GUADEC, 2005 :: Hosts Wanted!

[Glynn Foster <Glynn Foster Sun COM>]

The GNOME Foundation is looking for a host city for GUADEC 2005. Yes,
we haven't even had this years GUADEC in Norway and we're already
looking to next year!
                                                                                                                                                             
What is GUADEC?
===============
                                                                                                                                                             
GUADEC is the GNOME Users and Developers European Conference, first
started by Mathieu Lacage 5 years ago in Paris, France. We've
come a long way since then, and GUADEC has become the center piece of
our calendar. With 4 successful conferences under our belt, and
GUADEC 5 in Norway well under way to success, we're better planned
than ever before and we're looking for hosts of GUADEC 2005.
                                                                                                                                                             
Are you ready to host GUADEC 2005?
==================================
                                                                                                                                                             
To help you along the way, we've prepared a list of recommendations for you
to think about.
                                                                                                                                                             
1) Board Contact
                                                                                                                                                             
  For future GUADECs, we'd like to delegate far more of the event planning
  and co-ordination to a local GUADEC organising team, with minimal noise
  and interruption from the Board. ;-) To do that, we need a good deal of
  trust in the organising team, and great communication.
                                                                                                                                                             
  To help that along, we'd like to see a delegate from the organising team
  act as a point of contact with the Board and Executive Director, so we
  know where we can help out, how the planning is going, and so on.
  It would help if this person is well known to the community, but is not
  essential.

                                                                                                                                                             
2) Team
                                                                                                                                                             
  The organising team needs to be a team! Ideally, there ought to be
  five to seven people, *on the ground* at the host city, who are keen
  to be part of the organising team. Of course, they will get lots of
  help from previous organisers, the Board, and other contributors,
  who will most likely be in different countries and inconvenient
  timezones. :-) The local organizing team will interface on event
  planning, sponsorship and logistics with GNOME Foundation's
  Executive Director. The most important thing is that there are people
  on the ground taking the major organisational role. They get to have
  the most fun and beer.
                                                                                                                                                             
3) Helpers
                                                                                                                                                             
  The organising team needs to be able to muster an army of helpers during
  the event, and potentially to help out beforehand if the workload is
  huge. Often enough, this will be a local user group or university club.
  GUADEC 3 is a great example; they had an amazing number of helpers from
  HispaLinux. GUADEC 2 had a great deal support from local volunteers and
  staff from SSLUG, similarly from the Trinity guys at GUADEC 4 in
  Dublin, and similarly from the large team of Norwegians at Agder
  University College in Kristiansand. More people helping out means that
  everyone - including the overworked organising committee - can enjoy the
  conference.
                                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                             
4) Venue
                                                                                                                                                             
  It would be a huge advantage, financially and organisationally, to have
  lots of support from the proposed venue. Other conferences have been
  able to arrange venue sponsorship, especially from universities, which
  we ought to be able to do as well. Who wouldn't want to support the
  world's most prestigious Free Desktop conference, anyway? :-)
                                                                                                                                                             
  There are only a few important pre-requisites; a large hacking room with
  good network connectivity, a selection of large and small lecture
  theatres [optional rooms for people to get together and discuss stuff
  would be a bonus] and be in close proximity to a wide range of
  restaurants and pubs.
                                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                             
5) Date
                                                                                                                                                             
  With the last two conferences, we've unfortunately had to hold the
  event in June. While we get to enjoy the good weather of June, quite
  often this interferes with many students doing exams, clashes with
  other conferences and holiday plans. The GNOME Foundation is looking
  to hold the conference in March/April for 2005 if possible. GUADEC 4
  spanned over 5 days, with a pre-conference weekend involved - this was
  a great opportunity for people to fly in and find their feet. We'd
  like to do this again.

                                                                                                                                                             
6) Transport & Accommodation
                                                                                                                                                             
  Because we have so many international attendees, the ideal host city
  ought to have a fairly major airport, to avoid rising transport costs
  and time to travel. The host team should investigate travel costs with a
  selection of countries, both from Europe and further afield to be able
  to provide a rough estimation for the conference attendees.
                                                                                                                                                             
  Ensuring that cheap accommodation is available, and not in use
  by other major events (such as the Special Olympics!) is also important.
                                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                             
Are you a GUADEC host?
======================
                                                                                                                                                             
GUADEC is a fun event, but with its popularity over the last couple of
years the conference is getting bigger and bigger! The potential hosts
can gain a lot by having the conference in their region - not only
increased exposure for free software, but also influencing key
developments like the 80,000 computer deployment in Extremadura, Spain.
                                                                                                                                                             
With the increased size of the event we feel that it is absolutely important
that any organization team know what is involved in such a conference before
offering to host it. Organizing a conference of this size is great experience
and an incredibly rewarding one, especially when the conference finishes ;-)
                                                                                                                                                             
We hope that the above isn't considered as a 'scare tactic', but rather a
'reality check' and greatly look forward to host applications filling our
mailboxes. All host bids will be rated both on infrastructure, location and,
most importantly, enthusiasm level! All queries related to the hosting
of next years conference should be directed to board[at]gnome[dot]org.


Glynn

- GNOME Foundation Board