Thoughts on the next DO

J

Jamie

Level 2 Member
Matt said:
Zone 1 Prepaids - what to look for (ACH in/out) velocity limits etc
Zone 2 Fuel Dumping/Hidden Cities
Zone 3 Reselling
Zone 4 Gift Cards

ETC... you then pick your zone, and if you are bored, wander to the next Zone. If a Zone is popular we can run it through the next round, and perhaps have a moderator change, kinda like having a yeast starter for the bread or beer makers out there.
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Also, if a zone is popular, it may need to be split up. Sometimes you'll realize you thought you had one topic, but you're getting two or three parallel conversations going on subtopics.

I like this idea and hope to be able to attend. I also like the idea of a host hotel for rooms, but not for discussion space. It would be great if we could do a small city, slightly off season and downtown, where we could walk safely from hotel to venue. Minneapolis/St Paul (not a small city) sounds good too if it's going to be April - October.

Powerpoints or chalkboards or easels with big pieces of paper are good for putting points up where everyone can see them. If there's going to be flowing back and forth, that'll help a new joiner get up to speed.

Very excited about this next DO. Hoping third time's a charm and I get to this one.
 
italdesign

italdesign

Level 2 Member
Matt said:
I wasn't thinking multiday, nor so rigid in terms of groups - I want constant flowing between them. You sit for your 30-45 mins on the topic that interests you, then we break, vote for the next X topics to be discussed:

Zone 1 Prepaids - what to look for (ACH in/out) velocity limits etc
Zone 2 Fuel Dumping/Hidden Cities
Zone 3 Reselling
Zone 4 Gift Cards

ETC... you then pick your zone, and if you are bored, wander to the next Zone. If a Zone is popular we can run it through the next round, and perhaps have a moderator change, kinda like having a yeast starter for the bread or beer makers out there.

You aren't stuck to your Zone, you go where you like, ideally with some give and take, go to some zones where you have knowledge and can add value, go to some zones as a complete beginner.

More of a giant 'mixer'
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I like this a lot. I do think you need to cap each zone/session to no more than ~15 people to be useful.

Having said that, I would like to see as much unstructured social time as possible. It would be good to have one at the beginning of the day to meet and greet, some in between sessions, and one to round out the day of learning.

In fact, I would like to see a continuous informal social "session" throughout the event, parallel to all the other sessions. If you get bored, go there.
 
Matt

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
italdesign said:
I like this a lot. I do think you need to cap each zone/session to no more than ~15 people to be useful.

Having said that, I would like to see as much unstructured social time as possible. It would be good to have one at the beginning of the day to meet and greet, some in between sessions, and one to round out the day of learning.

In fact, I would like to see a continuous informal social "session" throughout the event, parallel to all the other sessions. If you get bored, go there.
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Yeah, did you catch the part about holding it in a Brewery? :)
 
Katstarr

Katstarr

Level 2 Member
Agh, I'm going to Austin next week.....

I love, love Oregon (maybe we can stay at Elaine's?), but it could get expensive and/or tricky to get there.

As boring as Schaumberg and other Chicago venues close to the ORD are, there's a plethora of hotels, cheap prices, within a block of a mall. similar for Houston, possibly Dallas. I'm just thinking out loud here. Hey, I've always wanted to see Edmonton...

Also, while August might be filled up already for the parents, I think it's an easy month for many of us to travel...

I agree with moving away from formal presentations, but I still think there should be a few minute synopsis of the MS concept, and basic rules/tricks/hacks, before moving on to the more sophisticated aspects of the topic. think of it like a "refresher 5 minutes", as there are some topics I know more about, and others that "you" know more about - and if you start of the topics that I know less about from the middle, then I might end up a bit lost.

I'll bring a bottle of Fireball. What will you bring?
 
