DebConf14/Portland/Checklist

Priority List

1. "affordable" for both sponsors and attendees
   • Yes. USD 7200/week for conference facilities, USD 28-33/person/night for double-occupancy accommodation at the residence hall.
2. strong, mature, experienced local team
   • Yes. Local team includes 5 Debian Developers, 1 Debian Maintainer, and many Debian and Ubuntu users. Experience with organizing conferences and communities, and many have attended multiple DebConfs.
3. good working spaces
   • Yes. The conference facilities will include two hacklabs and smaller talk rooms, all with power, wifi, and relocatable chairs.
4. excellent network connectivity
   • Yes. Large college campus network connectivity with extensive infrastructure both wireless and wired.
5. quality and quantity of food and drink in close proximity
   • High, large. Open buffet at the residence hall cafeteria for USD 20/person/day, or there are large numbers of restaurants and food carts nearby. Portland in general is known for being extremely accommodating to dietary restrictions/needs.
6. suitable accommodation in close proximity
   • Yes. The residence hall is 2 blocks from the conference facilities. Many hotels are also within walking distance.
7. presentation facilities
   • Yes. Standard projectors and screens for the presentation rooms. This can even include video and audio recording and streaming.
8. travel logistics
   • Easy. The Portland International Airport was ranked the top airport for business travelers in the United States by Condé Nast Traveler magazine for the years 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010. Public transportation connects the airport to downtown, within walking distance of the conference facilities, in 38-minutes.
9. accessibility
   • Yes. The conference facilities are compliant with ADA policies, as is the public transit.

Weak points of the Portland bid

As has been pointed out on the mailing list, Portland's biggest weakness is that as a US city, visas are more of a concern than they are for most other countries. While the vast majority of Debian Developers (and DebConf attendees more generally) hail from countries that don't require visas for travel to the US, there are definitely more attendees (or potential attendees) affected by US visa policy than would be in other countries.

It may also be considered a weakness of the Portland bid that there are strict laws governing public consumption of alcohol. This poses a particular challenge for the traditional wine and cheese party! We are looking into options and think it will be possible to overcome, but suffice to say there will be no bottles of mezcal being passed around on the patio if DebConf14 is in Portland.

Strong points of the Puerto La Cruz bid

Conversely to the Portland bid, Venezuela has a very liberal immigration policy, even allowing Americans in without visas despite our unwillingness to reciprocate. This would definitely make it more friendly to many attendees from developing nations.

The venue chosen would certainly be more luxurious than Portland. While we propose to hold DebConf in Portland at the time of year when the weather is best, there would be no beaches and definitely not a 5-star hotel.

Finally, a strong point of the Venezuelan bid is that the Portland team would not have to do any work for DC14 and could relax on the beach the whole time. ;-)