diff --git a/content/events/sample-event/conduct.md b/content/events/sample-event/conduct.md
index c0e07a77e5c..41689ed7809 100644
--- a/content/events/sample-event/conduct.md
+++ b/content/events/sample-event/conduct.md
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 +++
-date = "2016-03-06T21:17:08-06:00"
+date = "2000-01-01T01:01:01-06:00"
 title = "conduct"
 type = "event"
 draft = true
diff --git a/content/events/sample-event/contact.md b/content/events/sample-event/contact.md
index ffc9c691375..d6fc715f175 100644
--- a/content/events/sample-event/contact.md
+++ b/content/events/sample-event/contact.md
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 +++
-date = "2016-03-06T21:16:08-06:00"
+date = "2000-01-01T01:01:01-06:00"
 title = "contact"
 type = "event"
 draft = true
@@ -9,10 +9,10 @@ draft = true
 
 If you'd like to contact us by email: {{< email_organizers >}}
 
-** Our local team**
+**Our local team**
 
 {{< list_organizers >}}
 
-** The core devopsdays organizer group**
+**The core devopsdays organizer group**
 
 {{< list_core >}}
diff --git a/content/events/sample-event/location.md b/content/events/sample-event/location.md
index 49267bbeab2..1533593efe4 100644
--- a/content/events/sample-event/location.md
+++ b/content/events/sample-event/location.md
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 +++
-date = "2016-03-06T21:17:00-06:00"
+date = "2000-01-01T01:01:01-06:00"
 title = "location"
 type = "event"
 draft = true
diff --git a/content/events/sample-event/program.md b/content/events/sample-event/program.md
index 20fb27eb9b5..4e39e69b951 100644
--- a/content/events/sample-event/program.md
+++ b/content/events/sample-event/program.md
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 +++
-date = "2016-03-06T21:28:07-06:00"
+date = "2000-01-01T01:01:01-06:00"
 title = "program"
 type = "event"
 draft = true
diff --git a/content/events/sample-event/proposals.md b/content/events/sample-event/proposals.md
deleted file mode 100644
index c29a75e5949..00000000000
--- a/content/events/sample-event/proposals.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
-+++
-date = "2016-03-06T21:28:14-06:00"
-title = "proposals"
-type = "event"
-draft = true
-
-+++
-
-This page lists the proposals we have received. Help the presenters with your feedback!
-
-
-<h2>Conference Talks</h2>
-
-TBD - need to create a template/shortcode for finding all the proposals
diff --git a/content/events/sample-event/propose.md b/content/events/sample-event/propose.md
index 156459a55ba..ba528d96ed6 100644
--- a/content/events/sample-event/propose.md
+++ b/content/events/sample-event/propose.md
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 +++
-date = "2016-03-06T22:47:24-06:00"
+date = "2000-01-01T01:01:01-06:00"
 title = "propose"
 type = "event"
 draft = true
diff --git a/content/events/sample-event/registration.md b/content/events/sample-event/registration.md
index a600a1d8114..9e12f87a388 100644
--- a/content/events/sample-event/registration.md
+++ b/content/events/sample-event/registration.md
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 +++
-date = "2016-03-06T21:28:23-06:00"
+date = "2000-01-01T01:01:01-06:00"
 title = "registration"
 type = "event"
 draft = true
diff --git a/content/events/sample-event/sponsor.md b/content/events/sample-event/sponsor.md
index 7fdcf5ec3f2..91398b5b367 100644
--- a/content/events/sample-event/sponsor.md
+++ b/content/events/sample-event/sponsor.md
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 +++
-date = "2016-03-06T21:17:14-06:00"
+date = "2000-01-01T01:01:01-06:00"
 title = "sponsor"
 type = "event"
 draft = true
diff --git a/content/events/sample-event/welcome.md b/content/events/sample-event/welcome.md
index dc6ed39ad6e..913384cea7b 100644
--- a/content/events/sample-event/welcome.md
+++ b/content/events/sample-event/welcome.md
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 +++
-date = "2016-03-06T21:15:25-06:00"
+date = "2000-01-01T01:01:01-06:00"
 title = "welcome"
 type = "event"
 aliases = ["/events/YYYY-city"]
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ draft = true
 
 ## {{< event_start >}} - {{< event_end >}}
 
-DevOps Days is coming to XXXXXX
+DevOps Days is coming to {{< event_location >}}!
 
