Re: Dates & format for Desktop Summit 2011 announced

[Dave Neary <dneary gnome org>]

Hi Gil,

Gil Forcada wrote:
> So criticism was expected? I understood as a set-in-stone decision :)

Feedback was expected... some of this *is* set in stone, but I
definitely prefer hearing concerns now, so that we can try to address them.

> Just from an organizational PoV: having the core days in the first day
> (aka August 2nd) with the joint conference (so ~1000 attendees) I think
> it's a terrible idea!
> This year's GUADEC with the two pre-conference days were wonderful in
> terms or setting everything up, not just the registration desk per-se,
> but the network, the signaling, getting all the volunteers around and up
> to speed ...
> 
> So in short, one day as registration/pre-conference/hackfest/BoF day it
> should be a must for all conferences that everyone expects to run
> smoothly.

We won't have access to the venue before 5pm on the Friday (another
event preceding us), unfortunately, and for the bigger halls, we can
only have them from Friday to Monday - so this part is indeed set in stone.

We anticipate getting the network well planned in advance and getting it
up & running early - we are hopeful that the CCC will help us plan our
network infrastructure, and for those of you in the know, you're aware
that there could be no better way to ensure everything works well.

For welcome desk & registration set-up, volunteer co-ordination and
other issues you mention, we will definitely have some issues to work
around... we plan to gather & brief volunteers & group leaders on Friday
night (both for the set-up & to help ensure smooth running during the
conference) and Saturday morning before the start of the conference, we
are thinking about having someone help with on-site logistics (running
on-the-ground operations & communications, ensuring that everyone who
needs volunteers has them, and ensuring that no volunteers are being
overworked).

There is one additional complication which will make things fun &
interesting - the rooms we have for BOFs & hacking from Tuesday through
Friday are in a different building (literally just across the street)
from where the bigger talks will be. So we also need to co-ordinate a
tear-down & set-up on Monday evening, where we will need a lot of help.

You're dead right to raise these concerns. We will of course try to
mitigate the effect you mention, and will do as much as possible to
ensure that everything is ready for Saturday morning.

Cheers,
Dave.

-- 
Dave Neary
GNOME Foundation member
dneary gnome org