[Foss4g2009] Venue & program comments

[FOSS4G OC - Tour Hosts]

Dear Cameron and Simon,

Firstly Cameron it was good to meet you this morning - it always helps
to put a face to the name and voice on the end of the line. 

Thank you for your comments on the venue allocation for the FOSS4G
Conference. Please find my responses to your questions below.  

> From: Cameron Shorter 
> Sent: Wednesday, 10 December 2008 8:08 AM
> mapbutcher wrote:

> > 1. Notes on the attached program (PDF and Excel)
> >
> > Find attached a first draft program, this includes an outline
program
> > for the conference as a whole inclusive of the workshops and also an
> > outline daily schedule. The program does not include the following
at
> > this stage:
Thanks Simon the program looks great and it is good to see something on
paper. 

> Do we get an option to save money by not using the Parkside Auditorium
> on Thursday? The program as structured suggests we don't need it.
We would need to pay for the Auditorium on the Thursday even if we did
not use it for two main reasons; Firstly, the Foyer area which we are
using for Exhibition and catering comes packaged with the Auditorium ie:
SCEC would be unable to sell the auditorium to another client as they
would not have access to the foyer. Secondly whether the room is in use
or not it will still be set up with our AV equipment and requirements.
Therefore we are better off using the Auditorium for a session on this
day rather then paying for an additional session room.

> >
> > 6. Comments on the venue
> >
> > a) Capacity has been given for G07 can we abandon the suggested
usage
> > in favour of using this as a session room and secure this for the
> > conference i.e. 21st, 22nd & 23rd?
We would strongly recommend against using G07 as a session room for
three reasons:
1) The ceiling height is low and this prohibits the height of the
screen, this can lead to the bottom of the screen being hidden by the
chairs in front. The room is better suited to speaker preparation room,
board room for Organising Committee, area for volunteers to gather/store
belongings.  
2) The capacity is quoted as 60 theatre style however please bear in
mind that delegates will often leave a seat between themselves and
others for comfort sake. We would recommend that the size of the room
allows for additional seats. 
3) The capacity of the room will decrease once an AV screen, lectern and
head table for chairperson is included as these will take up space at
the front of the room. 

>From your above and previous comments we realise that the OC does not
want a speaker's preparation room as part of the conference. Is this
because most delegates will use their own computers for their
presentation? Please confirm.

> > b) Can we confirm G04 for the conference i.e. 21st, 22nd & 23rd?
> > c) Can we opt out of 110A and 110B?
> > d) I think we need to secure Parkside 01, 02, 03, 04 & 05 for
workshop
> > set up on Monday 19th.
TH will contract this space on Monday 19 October.

> > e) I would like to see exhibitors have access to the Parkside foyer
as
> > soon as lunch has finished on the Tuesday 20th?
Are you planning on offering workshop delegates morning and afternoon
tea? Looking at the program it seems like only lunch will be offered,
can you please confirm? If you are not using the foyer for afternoon tea
then exhibitors could come in and dress their stands after lunch. Please
note that the foyer is the only way delegates can get from rooms G01,
G02 and G03 to G04 and G05, so delegates may be walking through the
exhibition area while exhibitors are setting up. The exhibition would
officially open at 0900am on Wednesday 21 October.

> > f) Will the booth bump in during the night on the Monday incur extra
> > costs? 
There is a small charge for bumping into the exhibition area from
midnight. However it is less then paying for an extra day's room rental
for bump in on Monday. 

> Agreed, I'm interested to know if we can mitigate risk by opting out
or
> taking rooms at the last moment.
> We can lock into number of delegates = 550 to 600.
> Anything over that should be optionally added later.
Agreed that for the moment we contract rooms for 550 - 600 delegates and
then we have placed additional rooms on hold which we will be able to
contract at a later date (at 2009 prices) should delegate numbers or our
requirements increase. 
 
Following on from my point above regarding G07 we are concerned about
the room capacities of the session rooms and would recommend that
instead of using G07 as a session room that we hire half of the Parkside
110 rooms (either A or B) giving you the following room capacities:   

Parkside Auditorium - 1000 delegates
Parkside 110 (A or B) - 240 delegates 
Parkside G02 - 70 delegates
Parkside G03 - 50 delegates (tutorial)
Parkside G04 - 120 delegates (tutorial)

In providing a bigger room, it provides greater flexibility in
programming and gives delegates a bit more room and comfort. 

> >
> > 7. Comments on the exhibition
> >
> > The variety of booth choices is preferable to many small booths. In
> > summary this alternate configuration will provide us with:
> >
> > a) 15 x 3m x 1m booths
> > b) 9 x 3m x 2m booths
> > c) 8 x 3m x 3m booths
> Sounds good.
> >
> > My preference remains to stay with the Parkside Foyer as alternate
> > costs for the Exhibition space seem prohibitive. I would like to
seek
> > confirmation that we can double up as required on these booth sizes?
> Agreed.
As previously mentioned there is no capacity to double up on booth size
if required. The floorplan that SCEC has provided shows the maximum
number of exhibition booths that we can fit in Parkside Foyer along with
600 delegates. Due to the physical space restrictions of the space we
are unable to make anymore changes to this floor plan (moving exhibition
booths around or changing the size of any booths). 

Moving forward I have attached an updated snapshot of the venue
allocation that outlines the above rooms and what we recommend we
confirm with SCEC. Cameron, as discussed this morning please sign the
attached document to ensure that the OC is in agreement with the rooms
that TH will contract with SCEC for the FOSS4G 2009 Conference. 

I have spoken to SCEC and they are happy if I contract these room on
Monday so please read through and call me if you have any additional
changes. 

Kind Regards

Julia Vernon  

-- 
Julia Vernon
Tour Hosts 
+61 2 92650728
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