[Conlangs-Conf] Speakers, topics, & request for help

Hello everyone.

So far, I have eight almost-certain speakers and five potential ones.
Included are:
Doug Ball; Sally Caves; Suzette Elgin (telepresence); Sai Emrys; Matt
Pearson; David Peterson; Mark Shoulson; and John Quijada.

Topics on the program at present (very summarized & not at all complete!):
* word & paradigm morphology, applied
* LFG vs HPSG, applied
* conlanging & technology
* conlanging as 'play', 'work', 'craft', and 'art' (sociological perspective)
* non-linear full-2d writing systems - theory & potential technologies
* applying cognitive linguistics / cognitive science principles (frame
semantics, metaphor, chunking, etc) to conlang design
* understanding and applying Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
* cosmogenesis as applied to language design (i.e. how culture and
language interact, and how to design the two to mesh well &
synergistically)
* Volapuk
* semantic primes across various conlangs

The date for the conference will be almost certainly April 22 and/or
23. Not certain yet whether it will be one day or two - pending more
discussion amongst the speakers. Those dates are tentative inasmuch as
I need to confirm that we can reserve space and tech for the event on
those days; April 22nd is also Cal Day and as such will be a very
active day on campus. I'll post more when I have confirmations.

If you are interested in attending or participating, and haven't yet
sent me the PreReg form, please do so now - even if your plans are
tentative at this point.

Also, I NEED HELP. Currently I am doing this entirely on my own. I
would appreciate people to help with various aspects of the
conference; particularly:

* 1-2 additional signatories (must be currently registered UCB students)

* soliciting sponsorship from businesses - local or otherwise [e.g.
Intel, Apple, Mensa, Esperanto Society, KLI, etc.] - including e.g.
cut-rate or fully donated food/drink, copies, tshirts, pins, flags,
etc, as well as straight cash (I have a budget that can be shown to
potential sponsors) - in return for campus "presence", & potentially
ads in the conference materials

* assisting with setup the day(s) of the conference:
- transporting supplies (food, plates, tables, copies, etc) to and
from the conference
- setting up the same
- making posterboards and banners - e.g. for the registration / intake
table, a large butcherpaper banner or two for hanging outside to draw
people in, signs to direct people within the conference, etc
- running the video camera(s)
- general assistance during talks - e.g. distributing papers, getting
people the mic when they want to ask questions, etc
- answering general questions, e.g. where is the (bathroom / ATM / Sai
/ conference room / restaurant / clock / etc)
- running the registration table - sign people in, collect money if
applicable, hand out nametags and conference material, etc
- directing/moderating individual panels - people interested in the
topics and can ensure that all speakers play nice, stay on topic, keep
the conversation moving, collect / filter audience questions, etc.

* T-shirt design

* pamphlet design - prettifying & organizing something that will
include a schedule, attendees / speaker list w/ information & brief
bios, a sketch map of the local area highlighting relevant bits
(various banks' ATMs, local restaurants, bus stops / parking areas,
etc)

* general assistance

If you can do any or all of the above, please let me know ASAP.

 - Sai