DebConf12/Bids/Managua/PriorityList

"Affordable" for both sponsors and attendees

• Managua is a great option for both sponsors and attendees. The costs of food, accomodation and local transportation are very low.

• Nicaragua has a fixed exchange rate and a very low inflation rate.

• The venue is centric, close to Managua's historical center and everything is near, from bar and restaurants to supermarkets and electronic stores. In your free time, you can do a canopy tour, take a boat trip in Managua lake, go to the theater, see a movie, go shopping or enjoy local food while listening to great live music, everything in a walking distance from the venue.

Strong, mature, experienced local team

• Our local team is composed by members of the local Debian community working together with fellow communities. We have organised +150 events in the last four years, including the very first Central American Free Software Summit and the Central American DrupalCamp in 2009 and Mini-DebConf in Panamá 2010.

• The Managua bid is a Central American bid, and as such we have full support from the Mexican Debian community and from SLCA - a regional community with over 50 organizations and user groups from seven Central American countries. (See DebConf12/Bids/Managua/Support)

• We also have the support of people that are well known inside Debian and has been on the orga-team in previous DebConfs.

• Testimony from Gunnar Wolf: FWIW, as for the team... I'll state it once again here. I am _really_ impressed with the way the Central American communities work. The synergy I have seen for the several conferences and meetings I have been involved with in the last couple of years has strongly amazed me. So, even if logistically it just sounds like a large bunch of young and enthusiastic people... I have to stress out it is a very strong point in their favor. And the energy they (mostly leogg, n0rman and jimbodoors) have put into this proposal is just an example of it.

Good working spaces

• The chosen venue, Crowne Plaza Convention Center, has one of the best facilities in the country.

• The conference rooms and hacklabs are in excellent conditions and is fully accesible for people with special mobility needs.

Excellent network connectivity

• Domiciliar connectivity is a mess, but corporate connectivity is excellent. We plan to have internet connection from AMNET, a Central American Internet enterprise, offering a 20 mbps fiber optic link for DebConf12.

• For internal network infrastructure we will be deploying our own infrastructre, with a 100 mbps/1gbps internal connectivity, with the full support of Claro Internet, one of the biggest ISP in Nicaragua.

• The plan is not to spend any money on this and get it sponsored from AMNET/Claro.

Quality and quantity of food and drink in close proximity

• The Crowne Plaza Hotel (venue) offers a variety of food, we talked with the kitchen staff and they told us they can prepare whatever we need (including food for vegan / vegetarian / lactose-intolerant / gluten-sensitive / religious).

• Also, there are plenty of bars and restaurants in a walking distance with a variety of menus where people can eat and drink whatever they want.

• Prices ranges from USD 2.00 (street vendors) to USD 3.00-6.00 (fast food) and USD 10.00-13.00 (expensive restaurant, international cuisine).

• There's a 24/7 convenience store less than 200 meters from the venue where you can buy food or drink.

• There are plenty of bars and night clubs in a walking distance. Most of them are open until late, serves food and drinks and have concerts on weekends (Thursdays to Saturdays).

Suitable accommodation in close proximity

• We have plenty of affordable options close to the venue. Most hotels cost around USD 20-25 per person/night in a two-bed bedroom. The main hotels are less than 50-500 meters away from the venue.

• All the hotels have air conditioning, Internet access, private bathroom and cable TV. Breakfast is included. All the hotels have plenty of spaces (a cafeteria, inner garden or by the pool) where one can sit down and work with a laptop if some people don't want to use the hacklabs or want to have an improvised meeting or work session.

• The hotels are open 24/7.

• In addition to the English speaking staff, there will be a DC Front Desk/DC Liason/Contact person on every hotel.

• For detailed information see our wiki: DebConf12/Bids/Managua/Hotels

Presentation facilities

• The venue is in a new building, equipped with modern equipment for the conferences.

• Renting additional equipment is not expensive and we can get most of it for free from CCEN (see DebConf12/Bids/Managua/Sponsors).

• We will also have people assisting every conference room.

Travel logistics

• Nicaragua is a visa-friendly country. Most countries don't require a visa to enter Nicaragua ( DebConf12/Bids/Managua/Visas ), only a valid passport and a return ticket.

• Traveling to Nicaragua may be more expensive for people from South America, some European countries, Oceania and Africa. Managua has excellent connections with San José (Costa Rica) and Panamá (Panamá), two of the major hubs in the area, with daily flights from all parts of the world at a cheaper price.

• Overall, we estimate that it's in fact cheaper for most of the possible attendees of DC12 to travel to Managua, compared with BH (See [1]).

• In order to make it more affordable for people attending DC12, we are going to partner with MTOM, a local travel agency with 23 years experience, that has offered us to find the cheapest flights to Managua. They're doing this for free (eg. not charging us a comission).

• We will arrange a bus for local transportation.

Accessibility

• The venue we've chosen (Crowne Plaza Convention Center) is fully accesible for people with special mobility needs. We are also planning to organize special shuttle transport between the hotels and venue in order to improve accessibility for our guests.

A description of the weak points in their own bids.

• First time bid for Nicaragua and for the Central American region.

• We have no Debian Developers in Nicaragua (but DDs of other countires support us)

A description of the strong points in other bids.

• Experienced local team.
• Cheaper costs in venue, accomadation and food.
• They have support from FISL.