Dana, think you missed my point.
I follow the weekly podcasts & webinars from Paul and they are great. But, they don’t allow me to interact with Xojo other than questions I type into the question box. This would be an interactive experience involving a Xojo engineer and the Xojo community.
I crave the opportunity to talk to a Xojo engineer in person. I think many of us do. Outside of the XDC, many of us will never get this opportunity,…
[quote=203978:@olivier vidal]in Paris (as in London, Rome, or Berlin I guess), many engineers and computer schools are struggling to receive free of such events (only sessions, not the lodging of course).
Mozilla also has a superb conference room , in the heart of Paris, where they often host free this type of conferences (that said, these are often conferences for half a day, I do not know if they would accept several days).
But as Michael said, there remains the language barrier. I think Christian (and here ) comes to attracting twenty people in his conference (I am not sure). If it is a most important conference with Xojo engineers, etc., there will be perhaps 30-40 European. + Other nationalities (American …).
To double or triple the number of Europeans will require simultaneous translation in one or two other languages, such as 4D does now in France.[/quote]
Use a conference room in a school of engineers or Mozilla may seem unambitious (but it’s free). It is certain that it is less interesting that one place where everyone is together, even at night.
But as Xojo costs will be greater, and with possibly the costs of translation, I think a different format can be considered. As Mozilla is in the heart of Paris (their conference room is equipped with wifi, big screen, etc. There is also another adjoining room to take a snack, drink…), and at the foot of their building there is a Hard Rock Café and amount of other restaurants, cafes, starbucks, where people can dine together, etc.
For lodging, there are plenty of hotels nearby, and of course airbnb, significantly less expensive. I was just looking, there are apartments in Paris at 50/60 euros the night (or 250/300 a week). Don’t forget: in France (and Europe generally), prices are displayed inclusive of all taxes. There is no VAT in addition, tip, etc.
Few examples :
Apart 1
Apart 2
Apart 3
Apart 4
Apart 5
And as Michel said, there are a lot of subway lines in Paris, you can move easily and quickly throughout Paris, and it’s not expensive. For example, you can take as many bus and subway you want in all Paris for 5 days for a total of 35 euros (inclusive of all taxes).
It is very encouraging! It is therefore likely that there is at least as many people as in the USA.
Otherwise, there is also of course rooms conferences more conventional, pay but with more services, such as la crypte. (do not hesitate to ask me if you want others addresses to study).
Zandvoort looks perfect since it’s just 20 mins direct train from Amsterdam, 30 minutes train from Schiphol airport. The train drops you off on the beach where you find nice places for a conference etc. Everything within walkable distance.
Or Scheveningen beach, close to The Hague, also very nice and also not far from the airport.
Think from just 25 people it’s worth organizing, and for sure knowing each other will benefit for our projects.
Am I wrong to say that in any event what’s desired
[quote=204310:@Norman Palardy]Am I wrong to say that in any event what’s desired
That sounds terribly much like the current XDC, does it not ? 
The one Dana already said wont be coming to Europe since its too darned expensive
Sounds like “all or nothing” is what folks want and are likely to get “nothing” because they want it all
Oh well …
Guess I’ll come to Europe in the next couple years on vacation only
[quote=204354:@Norman Palardy]The one Dana already said wont be coming to Europe since its too darned expensive
Sounds like “all or nothing” is what folks want and are likely to get “nothing” because they want it all
Oh well …
Guess I’ll come to Europe in the next couple years on vacation only :P[/quote]
When you pass by Paris, let us know. I am sure I won’t be the only one to be glad to meet you, if you got time.
