计划SQL Server会议–简介

Many of us have been given the opportunity to run or help plan a SQL Saturday or another SQL Server event. This is an intro to everything I’ve experienced and learned over the past 7 years planning, attending, and volunteering at a variety of SQL Server conferences.

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。这是我在过去7年中计划，参加和自愿参加各种SQL Server会议的所有经验的介绍。

介绍 (Introduction)

In a departure from writing technical articles, I thought it valuable to share years of conference planning experience with you. This comes from seven years with PASS, as well as many years prior to this through involvement in other organizations, such as my college’s alumni association and Alpha Phi Omega. Event planning is a mix of managing logistics, manpower, and a wide variety of communication with external companies, organizations, and vendors. While learning from experience is worthwhile, learning from others’ can be more satisfying, while also being less painful ????

与撰写技术文章不同，我认为与您分享多年的会议规划经验很有价值。这源于PASS的7年经验，以及在此之前的很多年（通过参与其他组织，例如我大学的校友会和Alpha Phi Omega）。活动计划是管理后勤，人力以及与外部公司，组织和供应商进行各种沟通的结合。虽然从经验中学习是值得的，但向他人学习可以使自己更满意，同时也可以减少痛苦pain

The goal of this article is to treat a conference much like a software application. Trying to write the whole thing all at once is a recipe for disaster, burnout, and mistakes. Breaking it into smaller chunks of code, assigning some to other developers, and including adequate mechanisms for code review, QA, and release verification (Ie, follow a SDLC of sorts) will allow for a far simpler and more enjoyable process.

本文的目的是将会议视为软件应用程序。试图一次全部写完，是灾难，倦怠和错误的良方。将其分解为较小的代码块，将一些代码分配给其他开发人员，并包括适当的代码审查，QA和发布验证机制（即，遵循某种SDLC），将使过程变得更加简单和令人愉悦。

I’ll specifically focus on planning a SQL Saturday event, as that is most relevant to the SQL Server/PASS community, but any of this information could be used in the planning of other events, regardless of subject matter, location, or attendance.

由于与SQL Server / PASS社区最相关，因此我将特别着重于计划SQL Saturday活动，但无论主题，位置或出席人数如何，所有这些信息都可用于其他活动的计划中。

从哪里开始 (Where to begin)

The first step in planning any event, regardless of size, is to determine its location, date, and potential interest. To commit to any conference without this information is risky and could result in unnecessary stress if a venue couldn’t be found for the date you chose.

无论大小如何，规划任何事件的第一步都是确定事件的位置，日期和潜在兴趣。如果没有此信息，则参加任何会议都是冒险的，如果在您选择的日期找不到场地，可能会造成不必要的压力。

会场 (Venue)

There are many possible locations for SQL Saturday events, based on how large you think your event will be. The most important aspects of a venue, in order of importance, are:

根据您认为事件的规模，SQL Saturday事件有很多可能的位置。场所的最重要方面按重要性顺序是：

Cost
- Is the venue free? Don’t be afraid to haggle the cost of the venue or rooms. There is no harm in trying!
- Will they sponsor your event, thereby cutting or eliminating costs? Try to sell it as an event that will benefit them if they sponsor and host it.
- If the venue does charge for its use, be sure to find out exactly how much ahead of time. Some locations will be prohibitively expensive and need to be scratched off your list early on.
- Compare as many venues as possible. Once you have found the perfect venue, this research can be reused for future events. With time, a positive relationship can be developed with the venue.
- Colleges, tech schools, and companies tend to be the easiest venues to work with. If Microsoft or another big SQL Server vendor/partner is in your area, be sure to ask if they can host your event!
成本
- 会场免费吗？不要害怕讨价还价的场地或房间。尝试没有害处！
- 他们会赞助您的活动，从而削减或消除费用吗？尝试将其出售作为一项活动，如果他们赞助和举办，将使他们受益。
- 如果场地确实收取使用费，请确保提前准确查明多少。有些位置的费用过高，需要尽早从列表中剔除。
- 比较尽可能多的场地。一旦找到理想的场所，这项研究就可以再用于以后的活动。随着时间的推移，可以与场地建立积极的关系。
- 大学，技术学校和公司往往是最容易合作的场所。如果您所在的地区是Microsoft或其他大型SQL Server供应商/合作伙伴，请务必询问他们是否可以主持您的活动！
Number and size of rooms available for sessions
- A small SQL Saturday can attract 75-125 attendees, whereas a large event can bring in over 500.
- Estimate your maximum possible attendance as well as average session size and make sure the venue can hold however many people you expect to be there.
- A new SQL Saturday can draw 100-200 attendees, though the size will be based heavily on location and timing. A big city such as New York or Boston will attract far more attendees than a smaller city.
可用于会议的房间数量和大小
- 一个小型SQL星期六可以吸引75-125名参与者，而大型活动可以吸引500多名参与者。
- 估计您的最大出席人数以及平均会议规模，并确保该场所可以容纳您期望在那里的人数。
- 一个新SQL Saturday可以吸引100-200名与会者，不过其大小将很大程度上取决于位置和时间安排。纽约或波士顿之类的大城市将吸引比小城市更多的与会者。
Rules/regulations regarding food/drinks
- Find out what food services they provide and how much they cost.
- If they don’t provide food, or their costs are too high, are you allowed to bring in outside food/drink?
有关食品/饮料的规则/规定
- 找出它们提供的食品服务及其费用。
- 如果他们不提供食物，或者他们的费用太高，您是否允许带外来食物/饮料？
Layout of the venue
- Make sure that everything is close together. A spread-out venue may be confusing to attendees or result in extra time to be budgeted between sessions for traveling between rooms/buildings.
- Is there a good place for sponsors to set up their booths that is close to session rooms and breakfast/lunch? Isolating sponsors will decrease traffic to them and make your event less successful for them.
场地布置
- 确保所有内容都紧密靠近。分散的场所可能会使与会者感到困惑，或者导致在会议之间预算额外的时间，以便在房间/建筑物之间旅行。
- 赞助商可以在靠近会议室和早餐/午餐的地方设置摊位吗？隔离赞助商将减少他们的访问量，并使您的活动对他们而言不太成功。

日期 (Date)

The current SQL Saturday rules provide guidance on when/where events can be held with respect to each other. They advise you to not have a SQL Saturday within 600 miles of another one that is occurring on the weekend you choose. This helps reduce the amount of attendee overlap & attrition between events. Even outside of this restriction, check the calendar for events in the same region as you and try to avoid hosting one in the same quarter. Speakers, attendees, and sponsors have limited resources to travel and support events. They will often see two events in the same state and month and decide between them, rather than to attend both. Any rules created by PASS to guide event timing/location may change, therefore be sure to verify any restrictions prior to event planning!

