DebConf12/Bids/Montréal
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Note: this document is a DRAFT and a bunch of notes from the local team and should in no way be considered a final bid.
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[edit] Local team
- Please name the main local team and describe their commitment (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?
- Potential organisers/participants/volunteers:
- Antoine Beaupré - DM, present at DC8 and DC10 co-organised other conferences (rocococamp.info)
- Tiago - DD, video team
- Tassia - video team
- Ben Armstrong - in halifax
- Eric Dorlan - from Montreal, currently in NYC, but has good contacts at McGill and in mtl
- Pablo Duboue (DrDub) - just moved here, helped with fundraising, talks, travel sponsorship for DC10
- More to follow here
- Are you willing to work on the final report and sponsor bags from DebConf N-1? (This is somewhat satirical, meant to highlight the fact that often the DCN+1 team team finishes these things from DCN even though it technically isn't their job. This item will hopefully also motivate future teams to finish their own report/sponsor bags in a timely manner.)
- Yes. We will try to send a delegation to DC11
[edit] Choice of city / town / whatever
* second biggest french city in the world (after paris)
quick notes for the presentation at DC10:
* bilingual city * american, but not US, european tooo * open, world-class techno city * inexpensive city * we have a beach! (sorta) * good network connection and technical expertise (ISF, koumbit) * supporting organisation (koumbit.org), strong ubuntu/canonical presence could help, and a few linux user group * visas - most countries don't need a visa (although things changed recently for tcheck republic and mexico city (?!)) * big country, not a lot of people, help us! ;) * good transit system, cheap bicycle rental, great summers * lots of hotels, and places to hold conference type events * lots of cultural festivals during summer time :)
- Are you suggesting a city, a town, a village, a spa in the middle of nowhere?
- How many people live there?
- The city of montreal itself has a population of 1.7 million habitants, while the greater montreal area is home to around 3.8 million people.
- How easy/convenient is the proposed place to get all strange and regular kinds of hardware?
- Electronic/electricity shops
- Computer stores (A "media market" like end user oriented store doesn't count)
- Supermarkets, etc.
- How easy is to handicapped people move there?
- Montreal has done some efforts recently to render the metro system accessible to handicapped people, but it is quite limited: only major stations have elevators.
- How many people live 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?
- There are two airports serving Montreal: the Pierre-Elliot-Trudeau Airport (PET/CYUL, formally known as Dorval) and the Mirabel airport, which is normally reserved to cargo transit. Travel from PET usually happens through a shuttle (~1h, 8$, need cash) or taxi (~30 min. 35$) although there are plans to construct a rail shuttle "real soon now". The airport is covered by major american and international airlines.
- How friendly is your country towards foreigners?
- Canada is reknown for its openness on the international scene (although recent politics have negatively affected that image), and Quebec (the french-speaking province montreal is in) is especially tolerant and open to other cultures.
- 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.)
- [story]. short story: most european countries and the US do not require a visa to visit canada. The rules have recently changed for Mexico and the Tcheck republic and there are more exceptions, but it's usually less a problem to travel to Canada than to the US (for example). We are not aware of export/import restrictions that should be problematic for Debian attendees, although immigration officers sometimes like to steal french cheese at the border.
- Language: Do most people talk English? How hard is it for a foreigner to find their way around?
- Canada is officially a bilingual (english/french) country, at least on paper. In practices, things are a bit more complicated: the province of Quebec is mostly french-speaking while the Rest Of Canada (ROC) is mostly english-speaking. Montreal itself is mostly bilingual and it is usually possible to get around the city with english. Even though a lot of people have french as their native language, most of them can speak a proper english provided you ask nicely. Still, aronud 23% of the population speak only french (while 13% speak only english).
- Smoking: What are the local regulations about smoking?
- Since january 2001, most public venues (bars, restaurants, schools, hospitals, etc) are non-smokers. The law officially states the you cannot smoke within 3 meters of such establishment, but it's common to see crowds of smokers assemble in front of bars or on terrasses.
