DebConf trailer
I'm just home a visit with Holger to Banja Luka, in preparation for
DebConf11 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In summary, we were pleased with
everything we saw there (hotel, venue, distances and city
infrastructure). We had two meetings with the Minister for Science
Technology, Prof. Dr. Jasmin Komic (one formal, one over lunch). The
minister was enthusiastic about DebConf coming to Banja Luka, and made
it very clear that the government of the Republic of Srpska supports
us strongly. We had several meetings with local DebConf organisers
and volunteers, and arranged who would work on specific tasks.
We stayed in Hotel Bosna, where most of the DebConf accommodation will
be, directly across the road from the conference venue Banski Dvor.
This was a nice four-star hotel, with good facilities including open
wireless everywhere and an ATM in the lobby.
On Monday we were given a tour of Banski Dvor by the friendly janitor,
including the back corridors where we can run cables for network and
video. The main talk rooms (for up to 350 and 150 people) are rather
impressive, with grand chandeliers etc., and also with plenty of power
sockets, and existing cabling for audio.
The local tourist board were very helpful, and will provide us with
more information on matters we asked about by email. An official from
the tourist board took us to see the location proposed for the day
trip, where we discussed the possible options for activities.
During our visit we also appeared in the most-read newspaper of the
Republic of Srpska, including a photo of our meeting with the
Minister, and apparently we were also mentioned on the evening
television news.
While the cost of our flights for this trailer visit will be paid by
Debian from the DebConf budget, all local costs were covered by the
government of the Republic of Srpska. And due to the generosity of
the government, the finances for DebConf11 itself will work very
similarly.
We're now both very much looking forward to returning to Bosnia and
Herzegovina in 53 days, and hope to see you there too!
Holger and Moray
Here's a rough schedule of what we did on our trip:
Sunday
arrived at Zagreb
got taken to Banja Luka in car (took about 2 1/2 hours driving
including the border crossing)
met Adnan
checked into Hotel Bosna
had dinner in hotel restaurant, planned agenda for other days
met local team
Monday
11 a.m. meeting with Science and Technology minister
tour of Banksi Dvor
walked around town, visited other hotels
met Zoran Sankovic, from Tourist Board of Banja Luka, in cafe
met local team, agreed proposal for schedule of special events during DebConf
went for cevapci dinner with some local team members
Tuesday
visited proposed conference dinner venue (Aquana aqua park restaurant)
visited proposed day trip barbecue venue and discussed options with
manager (who also offered his help on other matters)
visited Tourist Board office, got their contact details
(late) lunch meeting with minister and officials from DIVA NGO
met local team
Wednesday
walked round town again
taken to Zagreb airport in government car (again the journey took two
and a half hours)
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