当前SQL Saturday规则为何时/何地可以相互举行事件提供了指导。他们建议您在选择的周末不要在另一个SQL星期六内600英里内发生SQL星期六。这有助于减少事件之间的与会者重叠和损耗。即使不在此限制范围内，也请检查日历中是否有与您所在区域相同的事件，并尝试避免在同一季度内举办活动。演讲者，与会者和赞助商在旅行和支持活动方面的资源有限。他们经常会看到两个状态和月份相同的事件，并在它们之间做出决定，而不是同时参加。由PASS创建的用于指导活动时间/地点的任何规则都可能发生变化，因此请务必在活动策划之前确认所有限制！

Weather is an important risk to consider. If you are planning an event in an area prone to snow, then avoiding peak winter months is a good decision. Even if you are in an area that receives little snow, a serious storm could impede travel for those coming in from other parts of the country. This is not to say that you shouldn’t plan a winter event, but consider the likelihood and impact of a storm and decide if the risk is worth the reward.

天气是需要考虑的重要风险。如果您打算在容易下雪的地区举办活动，那么最好避免冬季高峰。即使您所在的地区积雪少，严重的暴风雨也会阻碍来自该国其他地区的游客的旅行。这并不是说您不应该计划冬季活动，而是要考虑暴风雨的可能性和影响，并确定风险是否值得回报。

Summertime has a separate challenge in that many people go on vacations and may not be available. As long as you’ve confirmed that there is enough interest in the timeframe you’re considering, then this should not be overly problematic. Because of this, and winter weather concerns, many SQL Saturdays tend to cluster in the spring and fall. There is no right or wrong time to host, but each of these challenges should be pondered before deciding.

夏季有一个单独的挑战，那就是很多人去度假，可能没有空。只要您确认正在考虑的时间范围内有足够的兴趣，那么这就不会太成问题。因此，与冬季天气有关，许多SQL Saturdays倾向于在Spring和秋季聚类。没有合适的时间主办会议，但在决定之前，应对这些挑战中的每一项进行深思。

That being said, decide early! If you can commit to a conference date well in advance of the event (6-8 months, or even more), you’ll get a head start on advertising, dissuade similar events nearby around the same date, and have more time to plan a great event!

话虽这么说，早点决定！如果您可以在活动召开之前（6-8个月或更长时间）提前预定会议日期，那么您将抢占先机，在同一日期附近劝阻类似活动，并有更多时间进行计划伟大的事件！

Most companies and organizations budget their sponsorship money based on fiscal quarters. If many events occur in the same quarter, you may be hard-pressed to get enough support and have to run on a shoestring budget. Also consider the effects of leftover money from previous-year’s budgets. Some companies may commit to sponsor in December or January using leftover funds from the previous year/quarter. This is another good reason to start early!

大多数公司和组织根据财政季度预算赞助资金。如果同一季度发生了很多事件，您可能会很难获得足够的支持，并且不得不花很多钱。还应考虑上一年预算中剩余资金的影响。一些公司可能会在12月或1月承诺使用上一年/季度的剩余资金赞助。这是尽早开始的另一个好理由！

利益 (Interest)

Do you have a local user group, or some organization/company that will help provide volunteers/attendees to support your event? Ask around and verify that people want to not only attend an event, but also volunteer, sponsor, and be a more integral part of it.

您是否有本地用户组或某个组织/公司来帮助提供志愿者/参与者来支持您的活动？询问周围的人，确认人们不仅要参加活动，而且要志愿服务，赞助人，并成为其中不可或缺的一部分。

When asked, “Hey, are you interested in a database conference?”, most techies will say, “SURE!”. What you truly want, though, is more of a commitment. Instead, ask, “Hey, are you interested in a database conference?”…”Yes? Awesome! Can I add your name to the volunteer list so you’ll get our emails about planning and can help out?” That extra step ensures that you develop a strong pool of potential speakers, sponsors, and volunteers. Getting people involved will allow them to enjoy the event more deeply, and increase the odds they will return in the future.

当被问到“嘿，您对数据库会议感兴趣吗？”时，大多数技术人员会说“确定！”。但是，您真正想要的是更多的承诺。而是问：“嘿，您对数据库会议感兴趣吗？”……“是吗？太棒了！我可以将您的姓名添加到志愿者列表中，以便您收到有关计划的电子邮件并可以提供帮助吗？” 额外的步骤可确保您培养大量潜在的演讲者，赞助者和志愿者。让人们参与进来将使他们更深入地享受活动的乐趣，并增加将来返回的机会。

等待名单 (The wait list)

The wait list is a double-edged sword. When your registration fills up, this allows you to sign up attendees on the wait-list, and if anyone cancels, they can attend in their place. Typically, a SQL Saturday will see 10%-20% of registered attendees not show up. This is normal and should be expected and budgeted for. Things come up, weather happens, family troubles occur, and so on. Also, good weather will often cause attendance to be slightly lower. This is especially true immediately after winter, when people are enjoying their first temperate weekends in many months and may skip a professional conference in favor of boating, hiking, camping, or admiring what warm weather is actually like.

等待名单是一把双刃剑。注册完成后，您可以在候补名单上注册参加者，如果有人取消，则可以代替他们参加。通常，SQL星期六将看不到10％-20％的注册与会者。这是正常现象，应该在预期和预算之内。事情出现了，天气发生了，家庭有麻烦了，等等。同样，好天气通常会使出勤率略低。尤其是在冬季过后，人们会在许多月中度过第一个温和的周末，并且可能跳过专业会议，转而划船，远足，露营或欣赏温暖的天气，这尤其如此。

In general, the wait list becomes a last-minute complication for most people involved. If someone cancels the day before, how many people that expressed interest four months ago and signed up for the wait list are still free tomorrow?

