Linux.conf.au Bid Guidelines

This document contains the LCA bid timetable and guidelines to help a team prepare a bid for the LCA conference.

If you have ever sat in the back of a LUG meeting or an LCA talk and had an informal chat to someone about running an LCA now is the time to put that idea into action. If you were the person two seats back listening in, go bug that person to put in a bid!

If you haven’t already, the first thing to to do is to send an email to Council@linux.org.au to let them know you are thinking of submitting a bid. You should also CC linux-aus@linux.org.au, this might help you find other people keen on helping you out.

This is your opportunity to do what you wanted to do at LCA, to add something extra special to the conference, to have a say in the programme of the conference and to show off your city and amazing organising skills. This is something you will remember for a lifetime and gain life-long friends, professional contacts and the experience looks amazing on a resume. Not to mention, it’s great fun to run!

2015 Timeline

 * Jan/Feb - The Council seeks expressions of interest in running an LCA.
 * 25th May - The Council formally requests bids for LCA.
 * June - The Council works with teams to help them prepare their bids, answering any questions.
 * 8th July - Submission of formal bids closes.
 * July-August - The Council clarifies any questions regarding the bids and reviews them
 * September - The Council visits potential teams.
 * October - The Council decides on the winning city and informs the bidding teams.
 * January - The winning bid is announced at LCA 2014.

Winning teams should request that their Lord Mayor please not tweet that they have won the event before then :)

Bids
If you have a team and you're interested in hosting linux.conf.au in your city, the first thing you should do is contact the Linux Australia council via council@linux.org.au. The council can help you prepare your documents and tell you what your bid needs in order to succeed. You should also post an expression of interest to the linux-aus@linux.org.au mailing list, so the community is aware that you're preparing a bid. This also means that previous LCA organisers are aware of your bid, and they can offer invaluable insight and support.

If you are thinking of bidding, please put your hand up sooner rather than later so that the council can make sure you get the support you need to prepare a high quality bid.

Documents
Once you've put up your hand, the council will send you the linux.conf.au template budget documents. Teams are expected to submit a public bid document and a confidential budget. The council expects a team to be able to put in a decent and good looking bid. The council has provided "best practice" examples of such documents below.

The council will also accept an additional private bid document of no more than one page which details any events or information that the bid team would like to keep private so as to surprise attendees. However please keep in mind that the public bid document will carry the most weight towards a successful bid.

Example documents

 * The bid document for LCA2008: [[File:MEL8OURNE.pdf]]
 * The bid document for LCA2009: [[File:LCA09Bid.pdf]]
 * The bid document for LCA2010: [[File:LCA2010-NZbid.pdf]]

Your Bid
A bid document should enthuse the council and the community and showcase the city and suggested venue. Presentation is important, but it should not take precedence over content.

That said, a professionally finished bid document can be a valuable first impression suggesting a high quality conference. A bid should convey the message that a team has done their research and has understood the magnitude of the task ahead of them. linux.conf.au is a great deal more than speakers and presentations (though they're at its core) and a bid should reflect a team's understanding of the breadth of activities that make a successful linux.conf.au.

You should include:


 * Information on travel to and from the host city
 * Information on the suggested linux.conf.au venue
 * Information on accommodation
 * Information on catering and facilities nearby
 * Tourism related information about the city and surrounding attractions
 * Something about the bid crew and their suitability to the task

Hints
The linux.conf.au 2008 team and 2010 crew recommend engaging the assistance of your local conference bureau in preparing your bid. They can provide advice and sometimes funding or other support in the preparation of your bid. You can also ask the council and organisers of previous LCAs for help.

Useful Documents

 * http://wiki.linux.org.au/Linux_Australia:Events_Portal
 * LCA_HOWTO - It is a bit dated, the council is working on cleaning it up at the moment
 * http://wiki.mel8ourne.org/Extracted_Text_from_the_ECOOP_howto - This document is based on "How to organize ECOOP conferences" and is being modified to suit the particulars of linux.conf.au