Robyn has forwarded a contract with the hotel for rooms. We are trying to work out some details on that contract so that we're not stuck with a bill we can't pay, but (ironically?) one of the things we could use is a growing list of out of staters that tells us we can make a specific minimum (like 35, 40, or 50 rooms).
So I spent part of today working on the FUDCon namespace page for the event, and will continue to work on it tomorrow so we can announce the event quickly.
If we have to, we'll scale back the guaranteed rooms so that we can be certain to fill the minimum block. Then we'll encourage people to pre-register on the wiki and register at the hotel, *as early as possible*.
What do you guys think?
By the way, if anyone wants to help fill in the wiki, the page is here. I made a heading outline, to make filling in the page easier. Please feel free to expand but try and keep the ordering logical in terms of what people want to know early, and keep the pre-registration as close to the top as possible. If anyone knows a cool trick with the "quick links" box to keep it onscreen, you're welcome to play with the CSS. :-)
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FUDCon:Tempe_2011
On Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 04:54:49PM -0400, Paul W. Frields wrote:
Robyn has forwarded a contract with the hotel for rooms. We are trying to work out some details on that contract so that we're not stuck with a bill we can't pay, but (ironically?) one of the things we could use is a growing list of out of staters that tells us we can make a specific minimum (like 35, 40, or 50 rooms).
So I spent part of today working on the FUDCon namespace page for the event, and will continue to work on it tomorrow so we can announce the event quickly.
If we have to, we'll scale back the guaranteed rooms so that we can be certain to fill the minimum block. Then we'll encourage people to pre-register on the wiki and register at the hotel, *as early as possible*.
What do you guys think?
By the way, if anyone wants to help fill in the wiki, the page is here. I made a heading outline, to make filling in the page easier. Please feel free to expand but try and keep the ordering logical in terms of what people want to know early, and keep the pre-registration as close to the top as possible. If anyone knows a cool trick with the "quick links" box to keep it onscreen, you're welcome to play with the CSS. :-)
We need to be very cognizant of is the lodging costs for FUDCon Tempe 2011. They're significantly higher than in previous FUDCon events.
Decent hotels (not luxurious, just decent) are not cheap in the Phoenix area in winter. Just as our own contributors really wanted to go somewhere warmer for a winter FUDCon, so does everyone else in the USA! That means the hotel costs are higher. Rooms at the hotel where we're looking at a contract are $165/night + fees + taxes, which comes to almost exactly $200/night total.
Even at that rate, we are getting a *significant* discount from published rates (which start around $229), and this hotel has advantages, such as proximity to our FUDCon location, and plentiful transportation options on grounds. All our other options would have required transportation costs that would have eliminated any of the cost savings. Some of them would have been *more* expensive once you counted those costs.
When we announce, we'll take great pains to let people know that we want them to stay with the whole group at the hotel. That helps us achieve our minimum block. If anyone needs subsidies to make that happen, they should ask (privately is fine). We will be *happy* to make it possible for people to come to FUDCon! We don't want to find out later that someone "would have, could have, should have" come if only they'd known we could help them make that happen.
No one should think they shouldn't ask for subsidies, or that they're somehow taking money away from other people in doing so. Everyone who's involved in planning knows it's tough to break loose the full costs for a FUDCon, on top of all the $REAL_LIFE expenses we all have. We want to help, and Max Spevack has already said he can commit some extra funds to make sure we can do so.
On Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 8:39 AM, Paul W. Frields stickster@gmail.com wrote:
On Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 04:54:49PM -0400, Paul W. Frields wrote:
Robyn has forwarded a contract with the hotel for rooms. We are trying to work out some details on that contract so that we're not stuck with a bill we can't pay, but (ironically?) one of the things we could use is a growing list of out of staters that tells us we can make a specific minimum (like 35, 40, or 50 rooms).
...snip...
What do you guys think?
Here is a bit of my thinking. 35 rooms would cost the project just about its entire normal FUDCon budget.
I was thrilled to find a flight for under $300 - rare from my location. So I did a quick search of hotels near ASU and the closest one was Twin Palms which I could book for $411 for three nights combined with my flight. It sits on the south edge of campus a couple blocks from the union and has 24 hour airport shuttle service. It doesn't have all the shops and recreation facilities but I won't be spending any time at those anyway.
It may well not be suitable for the main FUDCon hotel. I have no idea how many rooms are available. The biggest downside to me is that while it is close to central campus it is not close to the Mission Palms so going from one hotel to the other at night would be inconvenient.
...snip...
We need to be very cognizant of is the lodging costs for FUDCon Tempe 2011. They're significantly higher than in previous FUDCon events.