通常，对于大多数相关人员来说，等待列表会成为最后一刻的麻烦。如果有人取消前一天的服务，那么四个月前表达了兴趣并签署等待名单的人明天还有空吗？

To combat this, consider making the registration cap higher than what you can physically support. For example, if your venue can hold a maximum of 250 people, adjust the registration cap up to at least 275, possibly 300. The odds of 300 registering and more than 250 showing up are low, while the odds of 275 registering and more than 250 showing up are practically nil. While you’ll receive some walk-ins on the day of the event, this is typically a negligible number of people when compared to cancelations.

为了解决这个问题，请考虑使注册上限高于您的实际承受能力。例如，如果您的场地最多可容纳250人，则将注册上限调整为至少275，可能是300。注册300的机会和出现250的几率很低，而275进行注册的机会多于250。出现的250个几乎为零。虽然活动当天您会收到一些预约通知，但与取消活动相比，人数通常可以忽略不计。

组织 (Organization)

To succeed as an event organizer, you need to be organized! There are many ways to get your budget, notes, schedules, and other details organized, and I’ll run through what I’ve done and seen others do, with screenshots and examples of what it looks like.

要成功成为活动的组织者，您需要组织！有很多方法可以组织您的预算，注释，时间表和其他详细信息，并且我将逐一介绍已完成的工作以及看到的其他工作，并提供屏幕截图和示例。

I highly recommend using a cloud-storage platform for all of your documents, receipts, and spreadsheets. Dropbox, OneDrive, and Google Drive are all popular products that can be used for free up to a certain amount of storage. For basic documents, that is more than enough space for event planning. Using these tools, you can share documents with other volunteers easily, back them up automatically to other devices & their cloud, and go back to old versions, in the event that you accidentally muck up a document.

我强烈建议您为所有文档，收据和电子表格使用云存储平台。 Dropbox，OneDrive和Google Drive都是流行的产品，可以免费使用到一定数量的存储空间。对于基本文档，这足够用于事件计划。使用这些工具，您可以轻松地与其他志愿者共享文档，将它们自动备份到其他设备及其云中，并在您不小心将文档弄乱的情况下返回到旧版本。

Here is an image of the directory that all of my documents are stored in. This serves as both organization, as well as reminders of important tasks that need to be taken care of:

这是我所有文档都存储在其中的目录图像。它既可以组织，也可以提醒需要注意的重要任务：

This may seem overwhelming, but I found that keeping everything in electronic form in one place was a huge convenience. Important, but infrequently used files, such as receipts, signed forms, and items to print are moved into subfolders in order to get them out of the way and into a single location. Some of this information may be irrelevant to some events, for example, if they do not host a post-event party, or do not organize precon events.

这看起来似乎不堪重负，但是我发现将所有内容以电子形式保存在一个地方非常方便。重要但不经常使用的文件（例如收据，签名的表格和要打印的项目）被移到子文件夹中，以便将它们移到一个单独的位置。此信息中的某些信息可能与某些事件无关，例如，如果它们不主持事后聚会或不组织活动前的事件。

After a year of working with many different spreadsheets, I found that combining all of the important docs into one was important. Budget, volunteer contact info, session and speaker details, and sponsor info are interrelated enough to warrant being kept in the same place. Within this big spreadsheet were separate table for each of the following items:

在处理了许多不同的电子表格一年之后，我发现将所有重要文档合并到一个文档中很重要。预算，志愿者联系信息，会议和演讲者详细信息以及赞助者信息相互关联，足以保证将其保存在同一位置。在这个大电子表格中，有以下各项的单独表格：

Budget: All expenses/income lined up for easy review. See the Budget section below for more info,

预算：所有费用/收入都已排成一列，以便于审核。有关更多信息，请参见下面的预算部分，
Session & speaker list: List of every session, with speaker contact info & details.

会议和演讲者列表 ：每个会议的列表，以及演讲者的联系信息和详细信息。
Volunteer contact list: Contact list of all volunteers, as well as their interest in each role.

志愿者联系人列表 ：所有志愿者的联系人列表，以及他们对每个角色的兴趣。
Volunteer schedule: A block chart of each task & time slot, and who is assigned to help then.

志愿时间表 ：每个任务和时间段的框图，然后由谁来帮助。
Contacts: General contact list for anyone related to the event, including those relating to the venue, food, supplies, and post-event party. Includes email addresses and phone numbers, as well as related notes.

联系人 ：与活动相关的任何人的常规联系人列表，包括与场地，食物，用品和活动后聚会相关的人员。包括电子邮件地址和电话号码，以及相关注释。
Sponsors: A huge list of all possible sponsors for our event. Within the list, I check off any that I contact, to avoid repeatedly asking for their support. Those that sponsor are moved to the top of the list and their info is used when I need to contact all or some of the sponsors.

赞助商 ：我们活动可能所有赞助商的庞大清单。在列表中，我会核对与我联系的任何内容，以避免反复寻求他们的支持。当我需要联系所有或部分赞助者时，那些赞助者将移至列表的顶部，并使用其信息。
Precon: A list of everyone that is attending our precons, which they are attending, and how much they paid.

Precon ：所有参加我们的precons的人，他们参加的人以及他们支付多少的列表。
Swag: Details on what shirts and giveaways I considered/ordered. This was mainly for brainstorming.

赃物：有关我考虑/订购的衬衫和赠品的详细信息。这主要是为了集思广益。

Organize your data in the way that is easiest and most natural to you, and don’t be afraid to experiment in order to find what is most efficient. Once you’ve completed an event, the previous year’s folder can be copied, renamed, and become the template for next year’s SQL Saturday.

以最简单，最自然的方式组织数据，不要害怕尝试以找出最有效的方法。完成活动后，可以复制，重命名上一年的文件夹，并成为下一年SQL Saturday的模板。

If you’re having difficulty keeping track of everything, find a few good volunteers to assist. Not only are volunteers crucial for providing manpower on the day of the event, but they can help in the planning of many aspects of it…

如果您难以掌握所有情况，请找一些好的志愿者来协助。志愿者不仅对活动当天的人力至关重要，而且可以帮助规划活动的许多方面……

义工 (Volunteers)

Planning a SQL Saturday is a large amount of work. I cannot even begin to estimate the total hours required by everyone involved in order to plan and run an event, plus dinners, precons, and other preliminary discussions. It’s a lot, and I’ll leave it at that ????

