In-Reply-To: <a4359dff0807281452y4c39a617ua92a135098ffc775(a)mail.gmail.com>
> > Is there a reason that people are going for university facilities
> > and not
> > hotels? Science Fiction Conventions tend to be hotel based.
>
> Do Sci Fi conventions generally have talks aimed at groups of 500
> people? I don't think hotels can accommodate such large
> conferences.
This year's Easter Science Fiction convention was at the Radisson
Edwardian Heathrow which has two conference suites that could be built to
that size.
http://www.radissonedwardian.com/rad/edw/PDFs/c&bbrochure08.pdf
Next years is at the Cedar Court Bradford
http://www.cedarcourthotels.co.uk/page.asp?pageID=46. Then it's back to
the Radisson.
Recent Easter SF cons have been at hotels in Chester, Hinckley, Glasgow,
Liverpool (but shall I say that I was not surprised that one of the MOD
missing computers was stolen from a room in the Liverpool Adelphi). The
Brighton Metropole had a big conferencing area in the rear, but the
management and the SF community fell out in the late 80s and we haven't
been back since.
There's an association of conferencing facilities (or there was in the
1980s who you could write to with your specs and they would put your
details in a circular to members.)
In-Reply-To: <a5360d2d0807281530o5a852967j91284aa6bd07ef83(a)mail.gmail.com>
> > Recent Easter SF cons have been at hotels in Chester, Hinckley,
> > Glasgow,
> > Liverpool (but shall I say that I was not surprised that one of
> > the MOD
> > missing computers was stolen from a room in the Liverpool
> > Adelphi). The
> > Brighton Metropole had a big conferencing area in the rear, but
> > the
> > management and the SF community fell out in the late 80s and we
> > haven't been back since.
> Cheap dig at Liverpool there :(.
Oh I assure you it is aimed fairly and squarely at the Adelphi. Last
year's Easter SF convention was meant to be there but there was a fair
amount of hostility because of the history of thefts when we have been
there. They assured the committee that they were changing the security
system on the rooms, but failed to come up with documentary evidence of
what they would do by when, so the conference was cancelled.
(http://community.livejournal.com/uk_sf_events/27785.html) With that type
of record I wouldn't want an event that is likely to have as many laptops
floating around as I expect of WikiMania anywhere near the Adelphi.
The local chamber of commerce were also insisting on security being
updated before Liverpool's turn as European City of Culture, but clearly
nothing has changed if the MoD computer theft is anything to go by.
> >
> > There's an association of conferencing facilities (or there was
> > in the
> > 1980s who you could write to with your specs and they would put
> > your details in a circular to members.)
>
>
> But back to the point, I think there could be some merit in
> investigating non-University approaches. During the Summer Hols,
> they
> really are out to make as much money as they can with conferencing.
> We may be able to find something a little cheaper by thinking outside
> this box - I'm slightly amazed that the Alexandria team got all that
> they did for free, though I do suspect that with some effort we may
> be able to get close...
>
> That said, I personally lack ideas at the moment... It is worth
> keeping our eyes and minds open though.
http://www.conferences-uk.org.uk/ has a searchable directory in which you
can put numbers. People who are interested in organising things can then
look at facilities local to them.
Peter
> Seems rather more expensive than I was expecting Manchester to be. Are you
> sure you're not paying for services usually provided to us by volunteers?
Paying per person is always going to work out very expensive. Is there
not an option to just hire the whole thing?
Well it's not exactly opposite (I presume you mean the Phoenix), it's about
15 minutes brisk walk from Keeble. And it only seats 198
http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/venue_hire_cinema.aspx?venueId=oxfd .
You can see all the other venues on here:
https://www.britdoc.org/festival/media/08/BRITDOC08_Schedule.pdf
The O'Reilly theatre seats 181.
(http://www.keble.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/activities/culture/o-rei
lly-theatre )
The Natural History museum lecture theatre I've mentioned before as not
appropriate (it seats 300 http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/services/events1.htm ).
Tom
-----Original Message-----
From: Gordon Joly [mailto:gordon.joly@pobox.com]
Sent: 28 July 2008 14:28
To: wikimediauk-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Cc: wikimediauk-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org; Tom Holden
Subject: Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Oxford: new venue?
At 14:10 +0100 28/7/08, Tom Holden wrote:
>Their largest lecture theatre is 250. We may well need a second college for
>accommodation purposes, but as a venue a college is never going to be big
>enough.
>
>Tom
They used a cinema opposite the college, I believe, that held 700.
Gordo
--
"Think Feynman"/////////
http://pobox.com/~gordo/
gordon.joly(a)pobox.com///
On 7/27/08, Tom Holden <thomas.holden(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I don't think sending off a few exploratory e-mails would hurt though, if
> only so we had a benchmark to compare Oxford's costs against.
>
I made enquiries about Manchester last year (for Wikimania '09) and I got
the following quotes: Renold building - £34 (plus VAT) per person per day
(including lunch); en-suite B&B accommodation £38.50 (plus VAT) pp pd (in
university halls). University Place [1] is similarly priced (however,
accommodation may not be available on-or-adjacent-to site).
I'm also a postgrad student at the University of Manchester, and am more
than willing to make further investigations. I've also attended all four
Wikimanias so far, so I have some understanding of what is required.
Cheers,
Cormac
[1]
http://www.conference.manchester.ac.uk/meetingmanchester/meetingandaccommod…
Queen Mary, University of London, have written back to me. They said
that they could not accommodate a conference of this size in July or
August due to regular bookings (I believe that they take in Open
University summer school bookings).
I sent them this specification:-
>
> * Dates should be from the beginning of July to mid August and
>should include a weekend.
> * The maximum number of participants should be 500 people, the
>minimum 300.
> * The venue must provide accommodation within walking distance
>of the conference grounds, preferably with lots of hanging out
>spaces where Wikimaniacs can get together informally.
> * The venue must have seminar/conference rooms that can hold up
>to 100 people and no less than 30 people at one time for the
>sessions. It should provide at least one main hall that can hold up
>to 500 people. Count on having around 5/6 simultaneous tracks in the
>program. (i.e. the venue must accommodate 500 people at any time in
>5/6 rooms).
>
Regards,
Gordo
--
"Think Feynman"/////////
http://pobox.com/~gordo/
gordon.joly(a)pobox.com///
2008/7/27 Tom Holden <thomas.holden(a)gmail.com>:
> I don't think sending off a few exploratory e-mails would hurt though, if
> only so we had a benchmark to compare Oxford's costs against.
Agreed. If we can get it for a fraction of the price of Oxford, then
the extra travel might be worth it. Manchester is probably a cheaper
city generally than Oxford, and certainly cheaper than London.
> Your size restrictions are a little on the overly optimistic side though. I
> get the impression 500 now is the absolute minimum and I wouldn't be
> surprised if it ended up being 700+.
Those are the official restrictions given in previous years, we
haven't been told 2010's restrictions yet.
2008/7/25 Gordon Joly <gordon.joly(a)pobox.com>:
> At 16:31 +0000 25/7/08, joseph seddon wrote:
>>
>>This is a storm in a teacup but the seriousness of this needs to
>>be made clear:
>>
>>"Failure to file accounts is a separate, criminal offence which can
>>result in directors themselves being fined on conviction in the
>>criminal courts."
>>
>>J. Seddon
>
> Easy. Cease trading.
You still have to file even if you aren't actively trading. You would
have to actually go through the process of winding up (I think that's
the correct term) before you can stop filing reports and accounts and
whatever.