DebConf11/Quito/PriorityList

Thanks for your time and attention. We're definitely all-in for making this meeting expedite, we appreciate your time and dedication to DebConf.

Quito's bid started last year, when we ran for DC10. Last year we did a huge work nationwide to get support for the event, which now traduces in a complete draft budget and accommodation options, secured rates and sponsors, selected venues and softened rough edges from our last bid, e.g., connectivity and bed-to-venue transit times.

  1.  "affordable" for both sponsors and attendees

Both last year and this one, Quito and Ecuador make a great affordable option for sponsors and attendees. Having low inflation, USD as local currency and local production of several goods allows us to secure rates for food and accommodation, as well as travel fares, which are very competitive. See our draft budget for details, and we'll be happy to detail current costs for common products and services for reference (e.g., minimum taxi fare: 1 USD)

  2. strong, mature, experienced local team

There's a close five-people team leading the bid, with 10+ people supporting secondary needs at this moment, and committed to help as full-time participants of the local team. bureado and ailefi moved in to Ecuador more than a year ago from Venezuela, where they had a huge deal of experience in international FLOSS conferences, ranging from FLISOL to FMCL, with thousands of national and international visitors.

Local community include Ubuntu Ecuador, which does the nationwide UBUNTEC and ASLE, which is the FLOSS association. People are usual participants for events in Argentina, Brazil and Colombia. This year, three big events are happening: ECUASOL, FLISOL and several BarCamps. We're definitely setting the tone for FLOSS community in the Andean region.

  3. good working spaces

We have excellent, international-grade, University spaces for us: talks, meetings, workshops, BoFs and hacklabs. All of them are properly equipped and provided no-cost in exchange for sponsor spots. If we pick a proper timeslot, it'll also be vacations for school, so we'll own the place for us.

  4. excellent network connectivity

Sir, yes, Sir! Last year a transatlantic cable ran from Ecuador to the US, providing all ISPs in the country with increased access to the Internet without the price hit. This complements the existing line running through Colombia. Ecuador has deployed an IPv6 network, and AEPROVI provides a NAP for the country, greatly improving our connectivity chances.

Furthermore, our local team arranged to have an sponsor cover all costs for at least 5 E1 symmetric dedicated connections, which will be Puntonet. We didn't even bother to contact the national ISP, which is CNT, which might as well be a backup if it's needed. Note that at the currently selected venue we can't use university's connectivity, but we're free to run our own.

  5. quality and quantity of food and drink in close proximity

Definitely. La Mariscal, which is the district in which both our venues and accommodation will reside, boasts a plethora of options for drinking, eating and having fun. From Uncle Ho's thai food to Suzette's creppes and french delicacies, and several great pizza delivery shops for hackers, this is definitely granted!

  6. suitable accommodation in close proximity

We did a great job securing rates on the field. There are 500+ beds in the district, all of them under 20 USD/person/night, and we've built a list here: http://wiki.debconf.org/upload/d/d6/DC11-AccommodationProspects.pdf

  7. presentation facilities

DC11 in Quito would be hosted in a University. This is the most important University in Ecuador, one of the most important in the Andes region, which has produced professionals now working from NASA to physics labs around the World. We definitely count on having University-level presentation facilities. Renting special equipments is not expensive and we plan to do that in order to improve at least our audio quality levels.

  8. travel logistics

Ecuador is a main tourist destination. We've detailed airlines and main destinations in our bid page. Ecuador would make the cheapest/fastest option for visitors in the Americas, and quite a fast option for visitors from Asia and Oceania. Direct flights from Europe with major airlines are available daily, and also with connections in Bogotá and Caracas at incredible prices, specially taking an off-peak time slot.

Inside Ecuador, transportation (and most products and services) are really cheap, flights between Quito and Guayaquil for tourism can be as low as 50 USD, taxis are 1 USD minimum fare, buses can bring you to Peru or Chile, and buses from and to the airport will also be arranged.

  9. accessibility 

This city's been recognized as one of the most accessible cities in Latin America. Downtown is fully accessible as well as our venues and the selected accommodation options for people with special mobility needs. In a country where your vicepresident and chancellor has to move himself using a wheelchair, you definitely expect greater awareness on this. Anyway, we're planning to dedicate protocol people to handle details for this. It's best for everyone.