计划SQL星期六是一项繁重的工作。我什至无法开始估计参与计划和举办活动所需的每个人的总工作时间，以及晚餐，precons和其他初步讨论。很多，我留给那个

To try and do it all yourself is a recipe for stress and burnout. Use your local user groups, companies, and organizations that you have contact with and ask for help. Find a handful of friends or colleagues that you trust can take on some of the preliminary planning. The areas that I have found are easiest to delegate are as follows:

自己尝试做所有事情都是压力和倦怠的良方。使用您与之联系的本地用户组，公司和组织，并寻求帮助。找到几个您可以信任的朋友或同事可以进行一些初步计划。我发现最容易委托的领域如下：

Food: This is the most logistically time-consuming part of SQL Saturday. Finding where to order food from, how much to order, planning delivery (if needed), dietary restrictions, and physically making sure everything is where it needs to be is a great deal of work, and can distract from overall conference planning & execution. Hand an organized volunteer a few budgetary guidelines and let them have at it. See the Food section below for more info.

食物：这是SQL Saturday上在逻辑上最耗时的部分。查找从哪里订购食物，订购多少，计划交付（如果需要），饮食限制以及从身体上确保一切都在需要的地方，这是一项繁重的工作，并且可能会分散整个会议的计划和执行的注意力。向有组织的志愿者提供一些预算准则，并让他们掌握。有关更多信息，请参见下面的食物部分。
Registration: Keeping the registration table staffed, checking attendees in, and answering questions throughout the day is a very important task. This job requires little work until a week or two before SQL Saturday, and having someone handle this will free you from the registration table so that you can handle any other incidents that come up throughout the event.

报名：全天候保持登记表的人员到位，签到与会者并回答问题是一项非常重要的任务。这项工作几乎不需要做任何工作，直到SQL星期六之前的一两个星期为止，让某人处理该工作将使您从注册表中解放出来，以便您可以处理整个事件中发生的任何其他事件。
Marketing & PR: Anyone can do this, and if they are solely focused on marketing, will probably do a better job than we can. Find a few individuals who enjoy the more social aspects of conference planning. Have them work on social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Meetup, Twitter, etc…), poster around campuses and popular areas, and solicit for speakers, sponsors, and attendees. You’ll also be busy doing this, but everyone has their own personal and professional circles, and therefore having a few people working on advertising will improve visibility of your event without taking away all of your free time. See the Marketing section below.

市场与公关 ：任何人都可以做到这一点，如果他们只专注于市场营销，可能会做得比我们更好。寻找一些喜欢会议计划更多社交方面的人。让他们在社交媒体（Facebook，LinkedIn，Meetup，Twitter等）上工作，在校园和热门地区周围张贴海报，并邀请演讲者，赞助者和参与者参加。您还将忙于这样做，但是每个人都有自己的个人和专业圈子，因此让一些人从事广告活动可以在不占用您所有空闲时间的情况下提高您活动的知名度。请参阅下面的“营销”部分。
Speaker Dinner / Post-Event Party: These are isolated events that likely will not require too much time and effort to plan. Find a location, verify the date and attendance, and make sure the menu/drinks stay within the budget. If someone is enthusiastic about volunteering, but may not be interested in a huge job, then these are great tasks. A big bonus of this delegation is that you gain more free time on the night before SQL Saturday, which is when you will need it most! See the section below on the Speaker Dinner & Post-Event Party.

演讲者晚宴/活动后聚会 ：这些是孤立的活动，可能不需要太多时间和精力来计划。查找位置，确认日期和出勤，并确保菜单/饮品在预算之内。如果某人对志愿服务充满热情，但可能对庞大的工作不感兴趣，那么这些都是艰巨的任务。此委派的一大好处是，您可以在SQL Saturday之前的晚上获得更多的空闲时间，这是您最需要的时间！请参阅演讲者晚宴和活动后派对的以下部分。
Audio/Visual: If you know someone that loves photography, then they could help you out and take pictures throughout the day of SQL Saturday and the related events. If they have experience in videography, then they may be able to record some sessions or parts of SQL Saturday for use in the future. Getting pictures from the event is often overlooked, but provides a great look back at how things went, and is free advertising for the future. Attendees will enjoy seeing memories of the highlights of the event. Sponsors and speakers, doubly so.

音频/视频 ：如果您认识一个喜欢摄影的人，那么他们可以在SQL Saturday和相关事件的全天为您提供帮助并拍照。如果他们有摄影方面的经验，则他们可能能够记录一些会话或SQL Saturday的某些部分，以备将来使用。从活动中获取图片通常被忽略，但是可以很好地回顾事情的发展，并且是免费的未来广告。与会者将欣赏到该活动亮点的回忆。赞助商和演讲者，加倍。

The rest of your volunteers will be focused on physically preparing for, and executing SQL Saturday. This is where a small army of friends and colleagues can turn a mountain of time-consuming work into a fun time! The following tasks are the ones I found most important to get help with:

您的其余志愿者将专注于身体准备和执行SQL Saturday。在这里，一小撮朋友和同事可以将大量耗时的工作变成有趣的时光！我发现以下最重要的任务是获得帮助：

Assembling Attendee Bags: Bags with schedules, sponsor marketing materials, pens, and possible other swag are often given out at registration. Assembling hundreds of bags is time-consuming work and can be taken care of very quickly with another 5-10 people. Consider inviting some volunteers over for dinner and then working on this project. Speaker bags can also be assembled at this time, if needed.

组装与会者包 ：经常在注册时提供带有时间表，赞助商营销材料，笔和其他可能赃物的包。组装数百个袋子是一项非常耗时的工作，另外5至10个人可以很快地进行处理。考虑邀请一些志愿者共进晚餐，然后进行这个项目。如果需要，此时也可以组装扬声器包。
Transport: Unless you own a large car, you may need help transporting supplies, food, and attendee bags over to the SQL Saturday site. Find 1-2 reliable people with room in their cars for supplies and ensure they can arrive at the event on time. Load up the cars in advance so that you are not rushing to do this at 5am on a Saturday ????