Decent hotels (not luxurious, just decent) are not cheap in the Phoenix area in winter. Just as our own contributors really wanted to go somewhere warmer for a winter FUDCon, so does everyone else in the USA! That means the hotel costs are higher. Rooms at the hotel where we're looking at a contract are $165/night + fees + taxes, which comes to almost exactly $200/night total.
Even at that rate, we are getting a *significant* discount from published rates (which start around $229), and this hotel has advantages, such as proximity to our FUDCon location, and plentiful transportation options on grounds. All our other options would have required transportation costs that would have eliminated any of the cost savings. Some of them would have been *more* expensive once you counted those costs.
Twin Palms has free transportation to/from the airport and anywhere else within a 3 mile radius of the hotel. It is within easy walking distance to campus. But as noted above, it may have other drawbacks that make it not suitable.
When we announce, we'll take great pains to let people know that we want them to stay with the whole group at the hotel. That helps us achieve our minimum block. If anyone needs subsidies to make that happen, they should ask (privately is fine). We will be *happy* to make it possible for people to come to FUDCon! We don't want to find out later that someone "would have, could have, should have" come if only they'd known we could help them make that happen.
No one should think they shouldn't ask for subsidies, or that they're somehow taking money away from other people in doing so. Everyone who's involved in planning knows it's tough to break loose the full costs for a FUDCon, on top of all the $REAL_LIFE expenses we all have. We want to help, and Max Spevack has already said he can commit some extra funds to make sure we can do so.
Yeah, the advantages of everyone staying at the same hotel are huge. Was the Twin Palms considered and rejected as a main conference hotel? I'm curious because looking as a single traveler it seems cheaper and almost ideally situated.
John
Hello!
is there no possibility to get a hotel that is affordable, not so close to the event, and hire a shuttle service group?
I remember that this was done in Brazil, and we've done a lot in Venezuela and the end, bill comes cheaper.
Likewise there is no apartment-style rooms? maybe more than 5 people?
2010/7/27 inode0 inode0@gmail.com
On Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 8:39 AM, Paul W. Frields stickster@gmail.com wrote:
On Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 04:54:49PM -0400, Paul W. Frields wrote:
Robyn has forwarded a contract with the hotel for rooms. We are trying to work out some details on that contract so that we're not stuck with a bill we can't pay, but (ironically?) one of the things we could use is a growing list of out of staters that tells us we can make a specific minimum (like 35, 40, or 50 rooms).
...snip...
What do you guys think?
Here is a bit of my thinking. 35 rooms would cost the project just about its entire normal FUDCon budget.
I was thrilled to find a flight for under $300 - rare from my location. So I did a quick search of hotels near ASU and the closest one was Twin Palms which I could book for $411 for three nights combined with my flight. It sits on the south edge of campus a couple blocks from the union and has 24 hour airport shuttle service. It doesn't have all the shops and recreation facilities but I won't be spending any time at those anyway.
It may well not be suitable for the main FUDCon hotel. I have no idea how many rooms are available. The biggest downside to me is that while it is close to central campus it is not close to the Mission Palms so going from one hotel to the other at night would be inconvenient.
...snip...
We need to be very cognizant of is the lodging costs for FUDCon Tempe 2011. They're significantly higher than in previous FUDCon events.
Decent hotels (not luxurious, just decent) are not cheap in the Phoenix area in winter. Just as our own contributors really wanted to go somewhere warmer for a winter FUDCon, so does everyone else in the USA! That means the hotel costs are higher. Rooms at the hotel where we're looking at a contract are $165/night + fees + taxes, which comes to almost exactly $200/night total.
Even at that rate, we are getting a *significant* discount from published rates (which start around $229), and this hotel has advantages, such as proximity to our FUDCon location, and plentiful transportation options on grounds. All our other options would have required transportation costs that would have eliminated any of the cost savings. Some of them would have been *more* expensive once you counted those costs.
Twin Palms has free transportation to/from the airport and anywhere else within a 3 mile radius of the hotel. It is within easy walking distance to campus. But as noted above, it may have other drawbacks that make it not suitable.
When we announce, we'll take great pains to let people know that we want them to stay with the whole group at the hotel. That helps us achieve our minimum block. If anyone needs subsidies to make that happen, they should ask (privately is fine). We will be *happy* to make it possible for people to come to FUDCon! We don't want to find out later that someone "would have, could have, should have" come if only they'd known we could help them make that happen.
No one should think they shouldn't ask for subsidies, or that they're somehow taking money away from other people in doing so. Everyone who's involved in planning knows it's tough to break loose the full costs for a FUDCon, on top of all the $REAL_LIFE expenses we all have. We want to help, and Max Spevack has already said he can commit some extra funds to make sure we can do so.
