在批发俱乐部便宜地获得，并确保所有人全天快乐。
剩菜剩饭 (Leftovers)
You will invariably end the day with extra food. Cleaning up the leftovers and deciding what to do with them can happen earlier in the day in order to minimize your effort at the end of the event. Breakfast leftovers are generally easy to transport and give away, whereas lunch will pose a bigger challenge. If you can donate to a local charity, feel free to do so. If you are unable to, or there are not enough leftovers for a donation, see if any speakers, volunteers, or local sponsors, are interested in taking some with them. A local company with a fridge can also hang onto food for a few days as well.
您将总是以额外的食物结束一天的生活。 清理残留物并决定如何处理它们可以在一天的早些时候发生，以最大程度地减少活动结束时的工作量。 剩余的早餐通常很容易运输和分发，而午餐会带来更大的挑战。 如果您可以向当地慈善机构捐款，请随时这样做。 如果您无能为力，或者剩余的捐款不足，请查看是否有演讲者，志愿者或当地赞助商有兴趣与他们一起参加。 一家带冰箱的当地公司也可以在食物上挂几天。
Non-perishables, such as soda, water, coffee sweeteners, and so on can be kept for next year (if the expiration dates allow), or brought to user group meetings in the near future. Either way, everything can go to good use and waste can be avoided without much effort on your part. As a bonus, everything that gets used or allocated at SQL Saturday becomes supplies that you do not need to lug back to your car and stuff into your basement 🙂
苏打水，水，咖啡甜味剂等不易腐烂的东西可以保存到明年（如果有效期限允许），或者在不久的将来召开用户组会议。 无论哪种方式，一切都可以很好地利用，并且无需您费力就可以避免浪费。 另外，在SQL Saturday使用或分配的所有物品都变成了无需重新挂车和塞进地下室的用品🙂
If you are able to figure out where leftovers can potentially go before the event, then you could recruit a volunteer to manage the delivery of everything so that there is no need for last-minute decision making to figure out where and how things will get taken care of.
如果您能够在活动开始前弄清剩余的食物可能去哪里，那么您可以招募志愿者来管理所有物品的交付，这样就不必在最后一刻做出决定就可以决定在哪里和如何处理事情。照顾。
安排笔记 (Scheduling notes)
Building a great schedule is not too difficult, but requires some time to make sure that everything is correct and your speakers are happy with where they end up. The following are some considerations when building a schedule:
制定一个好的时间表并不是很困难，但是需要一些时间来确保一切正确，并且您的演讲者对最终结果感到满意。 以下是构建日程表时的一些注意事项：
Breaks: Having short breaks in between sessions is very helpful for speakers and for you. Invariably, some speakers will use all of their time, go slightly over, have AV issues, or otherwise push up against other sessions. 10-15 minutes in between sessions gives speakers time to wrap-up, clean up their belongings, and allow the next speaker to set-up without any need to rush. This also provides buffers in the event that lunch, raffles, or other plans run a bit late. Be sure to include enough time for breakfast and lunch, so that attendees can mingle with speakers, sponsors, and everyone else that is there. SQL Saturday is as much about networking as it is sitting in sessions all day 🙂
休息时间 ：会话之间的短暂休息对演讲者和您来说都非常有帮助。 总是有些发言者会用尽所有时间，稍微走过去，出现影音问题或以其他方式推翻其他会议。 在两节课之间的10-15分钟之间，演讲者有时间整理，整理自己的物品，并允许下一位演讲者进行准备，而不必着急。 如果午餐，抽奖或其他计划延迟了一些，这也提供了缓冲。 确保有足够的时间吃早餐和午餐，以便与会人员可以与演讲者，赞助商和其他所有人进行交流。 SQL Saturday与网络一样重要，就像整天都在会话中一样🙂
Tracks: Schedules are typically divided into tracks and slots. The tracks are the vertical columns on your schedule and can follow particular topics. For example, a track could focus on BI sessions and that single room will have primarily sessions on business intelligence. Attendees that have a very strong interest in this topic can attend all of those sessions and focus heavily on the area that interests them most.
