I've organized both technology and social justice conventions. To answer your questions: 1.) Is it possible to accomplish without significant funding in advanc

I've organized both technology and social justice conventions. To answer your questions: 1.) Is it possible to accomplish without significant funding in advance? Yes, but it's one hell of a lot of extra legwork. When I was in University, I pulled one off without any money at all. It worked, but everything took at least twice the time it would have taken with funding in advance. I struggled with a venue up until the very end and simply cannot describe the stress of losing a venue ten days before an event. It's only 9am where I'm from, but just thinking about this makes me want to break out the hard alcohol... 2.) Profit? I don't want to seem overly negative, but you may occasionally show a profit, particularly if you're lucky enough to score some good (ie - cash paying) donours/sponsors. However, when you throw an event the expected result is for things to get fucked up in unpredictable ways. And, under the law of throwing big events, the chances are good that the one thing you relied upon the most and considered the most foolproof will end up getting the most fucked up. Therefore, you may see a profit (and if you do, for the love of all that is holy, share with your army of volunteers). But, the expected profit should always be zero or even a loss. Here's a tip from the trenches. Make sure that you can personally afford to pay for the venue after the event, even if you don't make a single penny of revenue. Venue managers seem to be a fairly tight knit group and if you get a reputation for screwing one, you'll never book another...