Give advice on good accommodation

If you know the area, you probably know where’s a good place to stay – and conversely, where you really don’t want to stay.

If you run a conference in the same place for several years, you’ll get an idea of where the good accommodation is – which hostels are friendly, which hotels are in a quiet area, and so on. If someone’s out of town, they won’t know any of that, so tell them. They’ll get a better night’s sleep, and enjoy your event all the more!

You may be able to negotiate preferential rates at local hotels/hostels for your attendees.

For the last two years at PyCon UK, we had a block booking at a local hostel (Mrs. Potts). Lots of people had a good stay there, we used it for financial assistance recipients, and we’ll probably recommend it again next year. It also helped us solve a couple of sudden problems when somebody arrived with nowhere to stay, and we were able to give them a bed in Mrs. Potts.