DebConf16/Meetings/2014-11-19

Meeting: DebConf 16 Cape Town planning -- 2014-11-19

Held at 2014-11-19T19:32:57Z in #debconf16-capetown on oftc. Convened by tumbleweed.

Attendees

• superfly (Raoul Snyman)
• tumbleweed (Stefano Rivera)
• nkukard (Nigel Kukard)
• nattie (Nattie Mayer-Hutchings)
• madduck
• ginggs (Graham Inggs)
• indiebio
• wendar

Minutes

News

• The Deputy Vice Chancellors office has approved the application to hold the conference at UCT
• UCT provisional venue booking for 2016 only opens in ~March 2015.

UCT options

• For middle/upper campus, the preference seems to be Chemical Engineering on upper campus.
• Accom. would be in Fuller. 6-16 july is what we're looking at.
• Upper campus can be steep, and not entirely wheelchair friendly, but there is a dedicated mini-bus for wheelchair users that could be rented.
• Bernelle will investigate upper campus accessibility, and contact the relevant departments.

Catering

• Graham has been in contact with some film industry caterers, but hasn't got quotes, yet.
• Bernelle has a few catering quotes. Not cheap for South Africa, but fair.
• She has also contacted a Hotel School that seems interested in catering.

Automated Minutes

19:32:57 Meeting started
19:55:40 agreed: ginggs to inquire about connectivity (nattie)
20:02:05 agreed: indiebio to contact accommodation people about accessibility again (nattie)
20:29:18 Meeting ended