Beach Miles

Beach Miles

Level 2 Member
I hope to attend. I was in Charlotte. One good part of everyone prepaying for some food and drinks is, it binds the group together longer. I learned a lot at the cocktail hour. Everyone might scatter in different directions when the sessions break , if they are on their own for food and drink.
 
smittytabb

smittytabb

Moderator
Staff member
Beach Miles said:
I hope to attend. I was in Charlotte. One good part of everyone prepaying for some food and drinks is, it binds the group together longer. I learned a lot at the cocktail hour. Everyone might scatter in different directions when the sessions break , if they are on their own for food and drink.
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I agree the cocktail hour at CLT rocked. People really mingled, shared and stuck around. And it wasn't so large people got lost. I missed PHX and hope I already don't have travel plans for the next one!
 
konorth

konorth

Level 2 Member
I attended CLT and thought the size/# of ppl was great. Missed PHX due to travel and was bummed about that.
I've been to several mega DO's, I always learn something but not always from the presenters. The best part is meeting like minded individuals, comparing notes and strategies and making great friends.
Matt, I like your ideas about zones. It sounds similar to break out sessions at Chicago Do after the big guns do their presentations.
It does give opportunity for give and take, but I felt CLT sessions had time for that as well.
There should be a cost to it.If it were to make money the surplus could go to your charity, as others have suggested. It will be interesting to see how people will be invited. I don't post much due to time constraints and there are several forums now so I often feel stretched thin just trying to read my favorite threads. If I don't have anything new to add I just pass as a lurker (sorry!). But I do understand why some feel invites might be earned based on contribution.
 
niehlin2

niehlin2

Level 2 Member
Most people probably will drink if it's held in a brewery. I will be delighted to be a designated driver if I am lucky enough to get the ticket.:) I am very allergic to alcohol, can't drink. :(
 
M

MilesJunkie

Level 1.66 Member
niehlin2 said:
Most people probably will drink if it's held in a brewery. I will be delighted to be a designated driver if I am lucky enough to get the ticket.:) I am very allergic to alcohol, can't drink. :(
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I also have an allergic reaction to alcohol. I get clumsy, slurred speech, raucous, obnoxious, etc. It's not pretty. :oops:
 
MickiSue

MickiSue

Level 2 Member
If we do it here (Surly Beer.....) I can definitely be a designated driver...forbidden to drink while doing speech/vision therapy for my concussion.

OTOH, Hotel Irma in Zihua makes darned tasty virgin pina coladas. And there doesn't seem to be such a thing as bad limonada in that town.
 
skydancer

skydancer

Level 2 Member
I know there were a few of us who were not able to attend last time due to lack of childcare. If there ends up being a small group of people attending with little ones in toe, perhaps we could hire a childcare provider for the day together.

I'd be happy to help organize it with any other interested parents. In my younger years I used to do on-call work for a nanny agency, and would sometimes do 1 or 2 day childcare jobs at conferences or church events. It would be me and another girl or two in a small room next to the main event. Most cities have agencies like this that will provide background-checked babysitters for an hourly fee.

It might not work as well at a brew pub (however I know some PDX breweries actually do have kids rooms...), but if anyone is interested perhaps we can coordinate together to find a solution.
 
H

harry

New Member
Hi all,
I've never been to a DO either but I go to lots and lots of other conferences and they normally prove very profitable for business and enjoyable for the schmoozing opportunities.

You can't really replicate it online--but you can come pretty close.

How about combining live with online versions so that those that can may attend without losing the rest of your audience for those who can't make it. I would be willing to pay something to attend virtually. You can also take questions from your online audience.

Thanks for listening to my 2-cents.
 
W

WirelessP

Level 2 Member
I'm sad to see no love for DEN. Is it the weed/train-of-thought combo?

Matt, wherever it is just make sure nobody loses money. I don't think anybody begrudges someone making a profit for doing some work. Maaan.
 
P

Paul

Level 2 Member
smittytabb said:
I agree the cocktail hour at CLT rocked. People really mingled, shared and stuck around. And it wasn't so large people got lost. I missed PHX and hope I already don't have travel plans for the next one!
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Agreed. But I would have liked to meet more people. Once people got in groups, was hard to break in. It was also very congested with too many barflies...

I'd much prefer less formal presentations (which were too basic for my taste) and more Q&A.
 
T

TheBOSman

Moderator
Staff member
Deltahater said:
I have connections to several breweries and distilleries in San Antonio/Austin area, so if that is an area that is seriously being considered, I can faciliate that. It is lovely in Central Teaxs in October.
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San Antonio is also one of the cheaper hotel markets going and has some decent hotels near the airport (I'm cheap and don't want to rent a car :D). Austin...fun city, worth going, but not so cheap...
 
V

Voyaging Doc

Level 2 Member
I agree TX sounds like a rocking place though I would not mind anywhere easily accessible from ATL. I hate the thought of having to switch over to Delta this summer
 
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