DebConf10/NewYork/Columbia

Checklist to be filled by any prospective local teams that would like to host Debconf

(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 known inside Debian?
• 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?
  • How many people live there?
  • How easy/convenient is the proposed place to get all strange and regular kinds of hardware?
    • Electronic/electricity shops
    • Computer stores (A "media markt" like enduser oriented store doesn't count)
    • Supermarkets, etc.
  • How easy is to handicapped people move there?
• Which is the nearest airport?
  • Are there any cheap airlines flying near the chosen city?
  • How long does the trip from the airport to the venue take?
• 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?
    • 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.)
  • Language: Do most people talk English? How hard is it for a foreigner to find their way around?

Conference Facilities

Room Class	Locations/Sizes	Resrv. procedure	Cost
SEAS rooms (through CS dept)	Davis Auditorium(196p)	Available for us basically 24/7 after mid-june	Free
SEAS rooms (through CS dept)	Interschool Lab(55p, movable chairs)	Available for us basically 24/7 after mid-june	Free
SEAS rooms (through CS dept)	CEPSR 414(20-40p, movable chairs)	Available for us basically 24/7 after mid-june	Free
SEAS rooms (through CS dept)	Carleton Cafeteria(~100 people)	Available for us basically 24/7 after mid-june	Free
Dorm Common Rooms	Various	Lerner Hall services	Not Free
Lerner Hall Conference Rooms	Various sizes and shapes		Very Not Free
Registrar Classrooms (more not on list). Some owned by registrar, some by departments	List	LH (registrar's office).	$600/day for any e-room, Free after business hours. Non-eroom is always free
Chem Dept	Havemeyer 309 (339 people)	DF, Chem Dept	E-room charges (above), (but maybe free through chem dept?)
Other Departments	??

• How much does it cost to rent these facilities?
  • • • Detailed above. A majority of our needs could be handled using the free SEAS rooms. We have many overflow spaces
• How far away are the locations from each other? (auditoriums, hacklabs, restaurant, sleeping quarters, info desk)
  • • • Everything on the Columbia campus is very close - 5 minutes maximum. We would mostly be using buildings that are less than a minute away.
  • 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?
    • • The campus is ADA acceessible. There is a map of accessible routes between buildings. Getting to upper campus requires an elevator, which are present in buildings, as well as an exterior 24/7 one. More assistance can be provided from the office of disability services
    • Access to all areas with ramps and/or elevators? (Note: carrying somebody over some steps is not usually an acceptable option.)
      • See map above. Basically, yes, with possible isolated exceptions we will avoid or work around.
    • Are there people with experience handling handicapped people, who checked that?
      • The campus office of disability services publishes the map above and can handle other issues.

• Are blueprints with exact distances available to us (to be kept confidential on request)?
  • • • The campus has blueprints on file, we could request them if need be. However, since the campus is always open it is easy to visit to spot check.
• What kind of audio equipment is already present at the auditoriums?
  • • • SEAS rooms have a/v equipment in them
      • Registrar E-Rooms have at least projection equipment, large ones have audio. Mics vary between rooms, rooms large enough where you will need them will have them available.
  • Wireless or stationary mics?
    • • See above
  • clip-on kind of mics or cary in your hand mics?
    • • See above
  • How many of them?
    • • See above
• 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?
  • • We can not have food in most classrooms. We can have it served in the lobby outside of Davis Auditorium, and can use all of the facilities of Carleton Cafeteria to serve food.
  • How far is it to the nearest convenience stores / all-night restaurants?
    • • This is new york. They are very close. There are at least three 24-hour supermarkets in a 10-block radius. Many restaurants are open late. I don't know how many are all-night, but there are all-night delis at least.