Full log

19:32:57 <tumbleweed> tibid: start meeting about DebConf 16 Cape Town planning
19:32:57 * tibid gets out his memo-pad and cracks his knuckles
19:33:15 <superfly> tibid: I am Raoul Snyman
19:33:15 <tibid> superfly: Done
19:33:21 <superfly> ooo, it works!
19:33:26 <tumbleweed> tibid: I am Stefano Rivera
19:33:26 <tibid> tumbleweed: Righto
19:33:36 <nattie> tibid: i am Nattie Mayer-Hutchings
19:33:36 <tibid> nattie: Yessir
19:33:42 <tumbleweed> (for people who haven't seen that before, it'll include real names in the minutes, as well as allow everyone to introduce themselves)
19:33:43 <nkukard> tibid: I am Nigel Kukard
19:33:43 <tibid> nkukard: Alrighty
19:33:44 <nattie> oi! i iz a girl
19:33:50 <nkukard> would so much like to say "Your mom" but yea
19:34:15 <tumbleweed> err agenda
19:34:14 <tumbleweed> so, minutes: http://whiteboard.debian.net/9fcb2.wb
19:34:47 <tumbleweed> I've done approximately nothing in the last week, but indiebio and ginggs have been a little more active, I think?
19:34:57 <indiebio> there's soooo much space for fooling around with that introducing thing.
19:35:12 <indiebio> yeah, I'm still busy with the report, I've lost Clare's prices.
19:35:27 <superfly> :-(\
19:35:30 <indiebio> I mean, the agenda, but it's starting to look like a report
19:36:28 <indiebio> wendar, do you have clare bock, apetite catering's prices in shorthand nearby please?
19:39:02 <indiebio> argh. I know we're all open source and all, but libre office sucks. my humble opinion.
19:40:17 <indiebio> helloooo?
19:40:19 <tumbleweed> as do all other office suites I've ever gone near
19:40:25 <indiebio> true
19:40:35 <indiebio> but I can't open clare's quote.
19:41:37 <indiebio> how do you force quit something in ubuntu?
19:42:16 <tumbleweed> killall soffice.bin
19:42:51 <indiebio> thanks
19:45:05 <ginggs> shall i report back so long?
19:45:07 <superfly> oh yeah, office suites suck
19:46:18 <indiebio> please do ginggs, I'm almost up to speed :)
19:46:46 <ginggs> tibid: i am Graham Inggs
19:46:46 <tibid> ginggs: Alrighty
19:47:30 <ginggs> ok, we have received the signed applications back from the DVC's office
19:47:53 <tumbleweed> nice
19:48:02 <ginggs> provisional booking for the venues for 2016 only opens around march 2015
19:48:27 <tumbleweed> ok, we should note that in the bid
19:49:33 <ginggs> i have been in contact with three of the film caterers and exhanged a few emails answering questions, but no actual pricing received yet
19:49:33 <indiebio> and we navigated the black hole of finding someone who actually responds in the venues@uct realm!!
19:49:34 <nattie> i think that's shortly after the decision meeting
19:50:14 <ginggs> i think that was all from me
19:50:14 <tumbleweed> do we need to decide which areas we want floor plans of?
19:50:30 <indiebio> ok, my agenda/report for catering is as far as it's going to get.
19:50:56 <indiebio> well, tumbleweed, are we still considering Leslie Social or kramer for the entire conference?
19:51:09 <indiebio> If I ask for one building only we can probably get more detail.
19:51:26 <indiebio> wendar probably can also give advice here
19:51:29 <tumbleweed> that's a good question
19:52:11 <tumbleweed> kramer is closer to main road
19:52:28 <tumbleweed> leslie has big venues
19:52:40 <tumbleweed> but I do like the feel of chem eng (and the pull we have, there)
19:52:57 <tumbleweed> I think they're all perfectly viable
19:53:27 <indiebio> My preference is 1. Engineering, 2. Kramer, 3. Leslie
19:53:42 <ginggs> tumbleweed: any idea of the connectivity in kramer?
19:53:47 <indiebio> But I think I'll ask for basic sizes, and location of plugs
19:53:58 <tumbleweed> ginggs: well, it wouldn't be any worse than anywhere else, right?
19:54:15 <tumbleweed> all these buildings have fibre
19:54:17 <indiebio> no idea, but guess it's the same campus wide. ginggs, does engineering have anything special that the rest of campus wont have?
19:54:43 <ginggs> i think upper campus is all the same, i have no idea about middle campus
19:55:01 <ginggs> but i can find out
19:55:28 <ginggs> tumbleweed: please make your bot note that
19:55:40 <tumbleweed> ginggs: can you remember teh URL of the site with uct network layout?
19:55:40 <nattie> tibid: agreed ginggs to inquire about connectivity
19:55:40 <tibid> Agreed: ginggs to inquire about connectivity
19:56:01 <nattie> oops, i should have added "on middle campus"
19:56:57 <wendar> (sorry, distracted) indiebio: I added apetite to the spreadsheet
19:57:27 <indiebio> thanks :) I finally found it and managed to open it, eventually. I put all the stuff on the agenda page too
19:57:29 <wendar> and, agreed on preference for Engineering
19:57:08 <tumbleweed> http://nom.uct.ac.za/ ?
19:57:46 <wendar> We may want one room from other building for opening and closing keynotes
19:57:52 <indiebio> wendar, how strong is that preference, should we even still investigate others?
19:57:52 <wendar> but, I think not for the whole event
19:58:05 <indiebio> I will definitely book Leslie Social 2A for the plenaries.
19:58:06 <nattie> what would we do for accommodation? halls?
19:58:23 <nattie> is the break long enough for that?
19:58:27 <tumbleweed> for the video team, moving between venues is horrible esp, between buildings