[edit] Conference Facilities
To be determined. Possible options:
- UQAM - has residences, but campus is kind of spread-out and may be closed at night
- Concordia? - needs contact
- Hotels?
- How much does it cost to rent these facilities?
- How far away are the locations from each other? (auditoriums, hacklabs, restaurant, sleeping quarters, info desk)
- 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?
- Access to all areas with ramps and/or elevators? (Note: carrying somebody over some steps is not usually an acceptable option.)
- Are there people with experience handling handicapped people, who checked that?
- Check with our friends at communautique and crein.ca for help there
- Are blueprints with exact distances available to us (to be kept confidential on request)?
- What kind of audio equipment is already present at the auditoriums?
- Wireless or stationary mics?
- clip-on kind of mics or cary in your hand mics?
- How many of them?
- 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?
- How far is it to the nearest convenience stores / all-night restaurants?
- Please provide pictures of the venue/accommodation.
[edit] Food
- How much are the meals per person per day?
- Is the eating place near the talks place / the hacklabs?
- What kind of food would be served?
- In what fashion? (service to the table, limited buffet, open buffet, etc.)
- Would food for vegetarian / vegan / lactose-intolerant / gluten-sensitive / religious (of any denomination) people be available?
- How much meals do we need to order to get those kind of "special" meals?
- Will it cost extra to get those special meals?
- In a two week period, how many more or less equal meals can we expect?
[edit] Network connectivity
- Is the area already wired with regular network infrastructure? (much preferrably: 100Mbps or 1Gbps switched)
- How much does it cost and how difficult is it to get a big internet connection? (10/20 Mbits at least)
- How much work does it imply to cover the area with wireless links?
- If we use someone else's infrastructure, how easy / flexible can that be handled, regarding routing / firewall / ip-range / public access / other stuff?
- Do we have restrictions on allowed ports?
- Are we traffic-shaped? Or can we set a traffic shaper if we need so?
- 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.)
[edit] Special rooms
Both for server and video rooms:
- General conditions for the rooms
- Size
- Have they/do they need air conditioning?
- What electrical load can they handle?
[edit] Accomodation
- How much does it cost per person per night?
- Is the place where people are going to sleep near the conference facilities?
- Is it able to handle a varying number from 200 to 500 people?
- Is it able to handle non-native speaking people? (i.e. do the people at the sleeping facilities speak English?)
- 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)
- Will it be possible for couples to stay in their own rooms?
- How many room keys would be available?
- Are there other hotels around?
- Are there rooms ready for handicapped people? How many?
[edit] Fun and Free time
- What activities can be done during the free time?
- A few ideas:
- The Mont-Royal is right in the middle of the city and the biggest park of the city, with lots of activities possible: cycling, hiking and general wandering around, with sundays reserved for the Tam-Tams, a weekly gathering of people playing music and generally relaxing in the sun
- Ile-Jean-Drapeau also has a lot of activities, with a beach on the St-Lawrence river.
- Oka beach? Mont-Tremblant??
- A few ideas:
- What would be a possible Day Trip?
- Is the proposed location ready to receive people with disabilities?
- How expensive would that be?
[edit] Local Sponsors
- Do you have a list of prospective sponsors that might be interested in the conference? Money, hardware, connectivity, etc.
- Just ideas so far:
- Koumbit.org - manpower, technical expertise, lead
- Ile Sans Fil - wifi technical expertise
- Canonical - office in montreal
- others to follow
- Just ideas so far:
[edit] Timing
- When (and why) would be the best time to host DebConf at your location?
- While some people on the team prefer the winter, it may be a bit difficult to adapt to it for people below the 45th parallel and summers in montreal are very pretty, hot and active, with festivals and lots of activities.
- What is your backup plan if your preferred venue isn't available at that time?
[edit] See also
PriorityList (used during the decision meeting)
