Omnibus points
Stidias: Some years ago I was there. I vaguely recall it a building
on the sport facility side of Stellenbosch, with basement parking,
and 3 or so largeish conference rooms. In the back it had a very nice
garden (summer) and some older buildings which could be used for smaller
sessions. Having said that, I agree with Bernelle: Unless there are very
special circumstances I'd suggest going with a venue in an area well known
to the conference organisers: In Cape Town proper I (heh, more likely Bernelle,
Stefano) probably know where to get a replacement for that tiny but
critical screw that has just dropped out of an attendee's laptop or where
to find good sushi - in Stellenbosch we would not.
Weather: So Debian was supposed to be the universal operating system, but
we'd settle for global - now it turns out it is just for the northern
hemisphere... Cape Town winters don't have snow, so you'd think this
would be fun, however I have had visitors from Scandinavia complain
that they never have been as cold as in Cape Town: Cape Town has no concept
of central heating. Nobody here knows what an R value is. Buildings have no
wardrobe, people wear their outside clothing inside. At some point we
the building regulations should have introduced double glazing - I don't
think I have seen it yet. So winters are damp and drafty, even inside.
Then there is the matter of flu: Winter is our flu season, and having
visitors from all over the globe converge here means that Mr H and Mrs N
are going to have a party, and lots of humans a miserable time. Other
people are tough and will have a fun time jumping into the puddles.
I think the problem is that the overlap between what European attendees
think they can do and what our university summer holidays span might be the
empty set - so maybe consider a conventional city conference venue which
might offer a good discount in the shoulder season - say March, early April or
end of September to October ? Or maybe rent a community hall ? The
southyeasters rented the Mowbray one, admittedly only for a day ...
Other suggestions: I think having a southern hemisphere event means that
their are going to be fewer attendees, be it for logistical, financial or
environmental reasons. That makes a good online component so much
more important ... I have very little experience in these matters, but
maybe the presenters should be asked "How many hours before your presentation
can we put how many slides online ?" - so the guys who just want to tease would
only put their title slide online, while people with no big ego put the
entire thing online 24hrs in advance - this could allow people in different
time zones to read through it and record questions on it ? Also maybe
instead of having question time immediately afterwards, have it at the
end of the session, end of the day, or maybe only in writing, via
IRC ? I am sure debconf is really strong in this department, but maybe
it could be improved further - maybe borrow ideas from elsewhere ?
Al-Jazeera has a programme with a strong online component, maybe see
what they do ? Anyway - my suggestion is to not to neglect the
online component, even if it is less sexy, and experiment with
formats, etc so that different time zones can participate - it allows
for pioneering work and helps conserve the environment - just allocate
enough people to it beforehand and during, even if it involves writing
custom software... or reserving bandwidth.
Over and out
m
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