曲目 ：时间表通常分为曲目和时段。 这些曲目是您日程安排中的垂直列，可以遵循特定主题。 例如，一个跟踪可能专注于BI会话，而该单个会议室将主要包含有关商务智能的会话。 对这个主题非常感兴趣的与会者可以参加所有这些会议，并集中精力于最感兴趣的领域。
Time slots are typically 60-75 minutes long. Be sure to let speakers know ahead of time how long their sessions are. Some will specifically plan their presentations to be a certain length and will need to adjust a bit to fit your time slot. The number of time slots will determine the length of the day. Typically, 4-6 time slots are common, though you are free to structure your schedule in whatever way fits your event best. Consider the overall length of the day, and try to avoid your SQL Saturday from becoming a marathon. Attendees love free training, but will grow weary as you approach 4pm-5pm, so save them from exhaustion and don’t let things run too late.’
时隙通常为60-75分钟。 请务必提前告知演讲者会议的时间。 有些人会特别计划他们的演示文稿一定的长度，并且需要进行一些调整以适合您的时间段。 时隙的数量将决定一天的长度。 通常，通常有4-6个时隙，尽管您可以自由选择最适合您活动的方式来安排时间表。 考虑一天的总长度，并尝试避免将SQL Saturday变成马拉松比赛。 与会者喜欢免费培训，但是随着您下午4点至下午5点的临近，会感到疲倦，因此请避免筋疲力尽，不要让事情进行得太晚。
Raffle & Closing remarks are a nice end to the day, and provide a way to thank everyone that helped you out while giving out some fun prizes. Be sure to set the room up ahead of time so that you can start on time. If the room can be kept empty during the last session, then you’ll have more than enough time to get everything ready. It can be frustrating for guests if they need to wait an additional 15 minutes for things to get organized here.
抽奖和闭幕辞是今天美好的结局，它提供了一种感谢所有人的帮助，同时也提供了一些有趣的奖品。 确保提前设置房间，以便您可以按时开始。 如果在上一次会议期间可以将房间保持空旷，那么您将有足够的时间来准备好一切。 如果客人需要再等待15分钟以使事情井井有条，这可能会让他们感到沮丧。
Fun Sessions can be a bonus, when scheduled. Consider adding a few during lunch or near the end of the day. Ask an MVP, war stories, and other sharing sessions can be great networking and destressing opportunities for everyone involved. There are always speakers available that are willing to help make these sessions entertaining and successful!
如果安排好了， 有趣的会话可以是一个奖励。 考虑在午餐时间或一天结束时添加一些。 询问MVP，战争故事和其他共享会议可能对参与的每个人都是很好的人际关系和令人沮丧的机会。 总是有演讲者愿意帮助使这些会议有趣而成功！
Lightning Talks: While standard sessions at many conferences range from 60-90 minutes, lightning talks are intentionally short, anywhere from 10-15 minutes. You can schedule 3-4 lightning talks in a single session and provide the opportunity for attendees to learn a variety of short & sweet topics all at one time. Speakers enjoy these as they tend to be more informal and off-the-cuff with little or no Q&A. Attendees enjoy the variety and the ability to relax a bit and not need to concentrate on a single topic for too long. One or two lightning talk sessions during the day is enough, and will make your event far more interesting and fun for attendees!
闪电谈话 ：尽管许多会议的标准会议时间为60-90分钟，但闪电谈话的时间很短，大约为10-15分钟。 您可以在一个会议中安排3-4次闪电演讲，并为与会者提供机会一次学习各种简短的主题。 演讲者喜欢这些内容，因为它们倾向于非正式的讨论，很少或根本没有问答。 Attendees enjoy the variety and the ability to relax a bit and not need to concentrate on a single topic for too long. One or two lightning talk sessions during the day is enough, and will make your event far more interesting and fun for attendees!
