Re: GNOME and KDE to Co-locate Flagship Conferences on Gran Canaria in 2009

[Dave Neary <bolsh gnome org>]

Hi Alberto,

Alberto Ruiz wrote:
> As a side note, the secretary of tourism and innovation was a teacher
> of computer science on the university, so we won't have too much
> problems to explain him what the culture and the values that we want
> to push into the event, we just have to make sure that we tell them
> what we want.
> 
> We have regular meetings with them since a few months already, so
> there's a good communication channel between us.

This is reassuring! Thanks for the info.

>> They talk about going through a travel agency and getting group rates in
>> hotels. I would *really* like to see GUADEC go back to block-booking
>> beds in a hostel or campsite (as we did in Stuttgart & Kristiansand),
>> and recommending hotels for those who desire them.
> 
> We are one year ahead, so we are on time to do whatever we want, I
> wasn't at Sttugart or Kristiansand, so if you could be more specific
> on what the experience was and what we need, I can start requesting
> the information on which options do we have to repeat the experience.

In Stuttgart, we block-booked about 100 beds in a youth hostel
overlooking the city: http://paul.luon.net/images/guadec_sun1.jpg (this
is where we had breakfast every morning). Lots of people got a sponsored
bed, and some people who hadn't asked skipped out without paying, so the
whole thing cost the foundation quite a bit, but people had a bed for
about €20 per night IIRC.

When I said Kristiansand, I actually meant Villanova :}

In Kristiansand, there was a "Living for Free" option - if you brought a
bed roll and sleeping bag, you got floor space in a gymnasium of a
school. It was actually pretty fun :)

They also had student flats available for a reasonable rate ($46 per
night), and recommended hotels for those looking for that option.

> There are already two representatives for each community, there's
> Agustin de Benito and Richard Dale from the KDE community (who was the
> one who presented the idea of doing Akademy to  of the local
> government of Gran Canaria) and Luis de Bethencourt (maintainer of
> Ubuntu Studio) and myself. We'll push as hard as we can to keep the
> spirit of the even, just let us know what we should do.

As I said earlier, I'm reassured that this is the case. Thanks for your
effort.

The first thing to do is to make sure that they're aware that we don't
need much in the way of frills - a university-type structure, with cheap
food & drink, cheap accommodation options, but with the option to
upgrade for VIPs, lots of space to meet & mingle, and good quality A/V
equipment for presentations.

Cheers,
Dave.

-- 
Dave Neary
GNOME Foundation member
bolsh gnome org