Rails Camps were renamed to Ruby Retreats in 2024; we refer to past Rails Camps as they were named at the time, and future events as Ruby Retreats.
This document is open source. You're welcome to open issues with any questions you might have, and if you've organised Ruby Retreats (or other events) before, please do submit pull requests with any details you feel should be covered but aren't.
The Ruby Australia committee can be contacted by emailing committee@ruby.org.au or on the Ruby Oceania Slack.
This guide is meant to give a potential organiser a reasonably detailed list of things that must be considered when planning and running a Retreat.
It is super important that an organiser does not rely on only this document. Talk to previous organisers and seek the help of Ruby Australia for advice and support when you need it.
There is no official organiser selection process - events happen when someone puts their hand up to run one.
Often the organiser(s) for the next Retreat volunteer at a Ruby Australia general meeting at the current Retreat. For example, during the Ruby Australia AGM at Rails Camp Perth in November 2014, Leonard Garvey volunteered to run the Rails Camp Sydney event that eventually took place in June 2015.
First preference is usually given to the states and territories that haven't hosted before (or have had the longest break since last hosting), but only if there are volunteers for that state/territory. Events have also been organised remotely where there has been a significant time since the last event in a particular location, and/or no interest from local community members - e.g Rails Camp Darwin in 2017 and Rails Camp Hobart in 2018.
Anyone who is interested in volunteering should get in touch with the Ruby Australia committee to see what plans are in place for future events (and to see if others have also put their hand up). If you have some fellow volunteers to work with, that's even better. A core team of two or three people is highly recommended - running a Ruby Retreat is a lot of work!
Your first steps should be:
- Figure out where - at least roughly. If you're running a Sydney event, are you thinking the Hawkesbury region, Blue Mountains, towards the South Coast...?
- Figure out when - think about potential conflicts with other events that might interest your audience, school holidays, public holidays...
- Rope in some fellow volunteers to help organise (Team).
- Come up with a rough budget (Budgeting).
- Find potential venues in your chosen budget, area, and timeframe (Venue Considerations).
Please keep in mind that previous organisers and the Ruby Australia committee will all be happy to provide feedback along the way.