Speaker requests are a guarantee to hit you the moment the schedule comes out. Be flexible and expect a few speakers to have requests for their sessions to be during certain parts of the day.
Speaker requests are a guarantee to hit you the moment the schedule comes out. Be flexible and expect a few speakers to have requests for their sessions to be during certain parts of the day.
Cancelations are an unfortunate fact of life. You’re going to likely get one or two speakers cancel. If you are fortunate, they will do so ahead of time, but if it is last-minute, don’t feel obligated to fill the time slot in. Leaving an open slot is not a bit deal, though if you are looking to avoid this, then ask speakers ahead of time if any are comfortable giving a second talk. This provides you with some go-to sessions in case of a last-minute cancelation.
Cancelations are an unfortunate fact of life. You're going to likely get one or two speakers cancel. If you are fortunate, they will do so ahead of time, but if it is last-minute, don't feel obligated to fill the time slot in. Leaving an open slot is not a bit deal, though if you are looking to avoid this, then ask speakers ahead of time if any are comfortable giving a second talk. This provides you with some go-to sessions in case of a last-minute cancelation.
Build a schedule early! There is no rule stating when you need to release your schedule by. Speakers tend to like an early schedule as it provides them with more notice in order to make their travel plans. Prospective speakers like a later schedule announcement as it gives them more time to decide if they will speak or not.
Build a schedule early ! There is no rule stating when you need to release your schedule by. Speakers tend to like an early schedule as it provides them with more notice in order to make their travel plans. Prospective speakers like a later schedule announcement as it gives them more time to decide if they will speak or not.
The only important note here is to communicate with all potential speakers on how your selection process will work so that they are not worried about speaking or not speaking. If a schedule is posted online two months ahead of your event, it’s valuable for other not-yet-selected speakers to know that they can still apply to speak and that they may still be chosen.
The only important note here is to communicate with all potential speakers on how your selection process will work so that they are not worried about speaking or not speaking. If a schedule is posted online two months ahead of your event, it's valuable for other not-yet-selected speakers to know that they can still apply to speak and that they may still be chosen.
Speaker dinner & post-event party (Speaker dinner & post-event party)
You have the opportunity to host dinners/parties for your speakers and/or volunteers. These are 100% optional and there are no rules guiding if or how you run these. They are budget-dependent and you may structure them in whatever way you wish.
You have the opportunity to host dinners/parties for your speakers and/or volunteers. These are 100% optional and there are no rules guiding if or how you run these. They are budget-dependent and you may structure them in whatever way you wish.
The speaker dinner is frequently-held the night before SQL Saturday as a way to get speakers into town and engaged early, before the event. It’s also a fun thank-you for their time and effort, and provides a bit more of a closed opportunity for speakers to meet each other and chat for an evening.
The speaker dinner is frequently-held the night before SQL Saturday as a way to get speakers into town and engaged early, before the event. It's also a fun thank-you for their time and effort, and provides a bit more of a closed opportunity for speakers to meet each other and chat for an evening.
The post-event party is not held as often as the speaker dinner as organizers expect to be exhausted and ready to relax after a long weekend. Despite that, this is a great way to unwind and its planning should not require significant effort. I’ve held this each year in Albany and will continue to do so as it ends up being a very enjoyable time for any speakers, sponsors, or volunteers that are still in town. Thanking your volunteers is important!!!
The post-event party is not held as often as the speaker dinner as organizers expect to be exhausted and ready to relax after a long weekend. Despite that, this is a great way to unwind and its planning should not require significant effort. I've held this each year in Albany and will continue to do so as it ends up being a very enjoyable time for any speakers, sponsors, or volunteers that are still in town. Thanking your volunteers is important!!!
The details for either of these events are completely up to you and imagination is always welcome when planning fun activities. Some thoughts/ideas for interesting dinners/parties:
The details for either of these events are completely up to you and imagination is always welcome when planning fun activities. Some thoughts/ideas for interesting dinners/parties:
Can be formal dinners or informal events with platters or buffet lines. Don’t feel obligated to go fancy unless you want to and are looking to make it a more impressive affair. Speakers/Volunteers will be happy with anything you plan and will appreciate the time and effort you’ve put in.
