DebConf16/Bids/Cape Town/Status

[edit] Status updates

Been collecting more catering and transport quotes.
A meeting is still planned with the Jammie Shuttle (transport) coordinators at UCT.
ICTS (networking) department has said we can get unfirewalled IPs, bypass the (otherwise mandatory) authenticated http proxies, have our own bandwith allocation, and that there'll be no need to create accounts for each attendee to access wifi.

Displayed the team's primary venue and backup venue status on the bid page.
Confirmed availability of, described, and priced family accommodation at UCT.
Got more details on the UCT upper campus residence bathrooms.
Got a price for full food and board at UCT that comes to less than R100 (€8) per person per day for 3 meals. Compared to our fancier (and healthier) caterers who quoted 3x as much.
Added estimated venue and accommodation costs to the pages for the UCT Breakwater and TechnoPark venues. Previously these were only visible in a spreadsheet in git.
Described other hotels in walking distance from TechnoPark.
Summarised bus hire quotes we've received.
Fleshed out the exchange control laws section.
Wrote up our investigation of umbrella organization options.
Child Care has been confirmed at UCT.

1 - "Affordable" for both sponsors and attendees

2 - Strong, mature, experienced local team

The team has a lot of experience in running local conferences - we have core organisers from several conference series and other events in the team
The team contains 4 DDs, 4 DMs, and have collectively attended 7 out of the last 9 DebConfs

3 - Good working spaces

The New Engineering Building at UCT has lounges on every floor, and several class rooms and board rooms that we can use as hacklabs

4 - Excellent network connectivity

UCT has some of the best network connectivity in South Africa
10Gbps fibre backhaul from the campus, and >1Gbps from each building
There is an existing wireless network across campus, capable of handling our load
The IT department supports the bid, and we have a faculty sysadmin in our team

5 - Quality and quantity of food and drink in close proximity

6 - Suitable accommodation in close proximity

7 - Presentation facilities

University lecture theatres (including projectors and PA systems) ranging from 20 to 600 seats
Hundreds available to us, within a few mins walk

8 - Travel logistics

Cape Town is far from most DebConf attendees
Public transport is less than ideal, but taxis are cheap
We plan to run augment this with scheduled shuttles, to the airport and evening activities

9 - accessibility

Very good
The university caters for its disabled students, and everything is built to be accessible
The university is on a steep hill, which makes things harder for wheelchairs, but there is a shuttle provided by the student disability services that will be available to us

Cape Town is a beautiful city that we think many DebConf attendees would like to visit
South Africa is an inexpensive country to visit. Good food, wine, and beer are amazingly cheap, compared to Europe and North America
English is the primary language used in Cape Town.

Cape Town is a long flight away from most DebConf attendees
DebConf would occur during the Southern Hemisphere winter - mild by European standards, but we risk rain and (non-freezing) cold