Yeah, the advantages of everyone staying at the same hotel are huge. Was the Twin Palms considered and rejected as a main conference hotel? I'm curious because looking as a single traveler it seems cheaper and almost ideally situated.
John _______________________________________________ fudcon-planning mailing list fudcon-planning@lists.fedoraproject.org https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/fudcon-planning
2010/7/27 María Leandro tatica@fedoraproject.org:
Hello! is there no possibility to get a hotel that is affordable, not so close to the event, and hire a shuttle service group?
I remember that this was done in Brazil, and we've done a lot in Venezuela and the end, bill comes cheaper.
If we were to rent school buses to shuttle people back and forth from another location, we'd need at least 3 school buses, which (from what I have found out thus far) run between $350 and $450 / day for rental. Unless we really stay someplace far away from anything, hotels will still be running us $79-$99 a night - and then we run into the problems of (1) most non-tourist area hotels do not provide transportation from the airport, which winds up being a $20-30 taxi fare each way; (2) we will again run into the problem of "we're not near anything to do / anyplace to eat."
Likewise there is no apartment-style rooms? maybe more than 5 people?
There are not really prevalent in the area; you can generally find apartment-style, but they still are going to be 1 king or two queen/double beds, and the pricing winds up being close to what we're looking at.
2010/7/27 inode0 inode0@gmail.com
On Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 8:39 AM, Paul W. Frields stickster@gmail.com wrote:
On Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 04:54:49PM -0400, Paul W. Frields wrote:
Robyn has forwarded a contract with the hotel for rooms. We are trying to work out some details on that contract so that we're not stuck with a bill we can't pay, but (ironically?) one of the things we could use is a growing list of out of staters that tells us we can make a specific minimum (like 35, 40, or 50 rooms).
...snip...
What do you guys think?
Here is a bit of my thinking. 35 rooms would cost the project just about its entire normal FUDCon budget.
I was thrilled to find a flight for under $300 - rare from my location. So I did a quick search of hotels near ASU and the closest one was Twin Palms which I could book for $411 for three nights combined with my flight. It sits on the south edge of campus a couple blocks from the union and has 24 hour airport shuttle service. It doesn't have all the shops and recreation facilities but I won't be spending any time at those anyway.
It may well not be suitable for the main FUDCon hotel. I have no idea how many rooms are available. The biggest downside to me is that while it is close to central campus it is not close to the Mission Palms so going from one hotel to the other at night would be inconvenient.
...snip...
We need to be very cognizant of is the lodging costs for FUDCon Tempe 2011. They're significantly higher than in previous FUDCon events.
Decent hotels (not luxurious, just decent) are not cheap in the Phoenix area in winter. Just as our own contributors really wanted to go somewhere warmer for a winter FUDCon, so does everyone else in the USA! That means the hotel costs are higher. Rooms at the hotel where we're looking at a contract are $165/night + fees + taxes, which comes to almost exactly $200/night total.
Even at that rate, we are getting a *significant* discount from published rates (which start around $229), and this hotel has advantages, such as proximity to our FUDCon location, and plentiful transportation options on grounds. All our other options would have required transportation costs that would have eliminated any of the cost savings. Some of them would have been *more* expensive once you counted those costs.
Twin Palms has free transportation to/from the airport and anywhere else within a 3 mile radius of the hotel. It is within easy walking distance to campus. But as noted above, it may have other drawbacks that make it not suitable.
When we announce, we'll take great pains to let people know that we want them to stay with the whole group at the hotel. That helps us achieve our minimum block. If anyone needs subsidies to make that happen, they should ask (privately is fine). We will be *happy* to make it possible for people to come to FUDCon! We don't want to find out later that someone "would have, could have, should have" come if only they'd known we could help them make that happen.
No one should think they shouldn't ask for subsidies, or that they're somehow taking money away from other people in doing so. Everyone who's involved in planning knows it's tough to break loose the full costs for a FUDCon, on top of all the $REAL_LIFE expenses we all have. We want to help, and Max Spevack has already said he can commit some extra funds to make sure we can do so.
Yeah, the advantages of everyone staying at the same hotel are huge. Was the Twin Palms considered and rejected as a main conference hotel? I'm curious because looking as a single traveler it seems cheaper and almost ideally situated.
John _______________________________________________ fudcon-planning mailing list fudcon-planning@lists.fedoraproject.org https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/fudcon-planning
-- tatica Maria Gracia Leandro http://www.tatica.org http://www.fedora-ve.org http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/MariaLeandro LinuxUser= 440285 GPG Public Key: E1CDCC56 "Be yourself... Don't be anyone else"
fudcon-planning mailing list fudcon-planning@lists.fedoraproject.org https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/fudcon-planning
On Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 8:47 AM, inode0 inode0@gmail.com wrote:
On Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 8:39 AM, Paul W. Frields stickster@gmail.com wrote:
On Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 04:54:49PM -0400, Paul W. Frields wrote:
Robyn has forwarded a contract with the hotel for rooms. We are trying to work out some details on that contract so that we're not stuck with a bill we can't pay, but (ironically?) one of the things we could use is a growing list of out of staters that tells us we can make a specific minimum (like 35, 40, or 50 rooms).
