DebConf20/Bids/Bratislava/LocationChecklist

Note: this document is a DRAFT and should in no way be considered a final bid.

(the font size indicates the different priorities high, medium and low.)

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?

  TBD:

  • andrewsh
  • ossconf/ossvikend team?
  • pycon.sk team can provide insight based on their experience organising a conference at the same venue, a few members of the team agreed to help
  •  …

• 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?

  • just andrewsh

• Are you willing to help finish tasks from DebConfN-1, such as the final report and sponsor bags?
• Are any local team members linked (professionally/financially/personaly) with any of the organisations who will provide services (e.g. venue/food/accommodation) to DebConf? (Any links can be good or bad, but they should be stated publicly.)

Choice of city / town / whatever

• Are you suggesting a city, a town, a village, a spa in the middle of nowhere?
  • How many people live there?

    • Not too many

  • How easy/convenient is the proposed place to get all strange and regular kinds of hardware?
    • Electronic/electricity shops

      • https://alza.sk/

    • Computer stores (A "media market" like end user oriented store doesn't count)
    • Supermarkets, etc.

      • Tesco

  • How easy is it for handicapped people to move around?

    • Most buses and trams a low-floor, and there are lowered kerbs on most streets

• Which is the nearest airport?

  • Bratislava / BTS
  • Vienna Schwechat / VIE
  • Brno / ???
  • Budapest / BUD

  • Are there any cheap airlines flying near the chosen city?

    • Ryanair
    • easyJet
    • WizzAir

  • How long does the trip from the airport to the venue take?

    • from VIE: 1h by bus
    • from BTS: about ½h by public transport
    • from Brno/Budapest: about 3h including public transport

• How friendly is your country towards foreigners?
  • Visas: Which/how many countries' citizens require getting a visa? How hard (bureaucratic, probable) is it to get it?

    • Europeans do not need visas (Schengen), many non-Europeans do. Not much different from other EU countries.

    • 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.)

    • Import regulations are more or less the same as in the rest of the EU; the country is in SEPA and Euro zone, so bank transfers are cheap/free and relatively fast

  • Language: Do most people talk English? How hard is it for a foreigner to find their way around?

    • In Bratislava, quite a lot of people speak some English, often quite well. In the rest of the country, not so much.
    • The language, despite being Slavic, has lots of Latin-derived word, so getting around shouldn't be too difficult

  • Smoking: What are the local regulations about smoking?

    • Smoking is forbidden inside most restaurants, but smoking outdoors is usually allowed

Conference Facilities

TBD, options:

• FIIT STU [1], [2]
• FMFI UK [3]^(sk)
• …
• a combination of the above

• How much does it cost to rent these facilities?

  • TBD, but much smaller conferences (OSSVíkend and PyCon.sk) managed to, so shouldn't be a problem for DebConf
  • OSSVíkend have got their venue at FMFI UK for free due to university people being involved in the conference, but the building is older and is in a less attractive state
  • andrewsh is going to meet with the FIIT people on 2017-09-20 to discuss options

• 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?

    • Two lecture theatres, one big, one small
    • Two classrooms apparently suitable for smaller audience talks
    • More rooms…
    • Canteen

  • 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?

• 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.

Food

• How much are the meals per person per day?

  • TBD; A typical two-course lunch (soup + main meal) in Bratislava costs about €4.50

• Is the eating place near the talks place / the hacklabs?

  • TBD; There's a canteen at the venue, similar establishments in the nearby buildings, a pub directly next to the venue, and another one in 15 min walk, and a newly opened shopping centre 10 minutes walk from the venue

• What kind of food would be served?

  • TBD

  • 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?

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.)

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?

Accommodation

• Družba: student accommodation and hotel
• Mlyny (student accommodation)

• How much does it cost per person per night?

  WIP

• Is the place where people are going to sleep near the conference facilities?

  Yes, very much

• Is it able to handle a varying number from 200 to 500 people?

  Likely.

• Is it able to handle non-native speaking people? (i.e. do the people at the sleeping facilities speak English?)

  WIP

• 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?

  Yes.

• How many room keys would be available?
• Are there other hotels around?
• Are there rooms ready for handicapped people? How many?

Fun and Free time

• What activities can be done during the free time?
  • There's a local hackerspace
  • Plenty of nearby locations for hiking (Koliba, Horský park, across the border in AT: Berg, Hainburg/Donau)
  • A bunch of castles within a couple of hours of travel by train/bus
  • Vienna, 1h away by train
• What would be a possible Day Trip?
  • Is the proposed location ready to receive people with disabilities?
• How expensive would that be?

Local Sponsors

• Do you have a list of prospective sponsors that might be interested in helping the conference? (By providing venues, money, hardware, connectivity, etc.)
• Have you spoken to these organisations yet, to find out if they might sponsor, and what conditions and deadlines they have? (Note that many large organisations which provide funding for events need to be approached a long time in advance.)
• Do you have promises/pledges from any of these sponsors already?

Timing

• When (and why) would be the best time to host DebConf at your location?
• What is your backup plan if your preferred venue isn't available at that time?
  • Is there a provisional reservation in place for a particular date? When does the provisional reservation expire?