Checklist to be filled by any prospective local teams that would like to host Debconf9
(the fontsize indicates the different priorites high, medium and low.)
Local team
Please name the main local team and describe their commitement (i.e. connection, work they have done before, how long...) in organizing events and working in Free Software projects. Are they perhaps even know inside Debian?
Currently, the local team consists mainly of some Debian Developers and maintainers (most of which who live in Belgium) and someone who's been a previous DebConf attendee. They are, thus, very well known inside Debian:
- Wouter Verhelst: has been organizing the Debian developer's room at FOSDEM for the past few years now.
- Peter De Schrijver
- Luk Claes
- Danny Cautaert
- Joost Damad
Of these people, which have been present at a previous Debconfs and who have participated as organizers and/or volunteers (the line might be quite blurry at times) of a previous Debconf?
Choice of city / town / whatever
- Are you suggesting a city, a town, a village, a spa in the middle of nowhere?
- The city of Leuven.
- How many people live there? 90.000 people.
- How easy/convenient is the proposed place to get all strange and regular kinds of hardware?
- Electronic/electricity shops Aitec (electronic store),
- Computer stores (A "media markt" like enduser oriented store doesn't count) PC warehouse, loveno,
- Supermarkets, etc. Delhaize, GB,
Which is the nearest airport?
- Brussels National Airport, in Zaventem.
Are there any cheap airlines flying near the chosen city?
- Virgin Express Ryanair (Charleroi, easy reachable by train)
How long does the trip from the airport to the venue take?
By train: 14 minutes. + time required to get from station to actual venue
How friendly is your country towards foreigners?
Visas: Which/how many countries' citizens require getting a visa? How hard (bureaucratic, probable) is it to get it?
- Don't think visa are required. Needs checking though.
Are there any import regulations, which might affect DebConf? (e.g. a limit to number of notebooks / DVDs / other media you can bring in; hard regulations for money transfers; etc.)
- be is a EU/euro country. So all normal EU/schengen/... regulations apply.
- Don't think visa are required. Needs checking though.
- Language: Do most people talk English? How hard is it for a foreigner to find their way around?
- The people of Flanders are well known for their fluency in Languages. Most people know at least three (Dutch, French, English); knowing a fourth language is quite common. Leuven is also one of the major university cities with a lot of foreign students.
Conference Facilities
We would ask the [www.kuleuven.ac.be University of Leuven] to be allowed to use their facilities, which would make the experience very similar to DebConf5. We still need to find out most of the below, though.
How much does it cost to rent these facilities?
How far away are the locations from each other? (auditoriums, hacklabs, restaurant, sleeping quarters, info desk)
What kind of places are available suitable for hacklabs, workshops, ?BoFs and talks?
- How many people fit in each of them?
How flexible can that be handled?
~-Can smaller auditoriums be merged into a bigger one?-~
- Are tables/chairs fixed, or can we arrange them to fit more people/give more room to the people that we need?
Is the venue ready for handicapped people? Note: Keep in mind that it's not only motion-handicapped - Is the area safe for people with any kind of handicap? (There are sight and hearing-impaired people, too.) Bonus: What people is it not good for? Theoretically, this should not be a problem, as Belgian law requires (and has done so for several decennia now) that public buildings (including universities) need to have accommodations for handicapped people. Since we're not committed to a specific building yet, however, we still would have to check this in practice.
- Access to all areas with ramps and/or elevators? (Note: carrying somebody over some steps is not usually an acceptable option.)
Are there people with experience handling handicapped people, who checked that?
- Are blueprints with exact distances available to us (to be kept confidential on request)?
What kind of audio equipment is already present at the auditoriums?
Wireless or stationary mics?
clip-on kind of mics or cary in your hand mics?
How many of them?
- Will the hacklabs be allowed to stay open 24x7? What time schedule do they offer?
What kind of security will be there?
Are there any limitations regarding the consumptions of food / alcohol? Where do what limitations apply?
How far is it to the nearest convenience stores / all-night restaurants?
Food
We would ask the Alma restaurants (http://www.alma.be) to provide for catering, which is a student restaurant much in the same way as the one we used in Helsinki. Need to discuss the below still, however.
How much are the meals per person per day?
I'm not sure alma serves breakfast...
- Is the eating place near the talks place / the hacklabs?
What kind of food would be served?
In what fashion? (service to the table, limited buffet, open buffet, etc.)
- Would food for vegetarians / vegan / lactose-alergic / religious (of any denomination) people be available?
How much meals do we need to order to get those kind of "special" meals?
Will it cost extra to get those special meals?
In a two week period, how many more or less equal meals can we expect?
Network connectivity
Is the area already wired with regular network infrastructure? (much preferrably: 100Mbps or 1Gbps switched)
How much does it cost and how difficult is it to get a big internet connection? (10/20 Mbits at least) We would plan on asking the University to provide connectivity, which (if accepted) should be plenty. As an aside, they also maintain a Debian mirror, on ftp.kulnet.kuleuven.ac.be.
- How much work does it imply to cover the area with wireless links?
- If we use someone else's infrastructure, how easy / flexible can that be handled, regarding routing / firewall / ip-range / public access / other stuff?
Do we have restrictions on allowed ports?
Are we traffic-shaped? Or can we set a traffic shaper if we need so?
Would it be possible to set up the network before Debcamp? (a day or two, earlier would be nicer, in order to handle problems gracefully. Additional weeks for wireless.)
Special rooms
Both for server and video rooms:
- General conditions for the rooms
- Size
- Have they/do they need air conditioning?
What electrical load can they handle?
Accomodation
How much does it cost per person per night?
Is the place where people are going to sleep near the conference facilities?
Is it able to handle a varying number from 20 to 400 of people?
- Is it able to handle non-native speaking people? (i.e. do the people at the sleeping facilities speak English?)
Will there be a need of a "Debconf" info-desk, or would the local (hotel or such) people be able to handle that themselves? (See ?DebConfInfoDesk for details on duties)
Will it be possible for couples to stay in their own rooms?
How many room keys would be available?
- Are there other hotels around?
Fun and Free time
- What activities can be done during the free time?
lots. Leuven has a lively nigthlife. There is a lot of sport infrastructure available which we might be able to use (check with KUL). Belgium is a small country with reasonable train connections (at least to cities). You can easily get to brussels, antwerp, mechelen, gent, brugge, ostend,... (TODO: add times) for those who want to trip. There are a lot of parties and open air festivals in summertime.
- What would be a possible Day Trip?
- Is the proposed location ready to receive people with disabilities?
- How expensive would that be?
Local Sponsors
Do you have a list of prospective sponsors that might be interested in the conference? Money, hardware, connectivity, etc.