Can be formal dinners or informal events with platters or buffet lines. Don't feel obligated to go fancy unless you want to and are looking to make it a more impressive affair. Speakers/Volunteers will be happy with anything you plan and will appreciate the time and effort you've put in.
Different events, such as hibachi, BBQ, dim sum, or fondue can be ways to add some new experiences into the mix for anyone attending.
Different events, such as hibachi, BBQ, dim sum, or fondue can be ways to add some new experiences into the mix for anyone attending.
Arcades, bowling alleys, pool halls, and other gaming establishments can be unusual and fun ways to get everyone up and enjoying themselves.
Arcades, bowling alleys, pool halls, and other gaming establishments can be unusual and fun ways to get everyone up and enjoying themselves.
Have a big home and are willing to share? You can do a party at home if you can/want to coordinate that!
Have a big home and are willing to share? You can do a party at home if you can/want to coordinate that!
If you’re in a big city, you’ll need to plan well in advance, and expect it to be more expensive than if in a smaller town.
If you're in a big city, you'll need to plan well in advance, and expect it to be more expensive than if in a smaller town.
Dinners and parties can be easily delegated to another volunteer to manage food, costs, and attendance for you.
Dinners and parties can be easily delegated to another volunteer to manage food, costs, and attendance for you.
These are straight-forward events for which possibly the toughest task will be to get an accurate head-count. Most restaurants will be happy to host a party of 20-30 or more and will be flexible if your numbers change slightly beforehand.
These are straight-forward events for which possibly the toughest task will be to get an accurate head-count. Most restaurants will be happy to host a party of 20-30 or more and will be flexible if your numbers change slightly beforehand.
Precon events (Precon events)
Many conferences host precon events, from the smallest SQL Saturdays all the way up to PASS Summit. These are additional training opportunities hosted a day or two before the event. Precons are half-day or full-day sessions and are therefore significantly more in-depth. Attendees expect to leave with more practical skills and the ability to pursue the topics covered more seriously than at shorter sessions on Saturday.
Many conferences host precon events, from the smallest SQL Saturdays all the way up to PASS Summit. These are additional training opportunities hosted a day or two before the event. Precons are half-day or full-day sessions and are therefore significantly more in-depth. Attendees expect to leave with more practical skills and the ability to pursue the topics covered more seriously than at shorter sessions on Saturday.
Precons are typically held at full-service facilities, either hotels or campuses/companies that have the space and are willing to manage the logistics of food and meeting space for you. Since SQL Saturday is already a ton of work, this is in no way a bad thing. This also means that you’ll be charging far more for precons than the $10 lunch fee on Saturday. Tickets to precon events often run for as little as $75-$100 to over $400, depending on the presenters, topics, and location. There are many reasons why we charge significantly more for precons than other SQL training events:
Precons are typically held at full-service facilities, either hotels or campuses/companies that have the space and are willing to manage the logistics of food and meeting space for you. Since SQL Saturday is already a ton of work, this is in no way a bad thing. This also means that you'll be charging far more for precons than the $10 lunch fee on Saturday. Tickets to precon events often run for as little as $75-$100 to over $400, depending on the presenters, topics, and location. There are many reasons why we charge significantly more for precons than other SQL training events:
Comprehensive training! A precon will provide a deep-dive into a topic in which a huge amount of content will be covered. This is simply not doable in a short conference session, nor will most other all-day training events be this affordable! These are big selling points!!
Comprehensive training! A precon will provide a deep-dive into a topic in which a huge amount of content will be covered. This is simply not doable in a short conference session, nor will most other all-day training events be this affordable! These are big selling points!!
Allows for far better breakfast and lunch that is catered and will not require volunteers to manage. It’s also easier to include snacks, coffee, soda, and tea without any additional effort on your part.