...snip...
What do you guys think?
Here is a bit of my thinking. 35 rooms would cost the project just about its entire normal FUDCon budget.
I was thrilled to find a flight for under $300 - rare from my location. So I did a quick search of hotels near ASU and the closest one was Twin Palms which I could book for $411 for three nights combined with my flight. It sits on the south edge of campus a couple blocks from the union and has 24 hour airport shuttle service. It doesn't have all the shops and recreation facilities but I won't be spending any time at those anyway.
It may well not be suitable for the main FUDCon hotel. I have no idea how many rooms are available. The biggest downside to me is that while it is close to central campus it is not close to the Mission Palms so going from one hotel to the other at night would be inconvenient.
...snip...
We need to be very cognizant of is the lodging costs for FUDCon Tempe 2011. They're significantly higher than in previous FUDCon events.
Decent hotels (not luxurious, just decent) are not cheap in the Phoenix area in winter. Just as our own contributors really wanted to go somewhere warmer for a winter FUDCon, so does everyone else in the USA! That means the hotel costs are higher. Rooms at the hotel where we're looking at a contract are $165/night + fees + taxes, which comes to almost exactly $200/night total.
Even at that rate, we are getting a *significant* discount from published rates (which start around $229), and this hotel has advantages, such as proximity to our FUDCon location, and plentiful transportation options on grounds. All our other options would have required transportation costs that would have eliminated any of the cost savings. Some of them would have been *more* expensive once you counted those costs.
Twin Palms has free transportation to/from the airport and anywhere else within a 3 mile radius of the hotel. It is within easy walking distance to campus. But as noted above, it may have other drawbacks that make it not suitable.
When we announce, we'll take great pains to let people know that we want them to stay with the whole group at the hotel. That helps us achieve our minimum block. If anyone needs subsidies to make that happen, they should ask (privately is fine). We will be *happy* to make it possible for people to come to FUDCon! We don't want to find out later that someone "would have, could have, should have" come if only they'd known we could help them make that happen.
No one should think they shouldn't ask for subsidies, or that they're somehow taking money away from other people in doing so. Everyone who's involved in planning knows it's tough to break loose the full costs for a FUDCon, on top of all the $REAL_LIFE expenses we all have. We want to help, and Max Spevack has already said he can commit some extra funds to make sure we can do so.
Yeah, the advantages of everyone staying at the same hotel are huge. Was the Twin Palms considered and rejected as a main conference hotel? I'm curious because looking as a single traveler it seems cheaper and almost ideally situated.
John
A few notes here:
On Location: Please see a rudimentary map, located at https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/File:Tempe.png - The Yellow star is the Tempe Mission Palms. The Red Bubble is the Brickyard Engineering building. The purple star is the location of the light rail; the red star is the Twin Palms hotel, and the Blue Star is the Memorial Union.
That said, we are planning on having two days in the Brickyard facility, and one day in the Memorial Union. It is less than a 5 minute walk from the Mission Palms hotel to the Brickyard; probably more of a 20 minute walk from the Twin palms to the Brickyard.
Aside from those items - I have stayed at the Twin Palms, albeit many years ago and upgrades may have been done since then. It was not a pleasant place to stay, and given its proximity to campus dorms, and fraternity housing, it tends to be more of a party hotel.
WRT transportation - I realize both of the hotels both provide transportation. Transportation in general was one of the many pieces of feedback we got from the FUDCon Toronto survey (http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/File:FUDCon-2009-survey-draft.odp) - people don't want to pay $100 bucks to get back and forth from the airport. Both of these hotels save us on that fact. Additionally, people lamented the fact that the hotel was (1) not close to places to eat, (2) not close to any major transportation to take them to other things in the city to see / do. Mission Palms is literally across the street from the Light Rail, which is a direct line to downtown Phoenix (for those interested in our sparse cultural offerings). It is also in the heart of downtown Tempe, with numerous food / entertainment offerings. Twin Palms is not exactly surrounded by anything - it's a half-mile to a mile to food, except the IHOP - it's a hike down to the light rail. It is lacking in common areas as compared with the Mission Palms as well - the Mission Palms has an enormous lobby for hanging out, as well as a giant courtyard with heaters, fireplace, lots of chairs, for late-night fun.