运输：除非您拥有大型汽车，否则您可能需要帮助将补给，食物和与会者包运送到SQL Saturday网站。寻找1-2位可靠的人，他们的车上有足够的空间来存放用品，并确保他们能够按时到达活动现场。提前装载汽车，这样您就不会在星期六的凌晨5点着急????
Set-Up: Getting everything together on the morning of SQL Saturday can be a time-consuming and sweaty affair. Having 3-5 (or more) people to arrive early and help carry supplies in is hugely helpful. This may only be a few hours of work, but it will be the most important few hours of the day. Most urgent are getting registration set up, the sponsors settled in at their tables, and breakfast/coffee organized. Delegate so that you are not running back and forth too much. Your focus as an organizer is to be on-site and make sure that all questions are answered and things are coming together efficiently and correctly.

设置：在SQL Saturday早上将所有内容整理在一起可能是一件耗时且费力的事情。让3-5（或更多）人尽早到达并帮助运送物资非常有用。这可能只是几个小时的工作，但这将是一天中最重要的几个小时。最紧迫的是要建立注册，将赞助商安置在他们的餐桌上，并组织早餐/咖啡。进行委派，以免来回奔波。作为组织者，您的工作重点是在现场，并确保所有问题都得到回答，并且一切都有效且正确地进行。
Registration: Having 1-2 people at the registration table throughout the day is very helpful. Those volunteers will hand out bags & supplies, answer questions, and collect lunch money from anyone that has yet to pay. After lunch, one person is likely all you’ll need at registration as you’ll get very few late-comers after this point.

注册：全天在注册表中有1-2人会非常有帮助。这些志愿者将分发包和用品，回答问题，并向尚未付款的任何人收取午餐钱。午餐后，注册时可能只需要一个人，因为在此之后您将很少见到后来者。
Speaker Room: This is optional, but I found it very helpful. We had a volunteer in the speaker room at all times throughout the day. They could answer questions, show speakers around, and also acted as guards in the event that everyone else left the room. Our venue was public, and therefore we wanted to ensure that the speaker’s belongings were safe at all times. This is a very easy job, and gives some opportunity for volunteers to network with speakers and learn more about them.

发言人室：这是可选的，但我发现它很有帮助。我们整天都在演讲室有一个志愿者。他们可以回答问题，陪伴演讲者，还可以在其他所有人离开会议室时充当警卫。我们的场地是公共场所，因此我们要确保发言人的财产始终安全。这是一项非常容易的工作，并且为志愿者提供了一些与演讲者建立联系并更多地了解他们的机会。
Raffles & Closing: Having another person (maybe two) to help out with raffles will allow things to flow more smoothly and for the end of the day to not drag on too much. These volunteers can hand prizes to winners, take pictures, pull raffle tickets from boxes, and so on. While you can do all of these tasks yourself, having help makes things much less awkward. At the end of the day, attendees are tired and ready to find dinner and relax. This is not the part of the event where people should be waiting or getting bored ????

抽奖和结业：让另一个人（也许两个人）来帮助抽奖活动将使事情更加顺畅，并且一天结束时不会拖得太紧。这些志愿者可以向获奖者颁发奖品，拍照，从盒子中抽奖券等等。尽管您可以自己完成所有这些任务，但获得帮助会使事情变得不那么尴尬。一天结束时，与会者很累，可以准备晚餐并放松身心。这不是人们应该等待或感到无聊的事件的一部分????
Clean-Up: This is quicker & easier than set-up, but equally important. I had all of our available volunteers assist with this task, allowing it to get done painlessly. Getting supplies and leftovers back to your car is important, as is cleaning the venue and throwing away any trash. Making sure that all areas used by SQL Saturday are clean and in the state they were that morning is very important. This will help build a positive relationship with the venue and ensure nothing important is forgotten when you leave.

清理：比设置更快，更容易，但同样重要。我让所有可用的志愿者协助完成这项任务，使任务轻松完成。将补给品和剩菜剩饭带回您的汽车很重要，清洁场地和扔掉任何垃圾也很重要。确保SQL Saturday使用的所有区域都是干净的，并且处于当天早上的状态，这一点非常重要。这将有助于与场地建立积极的关系，并确保在您离开时不会忘记任何重要的事情。

Try to rotate volunteers through shifts during SQL Saturday so that they can attend sessions, eat meals, and enjoy the rest of event. While someone else sitting at the registration table all day is very helpful to you, it will get a bit dull for them after a while. For our SQL Saturday, we had 1-2 hour shifts and encouraged volunteers to not take on too many of them throughout the day.

尝试在SQL周六的轮班中轮流安排志愿者，以便他们参加会议，用餐和享受活动的其余部分。虽然其他人整天坐在登记桌对您有很大帮助，但一段时间后他们会变得有些沉闷。对于我们SQL Saturday，我们有1-2小时的轮班时间，并鼓励志愿者在一天中不要进行过多的轮班。

Work on finding volunteers early and don’t ever feel that you have too many—you don’t! Any of these volunteers may become the future user group or SQL Saturday leaders. Ideally, the experience they gain through helping should be as worthwhile as the help they provide you!

尽早寻找志愿者的工作，永远不要觉得自己太多了—你没有！这些志愿者中的任何一个都可以成为将来的用户组或SQL Saturday的领导者。理想情况下，他们通过帮助获得的经验应该与他们为您提供的帮助一样有价值！

赞助商 (Sponsors)

SQL Saturday provides free technical training, but to do so we need sponsors to cover our costs. Recruiting sponsors starts as soon as your event goes live, and may continue right up to the big week! This is one of the tasks (along with marketing & advertising) that can begin early and continue throughout the entire planning process.

SQL Saturday提供免费的技术培训，但是为此，我们需要赞助商来支付费用。活动开始后，就会开始招募赞助商，并且可能一直持续到重要的一周！这是一项任务（以及市场营销和广告），可以尽早开始并在整个计划过程中继续进行。

How much sponsorship do you need? Unless you are in a big city with a strong base of sponsor organizations, the answer is likely “as many as you can find”. The more scientific answer is that you want enough sponsorship money/donations to comfortably cover all of the event costs. See the Budget section below for more on this.

