fudcon-planning August 2009

fudcon-planning@lists.fedoraproject.org

6 participants
12 discussions

Publicity
by Paul W. Frields 08 Sep '09

08 Sep '09

Chris, I think you asked earlier -- although I can't seem to put my hands on the specific email -- about how widely to publicize FUDCon. (At least I'll be splitting this thread out now, hope that helps.) You noted that there might be as many as several hundred students interested in attending, and I think you were concerned that might overwhelm our ability to provide effective event support. We could limit the need to provide limitless funding if we do one or more of the following: * Limit gifts (T-shirt, FUDPub coverage) to a pre-arranged number of pre-registrants. * Seek sponsorship from one or more places. Seneca is already giving us free facilities so I'm loath to go there, but perhaps the user education track gives us a way to seek sponsorship elsewhere. A further thought about Point #1: Running the pre-registration process through the wiki works tolerably well and requires little effort on our part, but it's not going to be easy for planning technical sessions. We may need to find and set up conference management somewhere on Fedora infrastructure. -- Paul W. Frields http://paul.frields.org/ gpg fingerprint: 3DA6 A0AC 6D58 FEC4 0233 5906 ACDB C937 BD11 3717 http://redhat.com/ - - - - http://pfrields.fedorapeople.org/ irc.freenode.net: stickster @ #fedora-docs, #fedora-devel, #fredlug

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Conference planning software
by Paul W. Frields 05 Sep '09

05 Sep '09

This looks very promising. I believe it's entirely in Python and doesn't rely on particular frameworks, psyco, or other weird stuff. http://cdsware.cern.ch/indico/ I'm downloading it now and will try to play with it today. Paul

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FUDCon - Dave & Busters Proposal
by Chris Tyler 31 Aug '09

31 Aug '09

Here is the proposal from D&B. Notes: - They have 'appetizer-style' buffets and 'dinner-style' buffets. The former include finger food such as cheese and crackers, kebabs, and bar burgers; the latter, a more traditional meat-starch-vegetable-salad menu. For our event type and budget, only the appetizer style seems appropriate. - Drink tickets are charged on a as-consumed basis -- if a $5 drink is ordered, we pay $5, if a $7 drink, then $7, if the ticket isn't used, no charge. We can include the non-alcoholic drinks via ticket, or for $2.59/person have unlimited tea, coffee, and soda. Tickets can have a maximum value attached; $7.20 (recommended) covers most drinks. - They will throw in the space rental for free under their current promotion. Of the various spaces available, the space that looks best to me includes 9 pool tables, a snooker table, and two hand-shuffleboard tables (which will be covered and used for the buffet for part of the evening). This is the "Viewpoint 2/3" on the proposal -- it's normally $125/hour. - They have recommended "Power Cards" for each attendee -- these can be used on the midway. They are optional -- we can just have the pool tables available, and if someone wants to use the midway they can pay their own way. If we include the Power Cards, we're over budget. Hope this info is useful. Paul, in case Mailman scrubs the attachment, I'm CCing you on this mail directly. -Chris -------- Forwarded Message -------- From: jacqueline_scott(a)daveandbusters.com Reply-to: <jacqueline_scott(a)daveandbusters.com> To: chris(a)tylers.info Subject: Feodora Project - Software Developers 12/5/2009 Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:23:07 See Attachment(s): Hello Chris. Deposit Due: I have attached your party proposal. Please read over and confirm that everything is correct. if you have any changes or questions please feel free to contact me. I came in a little over budget but there are lots of things we can adjust.. my goal was just to give you an idea of costs and we can add/change/delete as you'd like. Please fill in the credit card info on the Authorization page and then sign and date the contract page where it asks for host signature. Then fax or scan it back to me to confirm your space. Thank you for choosing Dave and Buster's to host your event. I look forward to working with you in the future. Jacqueline Scott Special Events Representative 905.760.7600 x 236 905.760.7603 Fax jacqueline_scott(a)daveandbusters.com

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FUDCon Fact-finding Trip
by Chris Tyler 30 Aug '09