This has been the best hotel as far as convenience. There is a Courtyard Marriott also in downtown Tempe which was approximately $10 less per night than the Mission Palms, which is located next to the train tracks, and also was fairly uncertain that they could accommodate the group, or have any type of meeting space for us. There are numerous other hotels near the freeway, which are probably comparable in price to the Twin Palms, but would be a multi-mile walk to get to the Brickyard.
If we want to weigh the option of making people walk against saving money, we can do that. By my math, for those sharing rooms, this is about $140/person (probably less) total over the course of 3 nights.
-Robyn
fudcon-planning mailing list fudcon-planning@lists.fedoraproject.org https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/fudcon-planning
On Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 12:37:56PM -0700, Robyn Bergeron wrote:
On Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 8:47 AM, inode0 inode0@gmail.com wrote:
On Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 8:39 AM, Paul W. Frields stickster@gmail.com wrote:
On Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 04:54:49PM -0400, Paul W. Frields wrote:
Robyn has forwarded a contract with the hotel for rooms. We are trying to work out some details on that contract so that we're not stuck with a bill we can't pay, but (ironically?) one of the things we could use is a growing list of out of staters that tells us we can make a specific minimum (like 35, 40, or 50 rooms).
...snip...
What do you guys think?
Here is a bit of my thinking. 35 rooms would cost the project just about its entire normal FUDCon budget.
I was thrilled to find a flight for under $300 - rare from my location. So I did a quick search of hotels near ASU and the closest one was Twin Palms which I could book for $411 for three nights combined with my flight. It sits on the south edge of campus a couple blocks from the union and has 24 hour airport shuttle service. It doesn't have all the shops and recreation facilities but I won't be spending any time at those anyway.
It may well not be suitable for the main FUDCon hotel. I have no idea how many rooms are available. The biggest downside to me is that while it is close to central campus it is not close to the Mission Palms so going from one hotel to the other at night would be inconvenient.
...snip...
We need to be very cognizant of is the lodging costs for FUDCon Tempe 2011. They're significantly higher than in previous FUDCon events.
Decent hotels (not luxurious, just decent) are not cheap in the Phoenix area in winter. Just as our own contributors really wanted to go somewhere warmer for a winter FUDCon, so does everyone else in the USA! That means the hotel costs are higher. Rooms at the hotel where we're looking at a contract are $165/night + fees + taxes, which comes to almost exactly $200/night total.
Even at that rate, we are getting a *significant* discount from published rates (which start around $229), and this hotel has advantages, such as proximity to our FUDCon location, and plentiful transportation options on grounds. All our other options would have required transportation costs that would have eliminated any of the cost savings. Some of them would have been *more* expensive once you counted those costs.
Twin Palms has free transportation to/from the airport and anywhere else within a 3 mile radius of the hotel. It is within easy walking distance to campus. But as noted above, it may have other drawbacks that make it not suitable.
When we announce, we'll take great pains to let people know that we want them to stay with the whole group at the hotel. That helps us achieve our minimum block. If anyone needs subsidies to make that happen, they should ask (privately is fine). We will be *happy* to make it possible for people to come to FUDCon! We don't want to find out later that someone "would have, could have, should have" come if only they'd known we could help them make that happen.
No one should think they shouldn't ask for subsidies, or that they're somehow taking money away from other people in doing so. Everyone who's involved in planning knows it's tough to break loose the full costs for a FUDCon, on top of all the $REAL_LIFE expenses we all have. We want to help, and Max Spevack has already said he can commit some extra funds to make sure we can do so.
Yeah, the advantages of everyone staying at the same hotel are huge. Was the Twin Palms considered and rejected as a main conference hotel? I'm curious because looking as a single traveler it seems cheaper and almost ideally situated.
John
A few notes here:
On Location: Please see a rudimentary map, located at https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/File:Tempe.png - The Yellow star is the Tempe Mission Palms. The Red Bubble is the Brickyard Engineering building. The purple star is the location of the light rail; the red star is the Twin Palms hotel, and the Blue Star is the Memorial Union.
That said, we are planning on having two days in the Brickyard facility, and one day in the Memorial Union. It is less than a 5 minute walk from the Mission Palms hotel to the Brickyard; probably more of a 20 minute walk from the Twin palms to the Brickyard.
Aside from those items - I have stayed at the Twin Palms, albeit many years ago and upgrades may have been done since then. It was not a pleasant place to stay, and given its proximity to campus dorms, and fraternity housing, it tends to be more of a party hotel.