Allows for far better breakfast and lunch that is catered and will not require volunteers to manage. It's also easier to include snacks, coffee, soda, and tea without any additional effort on your part.
Facilities space is limited, and charging more reduces the chances that attendees might register and not pay or not show up.
Facilities space is limited, and charging more reduces the chances that attendees might register and not pay or not show up.
Attendees are looking for more personal sessions in which they can ask more questions and be more involved in the presentation, Q & A, and demos.
Attendees are looking for more personal sessions in which they can ask more questions and be more involved in the presentation, Q & A, and demos.
The ongoing work for SQL Saturday is immense and it would be difficult to completely run another conference the day before.
The ongoing work for SQL Saturday is immense and it would be difficult to completely run another conference the day before.
The speakers typically are paid for their time and effort. A precon requires significant time, planning, and resources, and while we respect our speakers as excellent volunteers, we cannot expect them to present an all-day session without at least their travel expenses to be covered.
The speakers typically are paid for their time and effort. A precon requires significant time, planning, and resources, and while we respect our speakers as excellent volunteers, we cannot expect them to present an all-day session without at least their travel expenses to be covered.
Leftover profits from the precon events, if any exist, can be applied to SQL Saturday and user group expenses. For many SQL Saturdays, this is what helps balance the budget and therefore is very important if we’re looking to run a conference each year and not run out of funds to do so.
Leftover profits from the precon events, if any exist, can be applied to SQL Saturday and user group expenses. For many SQL Saturdays, this is what helps balance the budget and therefore is very important if we're looking to run a conference each year and not run out of funds to do so.
Precon events can be on any topic that would normally be covered in a SQL Saturday session. Be creative and remember that attendees will express more interest in some topics more so than others. This is not a reflection on the quality of any one speaker, but on the fact that some topics are either more broad and interest a larger group, or discuss new subject matter that attendees are curious about and want to learn for the first time. If you host more than one precon, be sure to make the topics very different from each other so that there is no significant overlap in attendees between them. For example, some good pairings would be:
Precon events can be on any topic that would normally be covered in a SQL Saturday session. Be creative and remember that attendees will express more interest in some topics more so than others. This is not a reflection on the quality of any one speaker, but on the fact that some topics are either more broad and interest a larger group, or discuss new subject matter that attendees are curious about and want to learn for the first time. If you host more than one precon, be sure to make the topics very different from each other so that there is no significant overlap in attendees between them. For example, some good pairings would be:
Business Intelligence / Query Optimization
Business Intelligence / Query Optimization
SQL Server Scripting / Reporting Services
SQL Server Scripting / Reporting Services
Security / Integration Services
Security / Integration Services
Beginner TSQL / Advanced Scripting
Beginner TSQL / Advanced Scripting
Here are links to the precons we have done in Albany previously:
Here are links to the precons we have done in Albany previously:
All of these were successful precons, and you can easily search the web for many other examples of all-day sessions that have been presented by other speakers in the past. We used EventBrite to manage registrations, though you are free to use whatever site that you prefer.
All of these were successful precons, and you can easily search the web for many other examples of all-day sessions that have been presented by other speakers in the past. We used EventBrite to manage registrations, though you are free to use whatever site that you prefer.
Finding a speaker to present a precon isn’t too difficult. Some speakers may approach you early on and ask if they can run a precon for you. Others you may need to reach out to in order to gauge interest. Regardless of the amount of interest, the decision to hold a precon or not is completely yours. Be sure to get as much history as is possible about a potential precon speaker:
Finding a speaker to present a precon isn't too difficult. Some speakers may approach you early on and ask if they can run a precon for you. Others you may need to reach out to in order to gauge interest. Regardless of the amount of interest, the decision to hold a precon or not is completely yours. Be sure to get as much history as is possible about a potential precon speaker:
Are they reliable?
他们可靠吗？
Have they spoken at other events in the past?
Have they spoken at other events in the past?
Do other organizers have positive feedback about their previous speaking engagements?
