The project

Thu Feb 24 14:51:02 2005

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A few comments below:

Trent Shipley wrote:

> <SNIP>
>
>>- Event planners currently are a small, niche industry.
>>    
>>
>
>Joseph brought that up.  I'm not certain I believe it.  Weddings are a type of 
>event, therefore wedding planners must need event planning software.  Every 
>arena and civic center needs an event planner.  Every funeral home needs an 
>event planner and so on.  If there is an event, some agent has to plan it.  
>(Unless it is a "happening" which is a minimally planned event.)
>  
>
Event planning does happen a lot, however, the market, from a software 
perspective, is definitely "niche".
There are fewer than 5,000 people who do event planning as a sole 
occupation (according to DOL stats)
in the US, and as such, any software developed commercially would expect 
to charge close to 1% of total
development costs on a per-copy basis to break even.  The general 
nebulousness of the market also
argues against a commercial application, hence nobody seems to have 
taken the risk to create such
software.  The description of the market as "niche" is not intended to 
reduce the value of doing a project
in this space, but to show the value of having an open-source project in 
this space.

(Note, for reference a commercial  "mass-market" application usually 
plans to charge less
       than .0001% per copy)

> <SNIP>
>
>The product was OpenConf.
>See http://www.zakongroup.com/technology/openconf.shtml
>
>At the end of the meeting the InstallFest folks had not determined whether 
>OpenConf would suit their needs.  My recollection was that they thought it 
>might well do so since the license was compatible with their immediate needs 
>(they would not use OpenConf commercially).  I further understood that IF 
>InstallFest opted to use OpenConf (or another existing product) we would 
>scrub the event planning project proposal to look for a customer whose need 
>could not be satisfied by shopping.
>  
>
We investigated OpenConf, and my perspective is that it has nothing of 
value to an installfest type
event, and really provides little more than assistance managing the 
process of submission, review,
and selection of papers for a technical conference.  At this point, 
barring anyone else finding a
competing open-source project, the idea of a generalized event planning 
system seems to
be a good fit for the group.
I still intend to follow a lightweight, open, highly iterative 
development model.
At the moment, I'm planning to mention a bit more about it at the next 
devel meeting and on
the list shortly thereafter, and try to get a couple people who are 
willing to participate in a core team.
Once a few people have agreed to commit some time and effort to the 
project (needn't be coders,
need a system admin, user/tester, etc... as well), we'll decide a name, 
set up the project, and lay out
an initial development plan.  From there, it depends on the plan we work 
out.

> <SNIP>

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A few comments below:<br>
<br>
Trent Shipley wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid200502241401.05188.tshipley@deru.com" type="cite">&lt;SNIP&gt;
  <blockquote type="cite">
    <pre wrap="">- Event planners currently are a small, niche industry.
    </pre>
  </blockquote>
  <pre wrap=""><!---->
Joseph brought that up.  I'm not certain I believe it.  Weddings are a type of 
event, therefore wedding planners must need event planning software.  Every 
arena and civic center needs an event planner.  Every funeral home needs an 
event planner and so on.  If there is an event, some agent has to plan it.  
(Unless it is a "happening" which is a minimally planned event.)
  </pre>
</blockquote>
Event planning does happen a lot, however, the market, from a software
perspective, is definitely "niche". <br>
There are fewer than 5,000 people who do event planning as a sole
occupation (according to DOL stats)<br>
in the US, and as such, any software developed commercially would
expect to charge close to 1% of total<br>
development costs on a per-copy basis to break even.&nbsp; The general
nebulousness of the market also<br>
argues against a commercial application, hence nobody seems to have
taken the risk to create such<br>
software.&nbsp; The description of the market as "niche" is not intended to
reduce the value of doing a project<br>
in this space, but to show the value of having an open-source project
in this space.<br>
<br>
(Note, for reference a commercial&nbsp; "mass-market" application usually
plans to charge less<br>
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; than .0001% per copy)<br>
<blockquote cite="mid200502241401.05188.tshipley@deru.com" type="cite">&lt;SNIP&gt;
  <pre wrap="">The product was OpenConf.
See <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.zakongroup.com/technology/openconf.shtml">http://www.zakongroup.com/technology/openconf.shtml</a>

At the end of the meeting the InstallFest folks had not determined whether 
OpenConf would suit their needs. My recollection was that they thought it 
might well do so since the license was compatible with their immediate needs 
(they would not use OpenConf commercially). I further understood that IF 
InstallFest opted to use OpenConf (or another existing product) we would 
scrub the event planning project proposal to look for a customer whose need 
could not be satisfied by shopping.
 </pre>
</blockquote>
We investigated OpenConf, and my perspective is that it has nothing of
value to an installfest type 
event, and really provides little more than assistance managing the
process of submission, review, 
and selection of papers for a technical conference.&nbsp; At this point,
barring anyone else finding a 
competing open-source project, the idea of a generalized event planning
system seems to 
be a good fit for the group. 
I still intend to follow a lightweight, open, highly iterative
development model. 
At the moment, I'm planning to mention a bit more about it at the next
devel meeting and on 
the list shortly thereafter, and try to get a couple people who are
willing to participate in a core team. 
Once a few people have agreed to commit some time and effort to the
project (needn't be coders, 
need a system admin, user/tester, etc... as well), we'll decide a name,
set up the project, and lay out 
an initial development plan.&nbsp; From there, it depends on the plan we
work out. 
<blockquote cite="mid200502241401.05188.tshipley@deru.com" type="cite">&lt;SNIP&gt;</blockquote>
 
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