WRT transportation - I realize both of the hotels both provide transportation. Transportation in general was one of the many pieces of feedback we got from the FUDCon Toronto survey (http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/File:FUDCon-2009-survey-draft.odp) - people don't want to pay $100 bucks to get back and forth from the airport. Both of these hotels save us on that fact. Additionally, people lamented the fact that the hotel was (1) not close to places to eat, (2) not close to any major transportation to take them to other things in the city to see / do. Mission Palms is literally across the street from the Light Rail, which is a direct line to downtown Phoenix (for those interested in our sparse cultural offerings). It is also in the heart of downtown Tempe, with numerous food / entertainment offerings. Twin Palms is not exactly surrounded by anything - it's a half-mile to a mile to food, except the IHOP - it's a hike down to the light rail. It is lacking in common areas as compared with the Mission Palms as well - the Mission Palms has an enormous lobby for hanging out, as well as a giant courtyard with heaters, fireplace, lots of chairs, for late-night fun.
This has been the best hotel as far as convenience. There is a Courtyard Marriott also in downtown Tempe which was approximately $10 less per night than the Mission Palms, which is located next to the train tracks, and also was fairly uncertain that they could accommodate the group, or have any type of meeting space for us. There are numerous other hotels near the freeway, which are probably comparable in price to the Twin Palms, but would be a multi-mile walk to get to the Brickyard.
If we want to weigh the option of making people walk against saving money, we can do that. By my math, for those sharing rooms, this is about $140/person (probably less) total over the course of 3 nights.
It's also important to consider that we really do want to make sure people are staying together to collaborate. Also, if Fedora ends up with a minimum block we have to fill, we'd really like contributors to help us fill that block! :-)
At the same time, we don't want that to cause any hardship for anyone, and we will offer subsidies to people. It doesn't need to be an all-or-nothing approach. If the difference between the bills is something like $150, we can easily offer someone that kind of subsidy if they let us know that's what they need. Another reason why earlier I wanted to be crystal clear that we want people to tell us what would help them. Because the bottom line is, the happier people are staying together, the better a FUDCon event we'll have!
I note that Maria had a couple concerns about the cost of the rooms -- do note that, in general, USA hotel prices tend to be higher in absolute terms, and any warm location in the winter will tend to be again even higher. Our contributors in NA asked for a warm location. When we opened the bid process for FUDCon the team in Tempe was the one that answered the call. :-)
We have a somewhat higher budget available for this event because, from the outset, I talked to Max to make sure we could support it, knowing about higher cost already. So in that respect I think we're OK, and can offer an increased number of subsidies in line with the increased cost of the hotel.
Paul W. Frields wrote:
Robyn has forwarded a contract with the hotel for rooms. We are trying to work out some details on that contract so that we're not stuck with a bill we can't pay, but (ironically?) one of the things we could use is a growing list of out of staters that tells us we can make a specific minimum (like 35, 40, or 50 rooms).
So I spent part of today working on the FUDCon namespace page for the event, and will continue to work on it tomorrow so we can announce the event quickly.
Awesome! I've pre-registered, continuing the tradition of being an early bird registration FUDCon party-crasher! ;-)
-- Jeroen
PS. Flights from overseas (AMS or LHR <-> PHX) look like ~E 600,- anyways. Along with 4 nights in a shared hotel room (~$100,- per night per person), the costs add up to about $1200 just for physical proximity -no drinks included, and boy can I drink ;-) Just giving you a window of reference for international (overseas) visitors.
On Wed, Jul 28, 2010 at 06:41:11PM +0200, Jeroen van Meeuwen wrote:
Paul W. Frields wrote:
Robyn has forwarded a contract with the hotel for rooms. We are trying to work out some details on that contract so that we're not stuck with a bill we can't pay, but (ironically?) one of the things we could use is a growing list of out of staters that tells us we can make a specific minimum (like 35, 40, or 50 rooms).
So I spent part of today working on the FUDCon namespace page for the event, and will continue to work on it tomorrow so we can announce the event quickly.
Awesome! I've pre-registered, continuing the tradition of being an early bird registration FUDCon party-crasher! ;-)
-- Jeroen
PS. Flights from overseas (AMS or LHR <-> PHX) look like ~E 600,- anyways. Along with 4 nights in a shared hotel room (~$100,- per night per person), the costs add up to about $1200 just for physical proximity -no drinks included, and boy can I drink ;-) Just giving you a window of reference for international (overseas) visitors.
As I mentioned, part of the planning process is figuring out where and how to offer subsidies, full or partial. We generally offer fewer for people outside the region. In the same way that the EMEA FUDCon is trying to spend a little less on bringing USA people in, because of costs, the same thing applies to the NA FUDCon. But we always have some international visitors there and can work out subsidies wherever it makes sense.
So after our thread derailed (only slightly) ;-) into hotel choice, I've had almost no one on the planning committee (Robyn? Ryan? Jared?) respond to the original inquiry about an announcement. Does it make sense to just gather names now, so we can move forward more confidently with the hotel?
