[OSGeo-Conf] Re: Conference Proposal

[percy]

I wonder how *this* effort will affect the convention center's wireless 
access:
http://www.govtech.net/magazine/channel_story.php/102717

I haven't had a chance to wander over to one of the wireless spots, but 
it looks like according to this map 
http://www.metrofi.com/cities-16.html there are several access points 
near the convention center! By next September I think Portland might be 
saturated with free WiFi...
Cheers,
Percy

Frank Warmerdam wrote:
> percy wrote:
>>> 1) You provided a listing of hotels, but it is hard for me to judge 
>>> room
>>>    prices without a lot of research.  Basically I would like to know if
>>>    some of these are inexpensive, and if so how many inexpensive 
>>> rooms are
>>>    likely to be available.  If not, are there hostels, or perhaps 
>>> unused
>>>    dorm rooms that might be available for lost cost accommodation?
>> There are quite a few cheap housing options. For example a quick search
>> on travelhero.com turned up 35 properties in Portland that were in the
>> $0-75 range, and quick perusal of these showed alot near the $50 sweet
>> spot! The Convention Center is very centrally located, and public
>> transit is great here. So even if your cheap hotel is some distance
>> away, you can still get around quite handily.
>> Additionally, bike lanes are quite good nearby. Those who were at OSCON
>> will remember me zooming back and forth from CC to PSU on my bike
>> everyday to teach.
>>
>> We have some housing options at PSU in our University Place for
>> $70/night, I'll look into dorm options if you'd like. We are an urban
>> university, and as such tend not to have "dorms" like most people are
>> used to...
>
> Percy,
>
> I don't think you need to look into dorms now.  It sounds like there
> are some reasonable price hotels and a couple hostel options.
>
>> Good question. We have labs at PSU that I use for teaching that have
>> computers ranging from 24 (capacity of 49, with room for two at each
>> computer) to 40 (kinda crowded, but still a good room). We also have a
>> public access lab that has around 100 computers. At the time we are
>> proposing for the conference this is a very LOW USE time, so we could
>> probably use it. Again, I can secure this if we are selected.
>
> OK, this sounds promising.
>
>> Another idea that Aaron came up with is to have FreeGeek provision us on
>> site. They are a local non-profit that recycles computers for low income
>> users. It's a VERY cool group, and they install Linux distros on the
>> computers, and people can volunteer time there learning about how to
>> assemble computers in exchange for a free computer after donating X
>> hours. In this case I guess we would set up our own wired network,
>> because the old ethernet cards are cheaper and more likely to be in
>> these machines. In the end the rental we pay FreeGeek (freegeek.org)
>> would be used to give these computers away to the needy.
>
> Some of the workshops require reasonably fast computers to be effective,
> but this sounds like it could be an attractive option too.
>
>>> 3) Does use of the conference center tie you to particular catering
>>>    contracts?  How much is the wireless internet service at the
>>>    conference center. My concern is that some conference centers offer
>>>    reasonable prices for the space, but lock conferences into 
>>> particular
>>>    deals for extras like wireless or catering that are quite expensive.
>>>
>> Boy, you were right on this one! Exclusive catering through Aramark. PDF
>> attached, you can post it to the conference site if you'd like.
>
> I didn't try to price things out, but from the prices it seems it
> is a premium priced catering service.
>
>> They told me three different wireless packages, attached is what they
>> sent. Bottom line looks like $13 per IP per day for wireless if the show
>> provides it. If we make the attendees buy it themselves they can do
>> metered ($6/hr in one minute increments), or buy it by the day ($12 for
>> 24 hours). This could end up being our first executive decision :-)
>
> I think we would want to provide the wireless.   I am seeing a potential
> cost on the order of 18000 for 350 concurrent ips over 4 days.  And all
> that apparently would be narrowed down to one 10MB link!
>
> Thanks for all the responses.
>
> Best regards,

-- 
David Percy
Geospatial Data Manager
Geology Department
Portland State University
http://gisgeek.pdx.edu
503-725-3373