您需要多少赞助？除非您所在的大城市有大量赞助商组织，否则答案可能是“尽可能多”。更为科学的答案是，您希望有足够的赞助资金/捐赠来舒适地支付所有活动费用。有关更多信息，请参见下面的预算部分。

Sponsors can come from almost anywhere, including (but not limited to):

赞助商几乎可以来自任何地方，包括（但不限于）：

Companies that sell computer/server hardware or software.

销售计算机/服务器硬件或软件的公司。
Companies that sell database-related software or tools.

出售与数据库相关的软件或工具的公司。
Storage, SAN, or storage appliance companies.

存储，SAN或存储设备公司。
Recruiting, contracting, or consulting firms.

招聘，签约或咨询公司。
Colleges & universities.

高校。
Technical or continuing education schools.

技术学校或继续教育学校。
Certification training/testing schools.

认证培训/测试学校。
Local companies looking to recruit DBAs or developers directly.

希望直接招募DBA或开发人员的本地公司。
MVPs, presenters, or well-known speakers within the SQL Server community.

SQL Server社区中的MVP，演示者或知名发言人。
Microsoft, PASS, or other key SQL Server partner organizations.

Microsoft，PASS或其他重要SQL Server合作伙伴组织。
Local institutions, such as supermarkets, restaurants, or others that may wish to advertise.

当地机构，例如超市，饭店或其他可能希望做广告的机构。

Based on the above list, and any additional sponsors you can think of, it’s clear that many types of organizations may be willing to sponsor your event. Keep an open mind and don’t be afraid to ask—the worst you will be told is no.

根据上面的列表以及您可以想到的任何其他赞助商，很明显，许多类型的组织可能愿意赞助您的活动。保持开放的态度，不要害怕问-最糟糕的是，不会。

When looking for sponsors, you’ll find consistent questions asked of you, such as to estimate your attendance, number of speakers, or previous conference planning experience. Sponsors are happy to help make your event a reality, but also want to know that their investment will be worthwhile. Keep in mind that total sponsorship costs include not only the sponsorship fee, but also raffle prizes, supplies, and potentially plane tickets & hotel costs. If a company wants to send two representatives across the country, this can significantly raise their overall expenses.

在寻找赞助商时，您会发现一致的问题，例如估计出席人数，发言人人数或以前的会议策划经验。赞助商很乐意帮助使您的活动成为现实，但也想知道他们的投资将是值得的。请记住，总赞助费用不仅包括赞助费用，还包括抽奖品，用品以及潜在的机票和酒店费用。如果公司要在全国派遣两名代表，则可能会大大增加他们的整体费用。

To help answer these questions AND show them how well organized you are, create a short-list of common questions & answers for anyone showing an interest in sponsoring. When recruiting sponsors, include this information in your request:

为了帮助回答这些问题并向您展示他们的组织能力，请为对赞助感兴趣的任何人创建简短的常见问题和答案列表。招募赞助商时，请在您的请求中包括以下信息：

Estimated attendance.

估计出席人数。
Geographic locales where you expect attendees & speakers to travel from.

您希望参加者和演讲者从那里出发的地理位置。
Event location & highlights.

活动地点和亮点。
Date, time, and generic schedule.

日期，时间和一般时间表。
Sponsor plan levels, amounts, and benefits for each level.

赞助商计划级别，金额和每个级别的收益。
Some specific details that will draw this sponsor to your event, such as business or networking opportunities.

吸引赞助商参加您活动的一些具体细节，例如商业或社交机会。

Compared to most professional and technical conferences, SQL Saturday is inexpensive to sponsor. As a result, a company may only need to close on a single sale to pay back their sponsorship costs. Therefore, there is no need to embellish numbers or try to overwhelm them with over-the-top goals. Sponsors appreciate honest and realistic goals.

与大多数专业和技术会议相比，SQL Saturday的赞助商便宜。因此，公司可能只需要完成一次销售就可以偿还赞助费用。因此，无需修饰数字或试图以最高目标压倒它们。赞助商赞赏诚实和现实的目标。

Start local! Ask your company to sponsor. Branch out to your user group and have each member ask their respective companies and organizations they have contact with to sponsor. Continue asking friends, colleagues, and have them pass on your conference info to their network. Securing a few local companies or schools will provide you with a jumpstart towards your overall sponsorship goals. In addition, the fact that you’ve already secured some support tells other potential sponsors that your event is well on its way to success and that their joining would be worthwhile.

从本地开始！要求您的公司赞助。扩展到您的用户组，让每个成员询问与之联系的各自公司和组织作为赞助商。继续询问朋友，同事，并让他们将您的会议信息传递给他们的网络。确保一些本地公司或学校的安全将为您迈向总体赞助目标的起点。此外，您已经获得了一些支持的事实也告诉其他潜在的赞助商，您的活动即将成功，他们的加入将是值得的。

As you sign on new sponsors, continue to communicate each month about event news, logistics, and milestones. Feel free to ask your sponsors to advertise your SQL Saturday to their employees, students, or other personal/professional contacts. In addition, employees of your sponsors may be interested in submitting technical sessions to your event. Encourage this, and if selected be sure to encourage those speakers to advertise their sessions. Each sponsor has a vested interest in the success of your event and will be happy to help you out. Provide them with informational emails, event posters, or other marketing materials that you have created.

当您签约新的赞助商时，请继续每月就活动新闻，物流和里程碑进行交流。随时要求您的赞助商向您的员工，学生或其他个人/专业联系人宣传SQL Saturday。此外，赞助商的员工可能有兴趣为您的活动提交技术会议。鼓励这样做，如果选择，一定要鼓励那些演讲者宣传他们的会议。每个赞助商对您的活动取得成功都有既得利益，并很乐意为您提供帮助。向他们提供参考电子邮件，活动海报或您创建的其他营销材料。

On possibility for staying engaged with sponsors is to provide them with an advertisement web page that they can send to their contacts within a reasonable distance of the event. They can then use Google Analytics or a similar service to count page views, click-through, and so on. This can provide a bit of concrete data on how their sponsorship is influencing attendance and creating interest even before your SQL Saturday.