19:58:30 <indiebio> Accommodation I have not had any replies, will be looing at Fuller Hall. It's within walking distance,
19:58:31 <nattie> (sorry for daftish questions)
19:58:50 <tumbleweed> nattie: that's the plan,yes
19:59:00 <nattie> tumbleweed: ok :)
19:59:01 <wendar> indiebio: Snape LT! or Menzies 9 or 10 were also options for plenaries on smaller attendence
19:59:07 <wendar> er, LT1
19:59:11 <indiebio> BUT ginggs and I couldn;t quite figure out how a wheelchair will make it up without very fit uphill and long winding roads
19:59:23 <indiebio> yes, I'll book those anyways too.
19:59:26 <tumbleweed> nattie: http://www.uct.ac.za/calendar/terms/
19:59:32 <wendar> moving between venues is horrible, yes, but it would only be for 2 half-days
20:00:02 <indiebio> The way I see it, I expect tehse venues to be free (I asked but that question went unanswered, and I expect UCT to back this which would add support), and it will be holidays, so these won't be used either way.
20:00:05 <wendar> indiebio: would a small campus cart be an option for wheelchair transport?
20:00:10 <nattie> indiebio: the two main wheelchair users i can think of who might attend - one's actually very fit apart from the whole not-walking thing, and the other has a very snazzy powered chair
20:00:13 <wendar> (just a couple of trips?)
20:00:28 <nattie> wendar: like an airport cart thingie?
UNHANDLED EVENT: notice 20:00:39 <tumbleweed> wendar: they exist (wheelchair transport)
20:00:41 <indiebio> wendar, Jammie shuttles have a wheelchair dedicated mini-bus, that we could rent, yes.
20:00:45 <wendar> nattie: yah, sort of grounds-keeper carts
20:00:50 <wendar> or the bus, yeah
20:01:10 <indiebio> I see it at the station, there's a blind academic that uses it too.
20:01:45 <indiebio> can you please note that I should bug the accommodation people again? I think they were busy with people vacating last time
20:01:55 <wendar> we'll likely be arranging Jammie shuttles or similar for evening dinner outings, so we can ask about it at the same time
20:02:05 <nattie> tibid: agreed indiebio to contact accommodation people about accessibility again
20:02:05 <tibid> Agreed: indiebio to contact accommodation people about accessibility again
20:02:54 <indiebio> wendar, we can ask about Jammies now, but I'm a bit worried they might not exist in 2016 or something. They've been rather tumultous financially, I think,
20:02:57 <tumbleweed> indiebio: thanks so much for all this running around. I'm feeling rather guilty now :)
20:03:25 <tumbleweed> we should probably find out about jammies either way, and a private transport company, too
20:03:50 <indiebio> it's a great procrastination tool :)
20:03:55 <indiebio> and only a few emails, not a big deal
20:04:25 <indiebio> ok, I can do Jammie, but I think someone else must volunteer for the private transport quotes
20:04:39 <nattie> perhaps superfly?
20:04:47 <nattie> or nkukard?
20:05:37 <nkukard> not something I have any expertise in at all :(
20:05:43 <indiebio> oh ya, nattie, thanks for reminding. if we use UCT Upper and their accommodation, the dates are likely to be 6 - 16 July.
20:06:38 <tumbleweed> ginggs: http://www.icts.uct.ac.za/images/Network_Blueprint_version_5_5November2007.pdf - Kramer houses one of the distribution switches
20:06:51 <tumbleweed> so it is as well connected as Leslie
20:07:48 <superfly_> I'm sorry, I don't have the time :-( I'm just a fly on the wall
20:07:56 <indiebio> nkukard, doubt anybody has, we just need a bit of grafting
20:08:16 <nattie> nkukard: i can help you formulate an inquiry mail if you like
20:08:22 <tumbleweed> I don't think the private transport thing is urgent. I don't expect transport to be a huge expense
20:08:29 <tumbleweed> but it'd be useful
20:08:53 <superfly_> I imagine a lot of people would probably want to try their luck with our minibus taxis :-P
20:09:51 <nkukard> indiebio, if my PA didn't quit cause she got cancer it would of been no problem at all :) , I fly out next week around europe giving advanced cloud infrastructure seminars and lectures :(, after that mid dec I"m 100% available
20:10:10 <wendar> I wonder if we could arrange an Uber discount for the week? They are all Ubuntu-based.
20:10:25 <nkukard> nattie, indiebio , mid Dec I'm all yours :)
20:10:34 <indiebio> probably, Uber was sponsoring some TEDx events
20:10:47 <tumbleweed> ok, so what else do we need to cover?
20:10:50 <indiebio> they're also a bit controversial... but probably less so in SA
20:10:56 <tumbleweed> yeah
20:11:05 <tumbleweed> indiebio: you mentioned a 10% breakwater discount? Is that all they had to offer?
20:11:12 <indiebio> Breakwater - is 10% discount enough, wendar?
20:11:23 <indiebio> It looks like it. business types. ptsh.
20:11:24 <tumbleweed> I don't think that makes any difference to us
20:11:42 <indiebio> yeah, that's what I thought, that and the small restaurant killed breakwater for me. :/
20:11:44 <wendar> indiebio: the room prices for non-university were nearly double the university rate
20:11:58 <wendar> so, 10% is something, but not enough to put it in our range
20:12:02 <indiebio> 'K, so scratch that then
20:12:14 <wendar> so, I guess we go with the bid as UCT Main, with a backup of...
20:12:21 <wendar> hmmm... TechnoPark?
20:12:45 <wendar> this may simplify the bid drafting