Do other organizers have positive feedback about their previous speaking engagements?
Do they have any precon experience? If not, does their other experience make them qualified?
Do they have any precon experience? If not, does their other experience make them qualified?
Are they an expert on the topic they are presenting?
Are they an expert on the topic they are presenting?
There are no rules about how a precon should be run. Feel free to be flexible and do whatever makes the most sense for your event, and do not feel obligated to host a precon if you are unsure if it can succeed. A well-run precon is hugely beneficial to your event, but a poorly received one can harm attendance and leave some attendees unwilling to return to your event in the future. In addition, their negative reviews may influence other speakers, sponsors, and attendees who may otherwise have been interested in supporting your event.
There are no rules about how a precon should be run. Feel free to be flexible and do whatever makes the most sense for your event, and do not feel obligated to host a precon if you are unsure if it can succeed. A well-run precon is hugely beneficial to your event, but a poorly received one can harm attendance and leave some attendees unwilling to return to your event in the future. In addition, their negative reviews may influence other speakers, sponsors, and attendees who may otherwise have been interested in supporting your event.
Bad Stuff (Bad Stuff)
As with any large event, things will go wrong without fail. The following is a short list of some unexpected (and unfortunate) happenings at some our previous events:
As with any large event, things will go wrong without fail. The following is a short list of some unexpected (and unfortunate) happenings at some our previous events:
Lunch showed up 45 minutes late.
Lunch showed up 45 minutes late.
The lunch vendor forgot all of the vegetarian food.
The lunch vendor forgot all of the vegetarian food.
A speaker canceled the day before SQL Saturday.
A speaker canceled the day before SQL Saturday.
A speaker didn’t show up and never let us know either before or after the event.
A speaker didn't show up and never let us know either before or after the event.
There was a leaky pipe in one room and they had to move all sessions to another.
There was a leaky pipe in one room and they had to move all sessions to another.
The projector refused to work in one room and another had to be used.
The projector refused to work in one room and another had to be used.
The raffle ticket printouts were fouled up and half of them were unusable.
The raffle ticket printouts were fouled up and half of them were unusable.
The elevators were locked. We were unable to use them for loading/unloading, nor were they available for handicapped access until after the event started.
The elevators were locked. We were unable to use them for loading/unloading, nor were they available for handicapped access until after the event started.
Two sponsors were unable to show up and staff their tables at the last-minute.
Two sponsors were unable to show up and staff their tables at the last-minute.
This list would make it sound as though we are magnets of bad luck and should be avoided at all cost, but in reality this is all quite normal. Expect things like these to go wrong and be prepared to be flexible!
This list would make it sound as though we are magnets of bad luck and should be avoided at all cost, but in reality this is all quite normal. Expect things like these to go wrong and be prepared to be flexible!
Remember that while every mistake or failure, regardless of how small, may seem huge to you, the attendees will generally not notice them. As the organizer, it’s your job to roll with the punches and keep things moving. Everyone knows this is a big event and will be very tolerant of unexpected bugs that occur at release time 🙂
Remember that while every mistake or failure, regardless of how small, may seem huge to you, the attendees will generally not notice them. As the organizer, it's your job to roll with the punches and keep things moving. Everyone knows this is a big event and will be very tolerant of unexpected bugs that occur at release time 🙂
Some general suggestions to help manage risk and reduce the chance that these sorts of failures will make you miserable:
Some general suggestions to help manage risk and reduce the chance that these sorts of failures will make you miserable:
Order food to arrive well before meal times. If it is late or anything goes wrong, you have time to fix it.
Order food to arrive well before meal times. If it is late or anything goes wrong, you have time to fix it.
Have a few speakers on standby who don’t mind presenting an extra session. This lets you fill in scheduling gaps painlessly, even at the last minute.
Have a few speakers on standby who don't mind presenting an extra session. This lets you fill in scheduling gaps painlessly, even at the last minute.
Have emergency phone numbers for your venue so that if anything bad happens, you can quickly get a hold of them.
