If we were planning Texas Hive Fest . . .

If you're reading this, THIS IS NOT AN ACTUAL EVENT. At least not now.

I was teasing Hive account@shinyobjects about doing a Texas Hive Fest. We have a history of doing events prior to the global infection. But, when I mentioned that Hiveans, in the past, have gathered together, most notably Steemfest, I sensed a spark. I think probably because we have all been cooped up at home for so long. The idea of going out and meeting real people is exciting.

So, this led me to thinking, if we, hypothetically, were thinking about throwing together a Texas Hive Fest, how would we do it? I hope, Hive account@shinyobjects, you will join me in this mental exercise. It could turn out to be a decent blueprint for anybody wanting to run with it.

What do you think, Jennifer? Do you want to walk through this for fun? Pretend we have the money to do this.

Anybody else is welcome to chime in. What's the worst that could happen? We simply end up with a bunch of upvotes on our comments, right?

Preliminary Thoughts

A Texas Hive Fest would have to be big and memorable. I don't think it would necessarily need to be free-flowing like a Barcamp, in which sessions are proposed and attended on-the-fly. A hybrid, perhaps, where there are scheduled sessions with space for breakout sessions.

Who would be good guest speakers? Panelists? Who would be a good MC?

What would we hope to achieve with Texas Hive Fest? Connecting online friends to meet in person? Grow the size of Hive membership? Educate on content creation?

We could probably think of two versions. One version if fully funded. One version if there is hardly any budget.

Picking A Location

Given the international composition of Hive, Texas Hive Fest would need to be held in a city with or near an International airport, particularly a hub. To me, that means Dallas (DFW), Houston (IAH), Austin (AUS), or San Antonio (SAT).

For me, I don't care for Houston traffic. I don't really know Dallas well. Austin could work. San Antonio could work. What do you think?

Business

We would need an insurance policy. A bookkeeper. Would we need a temporary business entity?

Accommodations

We would need to have a travel agent coordinate reservations with blocks of rooms near the Texas Hive Fest location. In this way, we could ensure good hotel rates. The trade-off is that this requires having the accommodations pre-paid, or have a significant deposit.

Alternatively, we could skip all that and allow everybody to find their own lodging. Certainly there are plenty of AirBnB options.

AV Equipment

How big do we want to go? Full stage with floor to ceiling screens? Or hotel projectors?

Media

Would we record all the sessions and post to Hive? Livestream?

Promotion

I think we would have a lot of assistance from Hive in getting the word out about Hive. But, what if we also turned the event into a recruiting event? We could have volunteers get people started on Hive. It's easier to get going when you start off with friends.

But, it couldn't hurt to get some media coverage. We would have to work up a media list to get news coverage. Press releases. Podcast ads?

Entertainment

Would it be worthwhile to provide entertainment in the evenings? Or, would Hivers prefer to wander around town to explore?

That's all I have.