Note that they weren't just silent about the venue or the dates. I haven't found a peep of them for the past three months about anything.

I haven't organized any conference, but I have some close friends who did, and I've talked to enough other organizers to know there's more to a conference than just dates and a venue. Surely the contract-to-be with the venue wouldn't prevent the organizers talking about sponsors, accommodations, travel options, partner program, fun things to do in and around Frankfurt, will-there-be-an-auction-or-not, social program, or anything else non-date-or-venue related?

I am thankful that my current employer doesn't require me to commit on Jan 1 for all my vacation for the year
Neither does my employer. But people have spouses and children, and some start planning their holidays in January (don't forget, YAPC::EU has the tendency to be organized in the middle of the European holiday season). And the half of my team that wants to go to YAPC::EU can't go if the other half has already claimed those weeks to take vacation.

There are also people like trainers and consultants who need dates so they can prevent getting booked with customers. I used to be a consultant, and I've missed conferences that couldn't tell their dates until late, because telling my then boss to keep my schedule clear for an entire month, just so I could do a two-or-three day conference isn't very sustainable.

In reply to Re^8: YAPC::EU 2012 by JavaFan
in thread YAPC::EU 2012 by JavaFan

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