diff --git a/symposion_project/apps/conference/models.py b/symposion_project/apps/conference/models.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b09c94bff2ff4d492bc43f26984597cf7548b855
--- /dev/null
+++ b/symposion_project/apps/conference/models.py
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+from django.db import models
+
+from timezones.fields import TimeZoneField
+
+
+class Conference(models.Model):
+    """
+    the full conference for a specific year, e.g. US PyCon 2012.
+    """
+    
+    title = models.CharField(max_length=100)
+    
+    # when the conference runs
+    start_date = models.DateField(null=True, blank=True)
+    end_date = models.DateField(null=True, blank=True)
+    
+    # timezone the conference is in
+    timezone = TimeZoneField(blank=True)
+    
+    def __unicode__(self):
+        return self.title
+
+
+class Section(models.Model):
+    """
+    a section of the conference such as "Tutorials", "Workshops",
+    "Talks", "Expo", "Sprints", that may have its own review and
+    scheduling process.
+    """
+    
+    conference = models.ForeignKey(Conference)
+    
+    name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
+    
+    # when the section runs
+    start_date = models.DateField(null=True, blank=True)
+    end_date = models.DateField(null=True, blank=True)
+    
+    def __unicode__(self):
+        return self.name