Have emergency phone numbers for your venue so that if anything bad happens, you can quickly get a hold of them.
Check all printouts and supplies ahead of time and make sure they look good.
Check all printouts and supplies ahead of time and make sure they look good.
Quickly verify that the food orders look correct before signing off on them and/or paying.
Quickly verify that the food orders look correct before signing off on them and/or paying.
Buy some VGA/HDMI/DVI/Lightning/Micro-HDMI adapters for use at the event. They are cheap and will save some speakers/sponsors that are unprepared for the video capabilities of the facilities. To narrow down the list, check with the venue ahead of time and document the connectors/resolutions used and verify with speakers what they have.
Buy some VGA/HDMI/DVI/Lightning/Micro-HDMI adapters for use at the event. They are cheap and will save some speakers/sponsors that are unprepared for the video capabilities of the facilities. To narrow down the list, check with the venue ahead of time and document the connectors/resolutions used and verify with speakers what they have.
Always ask attendees/speakers about their dietary needs. Vegetarian/Vegan is easy, but be up-front about any restrictions that you are unable to fully accommodate. The SQL Saturday site can be edited to limit dietary options to those you can fulfill, so that those with very specific needs can bring their own lunch as needed (and not pay the lunch fee).
Always ask attendees/speakers about their dietary needs. Vegetarian/Vegan is easy, but be up-front about any restrictions that you are unable to fully accommodate. The SQL Saturday site can be edited to limit dietary options to those you can fulfill, so that those with very specific needs can bring their own lunch as needed (and not pay the lunch fee).
Have a few extra volunteers available on standby all day. They are there for you when bad things happen and you need someone to run an emergency errand or take care of a critical task at the last minute.
Have a few extra volunteers available on standby all day. They are there for you when bad things happen and you need someone to run an emergency errand or take care of a critical task at the last minute.
Don’t sweat the bad stuff. It’s stressful, but you’ll look back later and realize that it wasn’t that big of a deal, and that your event went far better than the list of fails may make it seem!
Don't sweat the bad stuff. It's stressful, but you'll look back later and realize that it wasn't that big of a deal, and that your event went far better than the list of fails may make it seem!
Feedback & improvement (Feedback & improvement)
There is always room to make things better. Once your first event has come and gone, be sure to review the event feedback from attendees. Equally importantly, poll your volunteers and sponsors for feedback as they may be willing to provide more candid and in-depth feedback than you might otherwise get.
There is always room to make things better. Once your first event has come and gone, be sure to review the event feedback from attendees. Equally importantly, poll your volunteers and sponsors for feedback as they may be willing to provide more candid and in-depth feedback than you might otherwise get.
For example, here is all of the feedback that we received and will implement next year:
For example, here is all of the feedback that we received and will implement next year:
Buy 5-10 HDMI/VGA adapters for next year as the facilities still use only VGA connections.
Buy 5-10 HDMI/VGA adapters for next year as the facilities still use only VGA connections.
Make the schedule 1-2 sessions less wide and one more session deep. Shrink breaks from 15 minutes down to 10 minutes and remove 10 minutes from lunch to make up for this difference.
Make the schedule 1-2 sessions less wide and one more session deep. Shrink breaks from 15 minutes down to 10 minutes and remove 10 minutes from lunch to make up for this difference.
Print out session details ordered by time slot, not by presenter name as this is easier to follow for attendees.
Print out session details ordered by time slot, not by presenter name as this is easier to follow for attendees.
Collect & pack extra power cords ahead of time, that way they cannot be forgotten on the day of the event.
Collect & pack extra power cords ahead of time, that way they cannot be forgotten on the day of the event.
Bring an easel and large notepad/whiteboard to post last-minute notes at registration.
Bring an easel and large notepad/whiteboard to post last-minute notes at registration.
Don’t have food delivered! Pick it up instead as we will certainly not get lost!
Don't have food delivered! Pick it up instead as we will certainly not get lost!