On Wed 28 July 2010 12:38:25 Paul W. Frields wrote:
On Wed, Jul 28, 2010 at 06:41:11PM +0200, Jeroen van Meeuwen wrote:
Paul W. Frields wrote:
Robyn has forwarded a contract with the hotel for rooms. We are trying to work out some details on that contract so that we're not stuck with a bill we can't pay, but (ironically?) one of the things we could use is a growing list of out of staters that tells us we can make a specific minimum (like 35, 40, or 50 rooms).
So I spent part of today working on the FUDCon namespace page for the event, and will continue to work on it tomorrow so we can announce the event quickly.
Awesome! I've pre-registered, continuing the tradition of being an early bird registration FUDCon party-crasher! ;-)
-- Jeroen
PS. Flights from overseas (AMS or LHR <-> PHX) look like ~E 600,- anyways. Along with 4 nights in a shared hotel room (~$100,- per night per person), the costs add up to about $1200 just for physical proximity -no drinks included, and boy can I drink ;-) Just giving you a window of reference for international (overseas) visitors.
As I mentioned, part of the planning process is figuring out where and how to offer subsidies, full or partial. We generally offer fewer for people outside the region. In the same way that the EMEA FUDCon is trying to spend a little less on bringing USA people in, because of costs, the same thing applies to the NA FUDCon. But we always have some international visitors there and can work out subsidies wherever it makes sense.
So after our thread derailed (only slightly) ;-) into hotel choice, I've had almost no one on the planning committee (Robyn? Ryan? Jared?) respond to the original inquiry about an announcement. Does it make sense to just gather names now, so we can move forward more confidently with the hotel?
Woops, I missed the question in your original mail ... :)
I think it's a good idea to at least get a rough idea of how many people we expect because, honestly, I haven't the slightest idea how many rooms we should get :) And judging by what Robyn told me about the contract we got, I really think that we should be fairly accurate with how many rooms we ask to block.
just my 0.02¢ (yes, two hundredths of a cent) :) Ryan
On Wed, Jul 28, 2010 at 3:38 PM, Paul W. Frields stickster@gmail.com wrote:
On Wed, Jul 28, 2010 at 06:41:11PM +0200, Jeroen van Meeuwen wrote:
Paul W. Frields wrote:
Robyn has forwarded a contract with the hotel for rooms. We are trying to work out some details on that contract so that we're not stuck with a bill we can't pay, but (ironically?) one of the things we could use is a growing list of out of staters that tells us we can make a specific minimum (like 35, 40, or 50 rooms).
So I spent part of today working on the FUDCon namespace page for the event, and will continue to work on it tomorrow so we can announce the event quickly.
Awesome! I've pre-registered, continuing the tradition of being an early bird registration FUDCon party-crasher! ;-)
-- Jeroen
PS. Flights from overseas (AMS or LHR <-> PHX) look like ~E 600,- anyways. Along with 4 nights in a shared hotel room (~$100,- per night per person), the costs add up to about $1200 just for physical proximity -no drinks included, and boy can I drink ;-) Just giving you a window of reference for international (overseas) visitors.
As I mentioned, part of the planning process is figuring out where and how to offer subsidies, full or partial. We generally offer fewer for people outside the region. In the same way that the EMEA FUDCon is trying to spend a little less on bringing USA people in, because of costs, the same thing applies to the NA FUDCon. But we always have some international visitors there and can work out subsidies wherever it makes sense.
So after our thread derailed (only slightly) ;-) into hotel choice, I've had almost no one on the planning committee (Robyn? Ryan? Jared?) respond to the original inquiry about an announcement. Does it make sense to just gather names now, so we can move forward more confidently with the hotel?
I am not on said committee, but I think it makes sense to go ahead and announce. I think we have essentially reached the point of no return for the dates and location. So I don't think, as far as hotel, city, or dates, that anything is really subject to change at this point. What is left is negotiating with the hotel (which the announcement will help by getting us some preliminary numbers) and airlines (Assuming Mr. Parrish hasn't already completed that)
On Wed, Jul 28, 2010 at 1:12 PM, David Nalley david@gnsa.us wrote:
On Wed, Jul 28, 2010 at 3:38 PM, Paul W. Frields stickster@gmail.com wrote:
On Wed, Jul 28, 2010 at 06:41:11PM +0200, Jeroen van Meeuwen wrote:
Paul W. Frields wrote:
Robyn has forwarded a contract with the hotel for rooms. We are trying to work out some details on that contract so that we're not stuck with a bill we can't pay, but (ironically?) one of the things we could use is a growing list of out of staters that tells us we can make a specific minimum (like 35, 40, or 50 rooms).
