[TOSprint] Update on Montreal Code Sprint venue search

[Paul Ramsey]

Great work Daniel, sounds like it's all coming together. I say slam
down a date whenever you can... I'm already starting to get folks
booking into my spring, so knowing where the sprint is going to land
would be super helpful. It is the one Can't Miss event.

Paul

On Mon, Nov 22, 2010 at 2:13 PM, Daniel Morissette
<dmorissette at mapgears.com> wrote:
> 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/
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