与赞助商保持联系的可能性是向他们提供广告网页，他们可以在活动的合理距离内将其发送给他们的联系人。然后，他们可以使用Google Analytics（分析）或类似的服务来计算页面浏览量，点击率等。这可以提供一些具体数据，说明甚至在您SQL Saturday之前，他们的赞助如何影响出勤率并引起兴趣。

Some sponsors may be interested in providing a sales/marketing session. This is an excellent benefit that is worth including in your higher-level sponsorships. Sponsors will likely want about a half hour to present information about their organization, what they are looking for, and may give away prizes or vouchers for their products. As long as every organization above a certain sponsorship level has an equal opportunity to do this, then it’s the perfect way to increase their involvement and the value of your SQL Saturday to them!

一些赞助商可能对提供销售/营销会议感兴趣。这是一项非常好的好处，值得您加入更高级别的赞助中。赞助商可能需要大约半小时的时间来介绍有关其组织，他们所寻找的内容的信息，并可能会赠送其产品的奖品或代金券。只要具有一定赞助级别的每个组织都有机会这样做，那么这就是增加他们的参与度和SQL Saturday对他们的价值的完美方法！

Sometimes a sponsor may be unsure if they want to hand you a pile of cash, but may have other ideas of how to help. If this happens, consider asking for other support that could benefit your event, such as:

有时，发起人可能不确定他们是否愿意给您大量现金，但对于如何提供帮助可能还有其他想法。如果发生这种情况，请考虑寻求其他可能使您的活动受益的支持，例如：

Sponsor (cover the cost of) the event shirts, bags, lanyards, or other important branded supplies.

赞助（支付费用）活动衬衫，手袋，挂绳或其他重要的品牌用品。
Sponsor the speaker dinner or post-event party. These can be good networking opportunities for a sponsor!

赞助演讲者晚宴或活动后聚会。对于赞助商来说，这些都是很好的交流机会！
Sponsor breakfast, lunch, or both for SQL Saturday. Keep in mind that if a sponsor covers the food costs, then you may need to remove the lunch fee to avoid confusion by the attendees as to what their money is going towards.

赞助SQL星期六的早餐，午餐或两者兼而有之。请记住，如果赞助商负担伙食费，那么您可能需要取消午餐费，以免与会者混淆他们的钱去了。
Sponsor the venue rental costs.

赞助场地租赁费用。

These alternatives offer ways for a potential sponsor to defray your costs by separately covering a variety of bills for your event. Be sure to be up-front with them on the estimated and actual costs that they are committing to. If you estimate lunch to cost $750, but the final bill comes in at $2000, then it would be unfair to ask the sponsor to cover the unexpected cost increase.

这些替代方案为潜在的赞助商提供了分别支付各种活动费用的方式来支付您的费用的方式。确保在他们承诺的估计成本和实际成本方面与他们保持领先。如果您估计午餐的费用为750美元，但最终的帐单为2000美元，那么要求赞助商支付意外的费用增加是不公平的。

When your event is over, don’t forget to follow up with your sponsors! Within a week of the conference, email the sponsors with anything you owe them (raffle scans, attendance list, raffle winners, etc…) and be sure to debrief them on how the event went. Feel free to be candid and brag about your successes, while also being honest about areas for improvement at future events. In addition, ask your sponsors for event feedback and be receptive to whatever ideas they come up with. If you need to ship any supplies back to your sponsors, loop them in on shipping/tracking details so they know what to expect and when.

活动结束后，别忘了跟赞助商跟进！在会议的一周内，向赞助商发送您欠他们的任何款项（抽奖活动扫描，出席者名单，抽奖获奖者等），并确保向他们汇报活动的进行情况。坦率和夸耀自己的成功，同时也对未来活动中需要改进的地方保持诚实。此外，请您的赞助者提供活动反馈，并接受他们提出的任何想法。如果您需要将任何补给品寄回您的赞助商，请在补给/跟踪详细信息中循环使用它们，以便他们知道预期的结果和时间。

Lastly, let sponsors know about your local user groups, as well as about your next big event. If they are interested in staying involved, this provides a variety of ways in which they can do so.

最后，让赞助商知道您的本地用户组以及您的下一个大型活动。如果他们有兴趣保持参与，这提供了多种方式来使他们参与其中。

讲者 (Speakers)

The main event at any technical training event is the training itself! Getting a solid lineup of speakers will greatly increase the visibility of a SQL Saturday, improve attendance, and make the training more diverse and worthwhile.

任何技术培训活动中的主要活动都是培训本身！稳定的演讲者阵容将大大提高SQL Saturday的知名度，提高参加人数，并使培训更加多样化和有价值。

As with sponsors, start local: Ask members of your user group and local companies/organizations to consider submitting to speak. If you know anyone from other events or user groups that is interested in speaking at more events, be sure to loop them into your SQL Saturday. If someone is nervous about speaking, encourage them to speak at company or user group events first, and if it goes well, submit to speak at your event.

与发起人一样，从本地开始：请您的用户组成员和本地公司/组织考虑提交演讲。如果您认识其他事件或用户组中有兴趣在更多事件上发言的人，请确保将其循环到您SQL Saturday中。如果有人担心发言，请鼓励他们首先在公司或用户组活动中发言，如果进展顺利，请在您的活动中发言。

Keep an open mind about the topics presented at your event. SQL Server is the main technology that is focused on, but don’t be afraid to shake it up a little and invite speakers to talk on other topics, such as:

对活动中提出的主题保持开放的态度。 SQL Server是重点关注的主要技术，但不要害怕稍作改动，并邀请演讲者就其他主题进行讨论，例如：

Other database variants, such as Postgres, MongoDB, Oracle, Dynamo, etc…

其他数据库变体，例如Postgres，MongoDB，Oracle，Dynamo等…
Development topics, such as SQL integration, entity framework, and .NET.

开发主题，例如SQL集成，实体框架和.NET。
Scripting languages, such as R or Python

脚本语言，例如R或Python
Data quality, QA, testing, and QA automation.

数据质量，质量保证，测试和质量保证自动化。
Non-technical topics such as public speaking, management, and professional development.

非技术主题，例如公开演讲，管理和专业发展。
Hardware, such as SANs, storage, and networking.