30 Aug '09

I stopped by the FUDCon candidate hotels and Dave & Buster's this afternoon. Hilton Garden Inn: - More expensive than Marriott ($129/dbl occupancy) + A bit nicer (e.g., Herman Miller desk chair) + Adjacent to Viva station, 600m to D&B + Restaurant is breakfast/lunch/dinner, room service available + Reliable wireless signal - 1.6 Mbps download, 1 Mbps upload on wireless, carrier is Rogers + Has offered a king suite for hospitality ("hacking room"), discounted breakfast vouchers Marriott Courtyard: + Cheaper ($99/dbl occupancy) - Slightly more basic decor - 600m to Viva station (5-10 minute walk), adjacent to D&B - Restaurant is breakfast-only - Wireless only in lobby + 2.66 Mbps download, 2.66 Mbps upload, carrier is MTS Allstream The hotels are otherwise basically equivalent (pool, hot tub, fitness room (Hilton's is slightly larger), close to other restaurants for Thursday/Sunday night, etc). If the Hilton will drop their price a bit to better compete with the Marriott, they would get my recommendation. I'll see what I can talk them into. Dave & Busters: - We could easily spend over the budget, but there are some ways to do it for $30. - Best option appears to be an appetizer-style buffet in a room that has 9 pocket pool tables, 1 snooker table, and two shuffleboard tables. - They're going to forward a proposed package for our review, I'll pass it along when it arrives. -- Chris

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Spot's on board
by Paul W. Frields 28 Aug '09

28 Aug '09

I've added Spot to the membership roster since I know he is keenly interested in our progress. Spot, there's not much in the archives, it would probably only take a couple minutes to either scan the entries in the web interface, or import from the archives. Paul

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request from EMEA
by Max Spevack 28 Aug '09

28 Aug '09

I've had a request for a few folks in Europe to see if we can have the hotel provide the FUDCon rate for extra nights (maybe up to a week) after FUDCon. Some of the European folks are thinking of making a Canadian vacation out of FUDCon. Passing it along, Max

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Meeting with Hotels and D&B
by Chris Tyler 25 Aug '09

25 Aug '09

Hi Folks, FYI, I've set appointments to drop into the two hotels and D&B on Thursday afternoon to see the properties in detail and speed up the negotiations a bit. (Will take laptop to check wlan :-) -Chris

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FUDPub
by Paul W. Frields 24 Aug '09

24 Aug '09

Chris Tyler had a fantastic idea for FUDPub, which is Dave & Buster's, apparently just a little ways across the street from the hotels we're considering. As I told him, normally I'm not a big fan of chains but I make an exception for D&B. The best comments we've ever had for people enjoying FUDPub came from the Boston FUDPub this past January, which we held at the billiards place a few blocks from MIT. Having something to do other than hold a drink and talk makes people *more* likely to socialize (go figure). So a place full of the latest video and interactive games seems like a hit to me. Paul

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Re: FUDPub Possibilities
by Andrew Overholt 24 Aug '09

24 Aug '09

> There is a possibility we may have a Magic Bus available There is a company here called "The Magic Bus Company" that has interestingly-painted buses that it rents for pretty cheap. > Would having a FUDCon Bus available during the week change a lot of the > things we're able to plan/do in Toronto? I figure we'll mostly be in and around York's campus. It's quite far out of the city centre, but outside of pub night is this a big deal? I guess we could take a bus trip downtown but transit is cheap and very accessible if we wanted to go that route. Andrew

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FUDPub Possibilities
by Chris Tyler 24 Aug '09

24 Aug '09

Hi Deepak, Lilly, and Andrew, I want to bounce some ideas around for FUDPub. There are obviously tons of great places to hold one in our fine city, but there are limited options within walking distance, so transportation becomes an issue. The Underground at York (http://www.myunderground.ca) is within walking distance of TEL/SEQ, and I think it's probably the first choice -- though I'd categorize it as very convenient, very flexible, but slightly boring. Other nearby options could include the restaurants/pubs at Interchange (near the hotels), or we could take advantage of the fact that York is a transit hub and go farther afield (though this makes things more complex). What do you think? -Chris (To clarify venue plans: we've got the use of the SEQ building space that we normally use for FSOSS for Saturday (Barcamp) and Sunday (Hackfest day 1). On Monday (Hackfest day 2), we have the room we used for the F10 release party, plus a medium and two small conference rooms and two other classrooms).

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fudcon-planning August 2009