Re: DC14 Day Trip Ideas
On Mon, Oct 28, 2013 at 5:44 PM, Patty Langasek <harmoney@dodds.net> wrote:
> I've been kicking around 1 day trip idea that keeps growing on me more and
> more and more to the point that I'm starting to obsess on it. So, before I
> become married and inseparable from the idea, I want to get other peoples'
> thoughts, have some time to accept criticism and see if anyone Knows People
> to help make something like this happen affordably (Remember, we're Debian).
>
> I'd really like to split the day in 2 and have the first part of the day to
> mid-afternoon spent in the Columbia River Gorge with very light hiking (for
> those who want it), a tour of a few of the falls (including Multnomah, of
> course) and a stop by the Vista House. (And a picnic lunch because it'll be
> *August*.)
>
> >From there, trek people up to Mt Hood and let those who want to wander and
> hike the Timberline trails do so, and hopefully have our formal dinner
> there. The views from the lodge are breathtaking, and the drinks are
> awesome. (I mean, um.)
>
> I have requested information from Timberline to get a quote on what a dinner
> for our group size could be (estimating 350ish), and have kinda glanced for
> tour groups for the gorge, and tried not to cry when I saw the prices per
> person. I don't think we'd need a *tour*, but I guess we'd also have to look
> up what we'd have to be responsible for if we just arranged a bunch of buses
> to wander around the Scenic Highway. The idea is to do this in the middle of
> the week, so traffic and outrageous numbers of people shouldn't be that much
> of an issue. (Maybe. Hopefully.)
>
> Anyway. Ideas? Thoughts? Do I go back to the drawing board on this?
WIthout estimated costs, it is hard to weigh in on your proposals,
but I will share my general thoughts.
In 2009/2010 the global economy was still reeling from the fallout of
the Oct 2008 collapse of Lehman Bros, so budgets were very tight for
DC10, and it was decided that there would be no formal dinner. We were
also fairly frugal with the daytrip costs. Memory recalls $2000-3000,
but one of our accountants can probably give a more accurate number.
In light of this, I think it might make sense to consider the formal
dinner an optional expense, and only really consider it if it's not
overly expensive, and we are on track with fundraising. (In my mind,
if we do it, it shouldn't be a lot more expensive than the regularly
planned meal for that day).
For the daytrip, I would personally focus on "best bang for the buck"
activities. IE: A hike might work, but a group tour would almost
certainly break the bank. Portland seems to have a wealth of options
[1], so hopeful something fits the "affordable" bill?
Once vorlon and hug hammer down the budget we will have a better sense
of how our budget looks, and we should also have a better sense of how
fundraising is going come end Nov, but in any case I do feel we need
to be "responsible" with donated funds.
I'll also add that this is the first time we are doing fundraising for
a US-based DebConf since 2009/2010, and while the hope is that things
will be better than "the worst recession since the great depression"
[2], we really won't know until we are well into our fundraising
efforts. (I'm not entirely optimistic, with everything that's going on
in the world.)
Thanks,
-Brian
[1] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourist_attractions_near_Portland,_Oregon
[2] - http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aNivTjr852TI
> p
>
> --
> ----------------------------------------------------------
>
> Patty Langasek
> harmoney@dodds.net
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------
>
> At times, you may end up far away from home; you may not be
> sure of where you belong, anymore. But home is always
> there... because home is not a place. It's wherever your
> passion takes you.
> --- J. Michael Straczynski
>
>
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