硬件，例如SAN，存储和网络。

These topics may seem distant from the purpose of a database-centric event, but provide excellent tie-ins to your other sessions. They also offer areas of familiarity for someone that may not be a database administrator. Lastly, this variety makes your event more interesting as attendees will have the opportunity to learn about new and unexpected platforms and techniques. Some of the best attended precons and conference sessions at the SQL Saturdays I’ve been involved in have been on these topics. Ask around, gauge interest, and if that interest is there, add this variety to your schedule and enjoy the results ????

这些主题似乎与以数据库为中心的事件的目的相去甚远，但是可以很好地与您的其他会话紧密结合。它们还为可能不是数据库管理员的人员提供了熟悉的领域。最后，这种多样性使您的活动更加有趣，因为与会者将有机会了解新的和出乎意料的平台和技术。在我参与SQL Saturdays中，一些参加得最好的前提和会议会议涉及这些主题。询问周围的人，评估兴趣，如果有兴趣，将这个品种添加到您的日程安排中并享受结果the

SQL Saturdays typically have a speaker room. This is a separate room from the sessions where speakers can privately set up their laptops, presentations, and run any last-minute tests on their work. This room provides a way for speakers to take a breather and prepare for their sessions without the hectic bustle offered by the registration area. Consider having some snacks and beverages in there so that your speakers can stay hydrated and energized! If possible, make sure that there is someone in this room at all times, that way no one’s personal belongings are put at risk throughout the day.

SQL星期六通常有一个演讲室。这是与会议分开的房间，演讲者可以私下设置笔记本电脑，演示文稿并在工作中进行任何最新测试。这个房间为演讲者提供了一个喘息的机会，为他们的会议做准备，而不会出现登记区域所提供的忙碌状态。考虑在那里放些零食和饮料，以便您的扬声器保持水分和精力充沛！如有可能，请确保始终在这个房间里有人，这样一整天都不会有人的个人物品处于危险之中。

The call-for-speakers deadline is all too often pushed out closer to the date of a SQL Saturday in order to allow for as many speakers as possible to join. Deciding on speakers closer than two months to the event may annoy some speakers that have personal, travel, or professional decisions to make, and may increase the number of cancelations that you get after the decisions are made. Booking a flight and hotel 30 days before an event can be expensive and unreliable, not to mention stressful for a busy speaker. My experiences have led me to start building a schedule early while also leaving the call for speakers open until a bit later, in case any last-minute additions come in. This appeals both to those speakers that need advance notice, as well as those deciding to submit late. Speakers greatly appreciate early notice as it allows them more time to prepare and purchase their travel plans. A conference that is announced early and where speakers can learn about their selection early will be appealing to those with busier schedules and those that travel frequently. Speaking is an honor and a privilege—be sure to make the announcement befitting of that fact.

发言人通话的最后期限通常都被推迟到SQL星期六的日期，以便允许尽可能多的发言人加入。在距活动两个月左右的时间内决定发言者可能会惹恼一些做出个人，旅行或专业决定的发言者，并可能增加您做出决定后被取消的人数。在活动开始前30天预订机票和酒店可能既昂贵又不可靠，更不用说繁忙的演讲者了。根据我的经验，我很早就开始制定时间表，同时也要等到最后一刻才开放发言人的电话，以防万一有最后的发言者加入。这既吸引那些需要提前通知的发言人，也吸引那些决定的人迟交。演讲者非常感谢提早通知，因为它使他们有更多时间准备和购买他们的旅行计划。提早宣布的会议将使演讲者可以更早地了解时间安排以及经常旅行的人们，这些会议的演讲者可以及早了解他们的选择。演讲是一种荣幸，也是一种特权，请确保使发布符合该事实。

Communicate at least monthly with speakers in order to find out if they are attending your speaker dinner (if you’re holding one), to get their shirt size (if you are making speaker shirts), and to fill them in on details of your upcoming SQL Saturday. Always verify that everyone can make it and to let you know immediately if they need to cancel. Out of a random selection of 20 speakers, it is likely that one will cancel for some reason. Ideally, they will let you know weeks before your event, allowing you to update the schedule and ensure that they do not appear on any printed materials.

至少每月与演讲者进行一次沟通，以了解他们是否正在参加演讲者晚宴（如果您要举行演讲者），获取他们的衬衫尺寸（如果您正在制作演讲者衬衫），并填写他们的详细信息即将到来SQL Saturday。始终确认每个人都能做到，并在需要取消时立即通知您。在随机选择的20个扬声器中，有一个可能会出于某种原因而取消。理想情况下，他们会在活动开始前几周让您知道，从而使您可以更新时间表并确保它们不会出现在任何印刷材料上。

Last-minute cancelations are frustrating, but will happen. Illnesses and family emergencies occur and we cannot expect a speaker to attend your event during difficult times. Be ready to scratch sessions off of event signs and update the online schedule in the event of cancelations. Forgetting to do so will lead to confusion on the day of your event when attendees are unsure of why a room is empty during a session slot.

最后一分钟的取消令人沮丧，但仍会发生。发生疾病和家庭紧急情况，我们不能指望发言人在困难时期参加您的活动。准备取消会议时的活动迹象，并在取消活动时更新在线时间表。 Forgetting to do so will lead to confusion on the day of your event when attendees are unsure of why a room is empty during a session slot.

As with sponsors, follow-up after the event is helpful to them AND beneficial to you! If electronic feedback is available, be sure to pass it on to your speakers. Also consider asking them to speak at your user group or other local events. Local speakers are often happy to make the drive out for a user group meeting and remote speakers are happy to do remote sessions via WebEx, Go2Meeting, or a similar platform. Let your speakers know that they are valued and that their time and effort have been appreciated…and to join you again next year!

结论 (Conclusion)

Planning a conference of any kind is a big undertaking, but by breaking it down into smaller, easy-to-digest components, it can become quite manageable. With some helpful volunteers, the process becomes more fun and less work!

So far, we have taken a birds-eye view of a SQL Saturday and the important players, such as speakers and sponsors. The conclusion of this article will dive into the details of budgeting, food, precons and more! Until then, thanks for reading!

翻译自: https://www.sqlshack.com/planning-a-sql-server-conference-introduction/