DebConf15/Germany/VenueScouting/HeidelbergIntl

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[edit] Info

Brochure

[edit] Site overview

  • 435 beds in 2,3,4,6-bed rooms, incl. shower/toilet (32 doubles)
  • talk room hosting up to 250 people, one for 120, and 8 more rooms
  • fully accessible, 6 rooms accessible
  • table tennis, table soccer, sports pitch, children's area
  • zoo, sporting possibilities nearby
  • W-LAN available in-house
  • a fast Internet connection is being put in place (see below)
  • super market 2km, more shopping (incl. drugstore and more choice 3km)
  • two busses to centre town right in front of venue, every 10 minutes
  • small hotel nearby, Marriot hotel (234 rooms) 20 minutes (1.5km) on foot, other hotels (higher class too) reachable by public transport
  • catering possible for veg/vegan/ethnic
  • no camping possible
  • transportation: less than 90 minutes from Frankfurt Airport by ICE to Mannheim + S-Bahn to Heidelberg
  • washing facilities

[edit] More specific

[edit] Prices

  • Prices for 2014 (!) are 36,50€/p and 30,40€ for subsequent nights, incl. three meals, so approx 32,50 € weighted average/p.
  • Current offer is 11500 €/day for 350 people (minimum), 32,90 € for each additional person
  • The minimum may be further reducible (i.e. to 320), below that we may lose exclusivity
  • Rent for conference rooms and infrastructure is 1.000 €/day (down from 1.630 €/day)
  • The hostel is VAT-exempt, i.e. the prices are net == gross.

[edit] Food logistics

  • Can cater for 150–170 people at once
  • Caters for all special needs
  • Does BBQ e.g. for party or evening of day trip
  • Prices seem reasonable, even without group discounts
  • Outside eating possible in courtyard and terrace (70+50 seats)

[edit] Bar, social stuff

  • There is already a "bistro" that serves food and drinks until midnight, and longer if there is sufficient demand.
  • Prices are reasonable, e.g.:
    • 0,3l beer ~ 2,00€
    • 1,0l water 1,00€
    • filter coffee 1,00€
    • bottle of wine 11,00€
  • They'd be open to "club deals" (e.g. vouchers etc.), and we could potentially bring our own beer/wine/etc.
  • There is a disco room for 90–100 people

[edit] Conference rooms

  • With exclusive access, 24/7 is no problem. But there will be limitations during DebCamp (or if we end up with less than 350) when we are not the only ones (noise concerns, etc.)
  • Example use (see room list at the bottom of this page):
Usage Room Area Capacity
Main talk room Heidelberg 1+2+3 210m² 250
Secondary talk room Berlin+London 110m² 120
BoF room 1 Amsterdam 50m² 24–45
BoF room 2 Lissabon 25m² 6–10
Hacklab 1 Paris 30m² 16–20
Hacklab 2 Helsinki 25m² 16
Hacklab 3 Stockholm 25m² 16
Hacklab 4 Madrid 25m² 16
Hacklab 5 Wien 25m² 16
Hacklab 6 Athen 25m² 16
Hacklab 7 Zürich 25m² 16
  • In addition, there are various public spaces with tables, e.g.:
    • Entrance area with 8 tables (32 people)
    • Bistro with 12 tables (48 people)
    • Several foyers (40–50 people)
  • Outside space (terrace + courtyard) can sit 120 or more, if weather allows
  • We can make free use of the entire house when we use it exclusively
  • It's possible that we can get extra rooms from the university across the street
  • The university might be a good location for DebianDay anyway

[edit] Front desk, orga room, etc.

  • Possibility next to (or maybe even integrated with) the 24/7 front desk of the hostel
  • There's a small conference organisation room opposite the main talk room we could use
  • There is a server room downstairs

[edit] Networking

  • An LTE antenna is being installed next week
  • As LTE is unlikely to be of use to us, we would need a separate solution, e.g.
  • A cooperation with the University across the road seems possible.
    • The boss of the IT department is a Linux afficionado
    • The physics and sociology departments use Debian
    • Contact: Hartmuth Heldt, 06221/545451, <hartmuth.heldt <at> urz.uni-heidelberg.de
    • Might be possible to get the Stadtwerke to create a temporary connection, if the venue has a cable to their basement (I doubt it). This might cost 5000 € or so, which maybe the university might sponsor.
    • Mr. Heldt mentioned the possibility of a 10GBit connection. Volume is not a problem.
    • Mr. Heldt is now asking people in the university and will get back to me in November.
    • I promised in return access for university members to the conference (a limited number of free tickets), sponsor logos, possibly even a speaker slot…
  • There is a provider across the Neckar river, who has already provided wireless access to the campus in the past, as a fallback.
  • The big conference rooms have wired network
  • They have run temporary cables to the smaller rooms before, so that's possible

[edit] Dates

  • May to September is high season
  • School holidays are a little bit better
  • There are various regular guests with whom we should probably coordinate if we want exclusive usage (they are going to get back to me about this)

[edit] Open questions

  • Prices for externs eating
  • Transport to hotels
  • Uplink
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