So I spent part of today working on the FUDCon namespace page for the event, and will continue to work on it tomorrow so we can announce the event quickly.
Awesome! I've pre-registered, continuing the tradition of being an early bird registration FUDCon party-crasher! ;-)
-- Jeroen
PS. Flights from overseas (AMS or LHR <-> PHX) look like ~E 600,- anyways. Along with 4 nights in a shared hotel room (~$100,- per night per person), the costs add up to about $1200 just for physical proximity -no drinks included, and boy can I drink ;-) Just giving you a window of reference for international (overseas) visitors.
As I mentioned, part of the planning process is figuring out where and how to offer subsidies, full or partial. We generally offer fewer for people outside the region. In the same way that the EMEA FUDCon is trying to spend a little less on bringing USA people in, because of costs, the same thing applies to the NA FUDCon. But we always have some international visitors there and can work out subsidies wherever it makes sense.
So after our thread derailed (only slightly) ;-) into hotel choice, I've had almost no one on the planning committee (Robyn? Ryan? Jared?) respond to the original inquiry about an announcement. Does it make sense to just gather names now, so we can move forward more confidently with the hotel?
I am not on said committee, but I think it makes sense to go ahead and announce. I think we have essentially reached the point of no return for the dates and location. So I don't think, as far as hotel, city, or dates, that anything is really subject to change at this point. What is left is negotiating with the hotel (which the announcement will help by getting us some preliminary numbers) and airlines (Assuming Mr. Parrish hasn't already completed that)
I think announcing might as well happen at this point as well. I think saying "we're pretty sure we're going to have it here on these dates at this hotel so we need your names on this list" is pretty much an announcement, so we might as well call it what it is :)
-robyn
fudcon-planning mailing list fudcon-planning@lists.fedoraproject.org https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/fudcon-planning
On Wed, Jul 28, 2010 at 04:22:37PM -0700, Robyn Bergeron wrote:
On Wed, Jul 28, 2010 at 1:12 PM, David Nalley david@gnsa.us wrote:
On Wed, Jul 28, 2010 at 3:38 PM, Paul W. Frields stickster@gmail.com wrote:
On Wed, Jul 28, 2010 at 06:41:11PM +0200, Jeroen van Meeuwen wrote:
Paul W. Frields wrote:
Robyn has forwarded a contract with the hotel for rooms. We are trying to work out some details on that contract so that we're not stuck with a bill we can't pay, but (ironically?) one of the things we could use is a growing list of out of staters that tells us we can make a specific minimum (like 35, 40, or 50 rooms).
So I spent part of today working on the FUDCon namespace page for the event, and will continue to work on it tomorrow so we can announce the event quickly.
Awesome! I've pre-registered, continuing the tradition of being an early bird registration FUDCon party-crasher! ;-)
-- Jeroen
PS. Flights from overseas (AMS or LHR <-> PHX) look like ~E 600,- anyways. Along with 4 nights in a shared hotel room (~$100,- per night per person), the costs add up to about $1200 just for physical proximity -no drinks included, and boy can I drink ;-) Just giving you a window of reference for international (overseas) visitors.
As I mentioned, part of the planning process is figuring out where and how to offer subsidies, full or partial. We generally offer fewer for people outside the region. In the same way that the EMEA FUDCon is trying to spend a little less on bringing USA people in, because of costs, the same thing applies to the NA FUDCon. But we always have some international visitors there and can work out subsidies wherever it makes sense.
So after our thread derailed (only slightly) ;-) into hotel choice, I've had almost no one on the planning committee (Robyn? Ryan? Jared?) respond to the original inquiry about an announcement. Does it make sense to just gather names now, so we can move forward more confidently with the hotel?
I am not on said committee, but I think it makes sense to go ahead and announce. I think we have essentially reached the point of no return for the dates and location. So I don't think, as far as hotel, city, or dates, that anything is really subject to change at this point. What is left is negotiating with the hotel (which the announcement will help by getting us some preliminary numbers) and airlines (Assuming Mr. Parrish hasn't already completed that)
I think announcing might as well happen at this point as well. I think saying "we're pretty sure we're going to have it here on these dates at this hotel so we need your names on this list" is pretty much an announcement, so we might as well call it what it is :)
Sounds like a quorum to me. (And David, anyone who's helping figure things out is just as much a part of the committee as people who happen to live near the site!) :-)
OK, I'll prepare an announcement on the wiki today as soon as I can.
fudcon-planning@lists.fedoraproject.org
-
David Nalley -
inode0 -
Jeroen van Meeuwen -
María Leandro -
Paul W. Frields -
Robyn Bergeron -
Ryan Rix