archive / backup conference

especially while the conf module can only handle one single conference (see multiple conferences : http://drupal.org/node/116286)
It might also be interesting to have a "backup conference" function that collects paper & review nodes and uploaded papers (optionally as a whole or only as a filename / link) in some (preferrable portable) format to be specified (MySQL Dump, export as TeX, HTML, XML, ..., compress in ZIP or TGZ file, ...)

That way a "finished" conference, could safely be deleted from the web site yet still be kept available.

Another option would be to create a node containing a summary of the conference (e.g. a book node) with some chapters of information on the conference, and one chapter listing the accepted papers
(or let the manager choose which papers appear in the book depending on their status, and which nodes are converted to "unpublished" status (rejected papers and/or reviews). "conf" comments could be converted to standard comments attached to the review)

This would create a static snapshot of the issue of the conference, so the conference table could be dropped or re-initialized for an upcoming conference.