The Party-HOWTO =============== This is a guide for sponsors thinking of throwing a party at a conference for hackers. Some parties go better than others, and this document is intended to help you achieve the best reputation for throwing a good party. People do remember and do identify the party with the sponsor. The key features of the party are: Location, Drinks, Entertainment and Food. Location -------- Near the conference and/or the hotel(s) is always welcome. People like the freedom to leave early or arrive late and try other things. If you must hold it out of the area, free busses are essential. A freeform seating arrangement with movable chairs is desirable to allow groups to grow and divide naturally. An outdoors area is nice for those who wish to smoke (but be prepared for rain -- a covered outdoors area can help here). Drinks ------ Linux hackers drink. A lot. If you have a completely open bar, the IPO millions you raised will probably disappear into the bellies of hackers. While this is a good thing from some points of view, your CFO will probably not let you sponsor a party next year. Bar tickets for a limited amount of drink are one solution, but a time-limited open bar probably works better. Hackers tend to be rather discriminating (read: expensive) in their drink preferences. Microbrews, bitters and stouts are well-thought of and `Lite' beer is almost universally detested. Some hackers are teetotal, and others may be planning on driving. You should cater for this by providing unlimited free soft drinks, irrespective of how (or if) you're charging for alcoholic drinks. Entertainment ------------- The hackers are here for this conference to talk to each other. The presentations are all well and good, but the serious part of any conference is when the hackers get together with enough social lubricant (eg aqueous ethanol) to allow them to make important decisions. Also bear in mind that these people only get to meet and talk in person a couple of times a year. With this in mind, you should provide an environment which facilitates discussion. A live band is not a good idea as they will want to play loud, and most hackers would like to listen to the band... but not as much as they want to discuss the latest cool hack someone came up with. Sorry. It's also significantly harder for non-native english speakers to communicate over the noise of a band. Background music, played quietly, is a good thing; it adds to the party. A certain amount of care should be execised in selecting the playlist -- a DJ with a good collection who will take requests is ideal. Pool tables, table football, air hockey, etc are all good. Some physical activities have proved surprisingly popular over the years, including beach volleyball and King of the Hill. Games which are one-on-one or for teams with variable numbers of players work best -- hackers will generally not queue and will just join in as the mood takes them. Food ---- Be explicit in what type of food you're supplying. Whether it's bar snacks or a full meal will make a difference to how people schedule their evenings. If you're starting immediately after the conference ends for the day, provide a meal; otherwise allow enough time (~3 hours) for everyone to get to a restaurant and have a meal. There are many vegetarian or vegan hackers (and many more who appreciate good vegetarian food). Some require kosher food, others have allergies (seafood, pork, gluten, etc). Some even _require_ meat (a form of diabetes). Fried food may also be contentious. Providing suitable alternatives will make people remember you fondly. Authors ------- This HOWTO was written by Matthew Wilcox with much help from The Cabal.