Have food/drinks near registration, rather than on the other side of the building.
Have food/drinks near registration, rather than on the other side of the building.
Brew coffee earlier. It takes a long time to get hot. Possibly brew some at home and bring partially filled pot to tide us over until the rest is ready.
Brew coffee earlier. It takes a long time to get hot. Possibly brew some at home and bring partially filled pot to tide us over until the rest is ready.
Have more water. We ran out quickly and the demand for water was higher than soda/juice.
Have more water. We ran out quickly and the demand for water was higher than soda/juice.
Make a complete inventory of supplies at my house prior to shopping, about one month before SQL Saturday. This will ensure we don’t buy anything we don’t need and anyone that is shopping will know what we have.
Make a complete inventory of supplies at my house prior to shopping, about one month before SQL Saturday. This will ensure we don't buy anything we don't need and anyone that is shopping will know what we have.
Encourage more lightning talks. They are fun and attendees will definitely appreciate the change of pace!
Encourage more lightning talks. They are fun and attendees will definitely appreciate the change of pace!
Get the user group 501(c)3 non-profit status so that we can write off taxes on our events.
Get the user group 501(c)3 non-profit status so that we can write off taxes on our events.
Once again, that is a long list! We took our feedback seriously and want to improve our event every year. As a result, we took every bit of constructive criticism that was shared by many attendees & volunteers and made a list that we will try to follow in its entirety.
Once again, that is a long list! We took our feedback seriously and want to improve our event every year. As a result, we took every bit of constructive criticism that was shared by many attendees & volunteers and made a list that we will try to follow in its entirety.
Your list may be much shorter, but acknowledging feedback after the event and letting attendees know that you care about their opinions and are listening means a lot, even if you are unable to implement every change that was suggested.
Your list may be much shorter, but acknowledging feedback after the event and letting attendees know that you care about their opinions and are listening means a lot, even if you are unable to implement every change that was suggested.
结论 (Conclusion)
Conference planning is a whale of a task, and one that encompasses many disciplines and talents. Focus on your strengths and delegate tasks that others may be stronger suited for. Despite the magnitude of work, the satisfaction and education we as organizers receive from creating something out of nothing is enormous. If you are new to this task, or are considering planning a SQL Saturday or another conference, don’t be afraid to dive in. If you’re unsure of your local prospects, volunteer to help at another event that you will be attending. They will be happy to put you to work 🙂
Conference planning is a whale of a task, and one that encompasses many disciplines and talents. Focus on your strengths and delegate tasks that others may be stronger suited for. Despite the magnitude of work, the satisfaction and education we as organizers receive from creating something out of nothing is enormous. If you are new to this task, or are considering planning a SQL Saturday or another conference, don't be afraid to dive in. If you're unsure of your local prospects, volunteer to help at another event that you will be attending. They will be happy to put you to work 🙂
This article represents quite a bit of accumulated knowledge from local and regional experiences, but is in no way complete. Build your own repertoire of tools and conventions that work best for you and your group and continually improve with time. When in doubt, ask other organizers for advice, experiences, or war stories. Most will be happy to share!
This article represents quite a bit of accumulated knowledge from local and regional experiences, but is in no way complete. Build your own repertoire of tools and conventions that work best for you and your group and continually improve with time. When in doubt, ask other organizers for advice, experiences, or war stories. Most will be happy to share!
References and further reading (References and further reading)
This article is mainly a recap of lessons I’ve learned from organizing or being a part of many conferences. If you have any questions about any of this, feel free to contact me anytime!
This article is mainly a recap of lessons I've learned from organizing or being a part of many conferences. If you have any questions about any of this, feel free to contact me anytime!
As always, if you have any questions of an official nature, or need a professional opinion, be sure to contact PASS or the organization that your conference is for.
As always, if you have any questions of an official nature, or need a professional opinion, be sure to contact PASS or the organization that your conference is for.
翻译自: https://www.sqlshack.com/planning-sql-server-conference-diving-details/
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