Week 6 Review

Has it really been 6 weeks since I started working on this? Yikes, this is going to go fast.

Venue

This is still my main priority and biggest blocker. I had a great location picked out. I struggled to get anyone to respond to my requests for more information. Then someone finally responded this week to tell me that they will get back to me next week (people are busy, I get it). But after getting excited that I finally got a response I went on their website and started re-reading their event rental information and I saw a single line I had somehow missed before. They do not rent their space to events that sell tickets. If you are selling tickets you have to be a non-profit raising money for a cause. Ouch. I doubt I am going to make any money on this, and I might even lose some, but I am still not a non-profit. That requires a lot of paperwork. I am still going to try my luck and see if this place will work with me on this requirement. Maybe if I agree to donate any profits they will still accept me? We will see. In the mean time I sent an email to a hotel nearby which will be significantly more expensive but will at least allow me to sell tickets.

Informational Interviews

Jason Charnes is one of the nicest people in the Ruby community. I actually first met him when I had a weird idea for a project back in 2022 where I would pair program with random strangers on the internet. He was one of these strangers that I reached out to and the only one that I actually ended up pairing with. He also happens to be the original organizer of Southeast Ruby. We had a fun conversation where he told me about losing a hefty amount of money on the first conference he ever organized (oof) but then re-inspired me with his reminiscing about all the incredible people he got to meet and memories that he made with them.

I also got two more interviews scheduled with some organizers of some really great conferences that I am very excited for.

Sponsors

I really want to start working on finding sponsors but I also would like to get a venue, dates, and a simple site set up first. Also I am going to RailsConf in a couple weeks and I am hoping to be able to talk to a bunch of companies in person there (better chances of getting a yes than through email maybe). I think I will wait to start my official sponsor search until after RailsConf.

Business Stuff

I finally got my LLC filing accepted with the State of New Mexico and I set up a bank account. I went with Mercury which is an online bank for startups. This is not a startup but I did a little research to make sure it would fit my needs because mostly I was attracted to the easy online setup. It took me maybe 20 minutes to go through their form, verify my identity, and find the necessary paperwork to attach. It then went into a review period but it was approved the very next morning. Super simple and glad to have these two big things out of the way and ready for when I find a venue.