If you guys in Paris organize another one or two day event in September, it may be convenient for me to come by 
If I get there on vacation it’d be my wife directing who what where when why
If its a “bizcation” (part business / part vacation) then I get to dictate some of it - maybe 1 or 2 days
It wont be this fall nor next year - already have vacations planned
At best 2017 sometime
I guess what I was hoping to see was that some group(s) would collaborate (like the ARBP did back when) and organize a conference of some kind that was not “nothing” nor “XDC” - something in between
I suspect that Xojo would send a delegate or two - but thats just my personal belief - and I’d love to be able to go to such a event
But that seems to not be something anyone is willing to take up unless its Xojo inc taking it on and I doubt Dana needs more conferences to organize 
My idea…
If Xojo were to invest in some of these I’d be happy to rent one for one or more events and pay a partial attendance fee.
I’m expecting that conference facilities will begin to offer these as part of their package in the not too distant future.
Alternatively the $NZ is quite low at the moment, so would be a great place to come for a conference - Hobbiton awaits
[quote=204310:@Norman Palardy]Am I wrong to say that in any event what’s desired
Now, what about the contents ?
Either in conference speech / demonstration and in documentations (either paper / web / CD/DVD) ?
Say a two (max 3) focussed sessions that took a subject from beg to end. As an example - from the past - I would say:
a. Carbon: how to create an application / How I do a Carbon application migates to Carbon,
b. Caling Xojo application to the Apple Store (Windows Store, Android Store if such a beast exists),
c. Think at another (large) subject that can be presented from the project creation to the application sale.
With modern technologies, only one (max two) Xojo members can be send physically while on one or two occasion a day, a video conference with one or two of the Engineer person(s) can be there for a Q&A session following the a, b, c sessions and a last, large Q&A session (people can share their questions at registering time, so the engineers can have time to prepare their answers).
At last, a surprise, but small (in time) sessions about tricks and tips of how to use the Xojo IDE (how to speed up our development experience) can be added as a gift (of course with a summary left to the attendees).
Just some ideas that comes to mind.
I would have a few questions for Xojo rather than the community;
What is the primary goal of the conference. Do you want more customers? Do you want to educate existing customers? Do you want to build a community? Do you want to reach different markets (ie international markets, different kinds of developers etc…)?
How do you measure the profitability of the conference? Is it conference registration less conference expenses or are you considering other factors. If so what?
I think depending on these answers there would be different break even points and a different mindset on where and when to have the conferences.
For me personally I’d like to see the conference as an investment into building a larger community of users which can grow the profitability of Xojo bringing me a better product and a larger developer pool.
I am looking for a good excuse for visiting NZ again. This would definitely be one. Beautiful and relaxed country.
This is it.
[quote=204431:@Paul Levine]I would have a few questions for Xojo rather than the community;
[/quote]
I can’t speak to what the goals of the conference are.
The thread here was started by Bob asking what the community wanted in an event - ANY event
I chimed in trying to figure out if the community ONLY wants “official” events run by, organized by and sponsored by Xojo Inc or if a user group event with Xojo attendees would be a decent middle ground - particularly in Europe.
It seems to be the case that “only events by Xojo from Xojo etc” are desired which means we won’t be doing one in Europe as Dana has said several times - its just too costly to do XDC in Europe.
I can say I’m disappointed that it seems there’s no middle ground between nothing and the full XDC conference that would sate anyones desire for an event of any kind in Europe
Well, don’t give up too soon.
We had local events in France and UK, too. There is a chance of someone continuing.
For me outside of Germany, I’d need a local company to handle ticket sales and pay hotel bill, so we get local VAT reclaimed easily.
There have been RS/Xojo Conference Events in UK - I’ve been to one in London, organised by Christian + Richard & Trishia Duke in spring 2012 and the 3 Birmingham ones organised by Eric Gibbon and Stewart Johnson in 2012, 13 and 14
As mentioned previously in this thread, Christian has run events in Germany and has also attended all of these UK events.
None of these events were organised by Xojo, but some support was given to each - Two Xojo staff members came to the London one and all of the Birmingham ones had a video conference with Geoff Perlman.
I like the idea of a Euro XDC - Paris could be a lot of fun as well as being accessible!
Also, I like the idea of a Hackathon… A day before/after the sessions where people break out into groups and tackle a problem.