20:13:04 <nattie> if TechnoPark, then back to August?
20:13:34 <tumbleweed> technopark is approaching R1m, without accom
20:13:54 <tumbleweed> it's not cheap, but probably within range?
20:14:02 <nattie> egads. i've never budgeted a million of anything for anything
20:14:13 <indiebio> and river club?
20:14:31 <nattie> indiebio: you just want to play golf ;-)
20:14:47 <tumbleweed> indiebio: we don't have any kind of accom prices for that
20:14:59 <tumbleweed> but I assume they'll be similarish?
20:15:08 <indiebio> nope, their pub was just very inviting. and it's pretty and near water
20:15:18 <tumbleweed> (rather black water)
20:15:19 <nattie> but aren't they rebranding shortly?
20:15:31 <wendar> indiebio: we could plan a pub night at river club :)
20:15:34 <indiebio> hmmm, we could try uct acc? or is that putting all eggs in one basket?
20:15:46 <indiebio> with regards to the bid it's flying blind what with all the renovations...
20:16:19 <tumbleweed> I think I'm ok with technopark as a backup, with the understanding that that means significantly less money for travel sponsorship
20:16:26 <wendar> nod
20:16:34 <tumbleweed> it's a safer backup bet than river club, because there are less unknowns
20:16:39 <nattie> *nods*
20:16:50 <nattie> though people might throw a strop at reduced travel sponsorship
20:17:07 <nattie> but it's only a backup venue, anyway
20:17:11 <indiebio> agreeed
20:17:14 <indiebio> eeee
20:17:16 <indiebio> :)
20:17:21 <tumbleweed> yeah, we could always fundrais extra-hard to make up :P
20:17:29 <nattie> we could have a bake sale :)
20:17:34 <nattie> anyone good at cakes here?
20:17:40 <indiebio> not me.
20:18:11 <tumbleweed> OK. Anything else we need to talk about?
20:18:17 <tumbleweed> my stomach wants to discuss lunch
20:18:33 <indiebio> well, yes, catering.
20:18:34 <tumbleweed> (away from here)
20:18:40 <indiebio> I put the numbers on the agenda.
20:19:14 <indiebio> I contacted some hotel schools, only TTBISA came back (well, one or two others came back with no)
20:19:16 <tumbleweed> those numbers look fine. They are restuarant-level prices, so I'd like to think we could get cheaper. But we can budget with this
20:19:20 <indiebio> They sound really enthusiastic
20:19:30 <tumbleweed> that's nice
20:19:49 <indiebio> Yeah. Clare Bock also emailed again today to check back, she sounds very very professional.
20:20:05 <tumbleweed> I don't have experience with this. Are restuarant-level prices what we should expect from large scale catering like this?
20:20:06 <indiebio> I told her about the bid, but also said I'll keep her updated. Any comments to relay to her?
20:20:52 <madduck> hello, i am sorry i missed the meeting
20:20:57 <indiebio> I have NO idea. I don't even know who to ask. But can give it a think. For now we have quotes for the bid...
20:20:58 <tumbleweed> not entirely
20:20:59 <wendar> her numbers looked good, and flexibility for alternate diets looked good too
20:21:04 <indiebio> hi madduck!
20:21:15 <madduck> i am in instanbul and while I thought I could be back at the hotel in time, traffic here is of another dimension.
20:21:23 <tumbleweed> :)
20:21:23 <indiebio> I'm curious to see what the movie caterers quote
20:21:35 <nattie> madduck: it's fine. you can catch up later. we're just on catering now.
20:21:46 * tumbleweed could also contact our old office lunch caterers. They used to be really cheap
20:22:02 <tumbleweed> (R40 for lunch, IIRC)
20:22:19 <indiebio> this is also Cape Town. I am not enthusiastic on getting bargain prices... back on that old horse. but the movie caterers might do something different?
20:22:19 <tumbleweed> but this would be a big scale for them
20:22:37 <indiebio> anyways, we can refine that in due time.
20:22:41 <ginggs> Food Lab said they had a range of options
20:22:48 <tumbleweed> yeah, there's a long time to nail all of this down
20:22:52 <tumbleweed> we just need a budget for the bid
20:23:23 <ginggs> so it can be tailored to the budget, i asked them just to quote on the middle of the road
20:23:34 <tumbleweed> ginggs: sounds good
20:23:59 <ginggs> they said they had recently catered for Navy Week, and would base our quote on that
20:24:10 <madduck> yeah, flexibility will be good, what sort of advance notice do they need?
20:25:31 <ginggs> madduck: i have no idea
20:25:47 <tumbleweed> OK, we're at 55 mins. Any other business?
20:25:55 <indiebio> not from me
20:26:02 <madduck> ginggs: this is something to check so we know it early and might be able to negotiate as well.
20:26:20 <madduck> i.e. in heidelberg, we have *rough* numbers 4 weeks ahead, final numbers one week notice
20:26:33 <madduck> which is rather long but I bit into a rock trying to get shorter times
20:27:39 <tumbleweed> after the reconfirmation, I don't know how much more detail we have on attendee numbers. Do people e-mail saying they aren't coming?
20:27:52 <wendar> rarely
20:28:40 <wendar> in Portland, we told the caterers to anticipate roughly 80% of confirmed attendees would actually eat
20:28:40 <tumbleweed> ok, I want to call this, and go get lunch
20:28:53 <tumbleweed> and that turned out to be pretty accurat, IIRC
20:29:00 <wendar> it did, yes
20:29:15 <wendar> lunch sounds good
20:29:16 <wendar> thanks!
20:29:18 <tumbleweed> tibid: end meeting