 <!-- <div style="text-align:center;">
   {{< event_logo >}}
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ DevOps Days is coming to XXXXXX
   <tr>
   <td></td>
     <td>
-    {{< event_twitter devopsdayschi >}} <!-- add your twitter name here without the @ sign -->
+    {{< event_twitter devopsdaysyourtown >}} 
     </td>
   </tr>
 </table>
diff --git a/make_new_event.sh b/make_new_event.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..a5963eb0f3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/make_new_event.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -e
+
+# We assume the current year (and also assume bash 3, because macs)
+read -p "Enter your event year (default: $(date +"%Y")): " year
+[ -z "${year}" ] && year='2016'
+
+# We don't use accent marks or spaces or other special characters in city names
+read -p "Enter your city name: " city
+cityabbr=$(echo $city | tr -dc '[:alpha:]' | tr 'āáǎàēéěèīíǐìōóǒòöūúǔùǖǘǚǜĀÁǍÀĒÉĚÈĪÍǏÌŌÓǑÒŪÚǓÙǕǗǙǛ' 'aaaaeeeeiiiiooooouuuuuuuuAAAAEEEEIIIIOOOOUUUUUUUU' | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')
+
+read -p "Enter your devopsdays event twitter handle (defaults to devopsdays): " twitter
+[ -z "${twitter}" ] && twitter='devopsdays'
+# remove @ if they added it
+twitter=$(echo $twitter | tr -dc '[:alnum:]')
+
+# We use the term event_slug in the hugo files too
+event_slug=$year-$cityabbr
+
+
+cp yyyy-city.yml data/events/$event_slug.yml
+sed -i '' "s/YYYY/$year/" data/events/$event_slug.yml
+sed -i '' "s/City/$city/" data/events/$event_slug.yml
+sed -i '' "s/yourlocation/$city/" data/events/$event_slug.yml
+sed -i '' "s/yyyy-city/$event_slug/" data/events/$event_slug.yml
+sed -i '' "s/city-year/$cityabbr-$year/" data/events/$event_slug.yml
+
+cp -r content/events/sample-event content/events/$event_slug
+
+# The draft = true in the frontmatter is what prevents the sample event from showing on the site
+# don't need the double quotes because there's no variable in the substitution
+sed -i '' '/draft = true/d' content/events/$event_slug/*
+
+# setting the creation date at the time the event is instantiated
+datestamp=$(date +%Y-%m-%dT:%H:%M:%S:%z)
+sed -i '' "s/2000-01-01T01:01:01-06:00/$datestamp/" content/events/$event_slug/*
+
+sed -i '' "s/YYYY-city/$event_slug/" content/events/$event_slug/welcome.md
+sed -i '' "s/devopsdaysyourtown/$twitter/" content/events/$event_slug/welcome.md
diff --git a/yyyy-city.yml b/yyyy-city.yml
index ae92d5da74a..c2c5b2b3e08 100644
--- a/yyyy-city.yml
+++ b/yyyy-city.yml
@@ -1,27 +1,37 @@
-name: yyyycity # The name of the event. Four digit year with the city name in lower-case, with no spaces.
+name: "yyyy-city" # The name of the event. Four digit year with the city name in lower-case, with no spaces.
 year: "YYYY" # The year of the event. Make sure it is in quotes.
 city: "City" # The city name of the event. Capitalize it.
 friendly: "yyyy-city" # Four digit year and the city name in lower-case. Don't forget the dash!
-status: "current" # Options are "past" or "current".
-startdate: 2016-08-30 # The start date of your event, in YYYY-MM-DD format. Leave blank if you don't have a date yet.
-enddate: 2016-08-31 # The end date of your event, in YYYY-MM-DD format. Leave blank if you don't have a date yet.
-cfp_date_start: 2016-04-01
-cfp_date_end: 2016-06-01
-cfp_date_announce: 2016-07-01
-coordinates: "41.882219, -87.640530" # The corrodinates of your venue. Get Latitude and Longitude of a Point: http://itouchmap.com/latlong.html
-location: "location" # The name of your location
- "sponsor"] # List of pages you want to show up in the navigation of your page. Remove any that aren't relevent yet.
-nav_elements: # List of pages you want to show up in the navigation of your page. Remove any that aren't relevent yet.
+status: "current" # Options are "past" or "current". Use "current" for upcoming.
+
+# All dates are in unquoted YYYY-MM-DD, like this:   variable: 2016-01-05
+startdate: 2016-01-01  # The start date of your event. Leave blank if you don't have a venue reserved yet.
+enddate: 2016-01-01  # The end date of your event. Leave blank if you don't have a venue reserved yet.
+# Leave CFP dates blank if you don't know yet, or set all three at once.
+cfp_date_start: 2016-01-01 # start accepting talk proposals.
+cfp_date_end: 2016-01-01 # close your call for proposals.
+cfp_date_announce: 2016-01-01 # inform proposers of status
+
+# Location
+#
+coordinates: "41.882219, -87.640530" # The coordinates of your city. Get Latitude and Longitude of a Point: http://itouchmap.com/latlong.html
+location: "yourlocation" # Defaults to city, but you can make it the venue name.
+#
+
+nav_elements: # List of pages you want to show up in the navigation of your page.
   - name: welcome
+#  - name: program
+#  - name: propose
+#    url: http://mycfp.com # The url setting is optional, and only if you want the navigation to link off-site
+#  - name: location
+#  - name: registration
+  - name: sponsor
   - name: contact
-  - name: location
-  - name: program
-  - name: propose
-    url: http://mycfp.com # The url setting is optional, and only if you want the navigation to link off-site
   - name: conduct
-  - name: sponsor
+
+# These are the same people you have on the mailing list and Slack channel.
 team: ["John Doe", "Jane Smith", "Sally Fields"]
-team_members:
+team_members: # Name is the only required field for team members.
   - name: "John Doe"
   - name: "Jane Smith"
     twitter: "devopsdays"
@@ -29,10 +39,11 @@ team_members:
     employer: "Acme Anvil Co."
 organizer_email: "organizers-city-year@devopsdays.org" # Put your organizer email address here
 proposal_email: "proposals-city-year@devopsdays.org" # Put your proposal email address here
-sponsors: # List all of your sponsors here along with what level of sponsorship they have.
-  - id: chef
-    level: gold
-  - id: datadog
+
+# List all of your sponsors here along with what level of sponsorship they have.
+# Check data/sponsors/ to use sponsors already added by others.
+sponsors:
+  - id: samplesponsorname
     level: gold
   - id: arresteddevops
     level: community