Food

• How much are the meals per person per day?
• Is the eating place near the talks place / the hacklabs?
  • • • Depends on where we want to serve it. We can use Carleton Cafeteria to serve food, which is very near the talk rooms.
• What kind of food would be served?
  • • • We can either get catered buffets, or we can load up debit cards for either a) on-campus only dining or b) on- and off-campus dining.
  • 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?
  • • • Definitely, New York is very vegetarian friendly and it is extremely rare to see anywhere without a vegetarian option. Vegan options are common, also.
  • How much meals do we need to order to get those kind of "special" meals?
    • • Most events in new york have vegetarian options regardless of how few people show up. Events will host vegan options if needed.
  • Will it cost extra to get those special meals?
    • • Not very much, if at all.
• 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)
  • • • We have the support of a Columbia IT second-in-command for hosting this conference, so we can get accommodations when needed.
      • Columbia has a high quality academic network, which will be present in any room we use. The capacity is such that we do not need to worry about details at this time. The CUIT chief, when told of our requirements, expressed that this should be no problem.
• How much does it cost and how difficult is it to get a big internet connection? (10/20 Mbits at least)
  • • • Very easy since it's already here. There is also already an on-campus Debian mirror.
• How much work does it imply to cover the area with wireless links?
  • • • 'It's mostly already done. We can work with CUIT to extend this wherever needed.
• If we use someone else's infrastructure, how easy / flexible can that be handled, regarding routing / firewall / ip-range / public access / other stuff?
  • • • Access on campus isn't filtered. However, since CUIT#2 is involved, we can get adjustments whenever we need.
  • Do we have restrictions on allowed ports?
    • • See Above
  • Are we traffic-shaped? Or can we set a traffic shaper if we need so?
    • • See Above
• 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.)
  • • • Yes, most certainly. For DebCamp at Columbia, the network would likely not need pre-setup because wireless and wired already exists. Wired equipment can be set up at a leisurely pace.

Special rooms

Both for server and video rooms:

• General conditions for the rooms
  • • • We can work out co-location when time comes closer. The Chemistry Department Cluster Manager has expressed interest in working with us to co-locate servers in the chemistry cluster room. Richard has 24/7 access to this room.
  • Size
    • • Has at least several hundred rack-mounted CPUs inside There is still space for non-rack mount equipment to be temporarily set up. Since we are working with CUIT, we could get our separate link to the outside world to not compete with the Chemistry users.
  • Have they/do they need air conditioning?
    • • The chem cluster room has industrial air-conditioning, primary and backup.
  • What electrical load can they handle?
    • • Far more than we need, considering the amount of CPUs already in there.

Accomodation

Name/Location	Cost pp/pn (USD)	Distance (walking distance from our exact venue buildings, not from campus)	Max Capacity	Notes
Columbia Housing	52.50	Very close, 500-650m	Hundreds
Hostelling International	39	1350m down a populated and lively avenue	~600	Has venue rooms available there as well.
NYC Hostels	21-23	1200m,1400m,2200m	Five scattered buildings, max capacity > 500
Broadway Hostel and Hotel	27(june) 32(july)	1700m	Hundreds, ~550
AirBnB.com - Rentals by local residents	$30-$150/night	all over	~400

• How much does it cost per person per night?
  • • • See above
• Is the place where people are going to sleep near the conference facilities?
  • • See above
• Is it able to handle a varying number from 20 to 400 of people?
  • • Yes, see above. Of course, this is subject to the proper advance reservations.
• Is it able to handle non-native speaking people? (i.e. do the people at the sleeping facilities speak English?)
  • • • Yes, and possible other languages. HI has staff which speak Spanish and French.
• 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 InfoDesk for details on duties)
  • • • We can arrange this at most of the above places, as well as at Columbia.
• Will it be possible for couples to stay in their own rooms?
  • • • Some of these venues have private rooms. There are lots of other (more expensive) hotels.
• How many room keys would be available?
  • • • All hostels/hotels/housing would provide one key per person
• Are there other hotels around?
  • • • New York has many many hotels, but they can be very expensive. As can be seen above, there are many other hostels around for independent booking (at more expensive non-group prices).
• Are there rooms ready for handicapped people? How many?
  • • • HI is handicap accessible. CU Housing can accommodate.

Fun and Free time

• What activities can be done during the free time?
• 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.
  • • In the university, we have support of the Chair of the Computer Science department, a second-in-command at CUIT, and Eben Moglen, and the CU ACM.

See also

DebConf5/WhatToImprove

DebConf6/Suggestions

DebConf6/LessonsLearned

ListaDePruebas