Everyone helping with PyCon is an unpaid volunteer. At the highest levels, like what jnoller is doing, that means roughly 1000 hours of hard, unpaid work over a six month timeframe. It is a second job.

In return, the chair doesn't even get a free ticket to the conference. Everyone pays their way to the conference - even the chair, just like everyone else.

That is part of what makes PyCon great. You go to other conferences to be catered to. You come to PyCon to contribute.