[TOSprint] Update on Montreal Code Sprint venue search

[Daniel Morissette]

Hi Sprinters,

Here is an update on the search for a venue for our 2011 Code Sprint in
Montreal.

At the moment, I'm in discussion with two organizations, and a third one
expressed an interest but didn't get back to me yet.

Here they are with their pros and cons:

1- The "Communauté Métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM)"

CMM is a user of several OSGeo software packages and they kindly offered
to host us in one of their conference rooms which is large enough to
accomodate 30-40 people. They are located on 24th floor of a tower in
downtown Montreal, so the view from that location has the potential to
challenge what we had last year in NYC (which was quite impressive BTW).
All our requirements for space and Internet would be met there,
including our own private subnet with all ports open.

The cons: The only little complication here is that they can host us
only during business hours (week days, 8am-6pm) since the building is
closed during weekends and at night. A weekend sprint is not possible at
that location. Oh, we also need to find a set of dates where their room
is still available, but that is not a problem (yet), there are still a
few good spots in Feb-March.


2- Geography Department - Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)

UQAM is also located in a prime location downtown, close to lots of
restaurants and hotels, and they would be very happy to host our code
sprint. We haven't discussed specific rooms yet with them since we need
to resolve a few technical questions first. With respect to dates, it
would be easier for them to host us during the reading week, that is Feb
26-March 8th, but the good news is that a weekend sprint is possible and
even possibly easier with them.

The cons: Well, the main question relates to Internet access: most ports
are closed by default on their "guest" network and it's not possible to
have a private subnet with all ports open. We need to provide an
explicit list of ports and submit that to their IT department for
approval. If this passes, then we could look at dates and room availability.


3- Option 3: No news yet...


That's it for the venue options. I think we have at least two great
options here, and we should be able to make a decision soon... and then
look into hotels.

BTW, our Doodle Week vs Weekend survey shows a fair split between Week
and Weekend preferences, with nobody unable to make either one, so
that's good news and doesn't rule out any of our two current options in
my mind:
  http://www.doodle.com/35tf6qs3xubkyvwp


WhereCamp and "5 à 7":

FYI, we are planning to host a WhereCamp in Montreal on the afternoon
before the Code Sprint, and an OSGeo-Qc "5 à 7" (afterhours/ice breaker)
that night. You will of course all be invited and I hope you will
consider participating. English speakers should not worry, the last
edition of a WhereCamp in Montreal was apparently mostly in English, so
you will not feel lost (I wasn't there, it was at the same time as
FOSS4G/Sydney in October 2009).


That's it for the update... next step for me is to build a list of ports
that we need UQAM to open for us... hints/help welcome (off-list) to
make sure I don't forget any important port.

Daniel
-- 
Daniel Morissette
http://www.mapgears.com/