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.

From: wikimediauk-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org [mailto:wikimediauk-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Al Tally
Sent: 27 July 2008 21:06
To: wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Subject: Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Wikimania 2010 - Manchester?

2008/7/27 Michael Peel <wikimediauk@mikepeel.net>

All,

I've been reading the discussions here for a while, but I haven't had
time to comment until now...

Could I suggest Manchester as a possible alternative location for a
UK bid? Manchester's good points include:
- Internationally well known
- International airport with with good links to other UK airports and
a direct train line to the centre of Manchester
- Links to early computer history, including the Manchester Baby
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Baby )
- A very active WikiProject ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Wikipedia:GM )
- "Largest single-campus University in the United Kingdom"
- Large lecture halls in both brand-new (University Place) and
historical (Whitworth Hall) buildings along with lots of nearby
buildings for breakout sessions.
- Lots of student accommodation near to the possible venues
- Lots of food places nearby, including the Curry Mile

According to http://conference.manchester.ac.uk/ the following are
candidates for the big meeting:
- Whitworth Hall: neo-gothic style, big impressive organ. Up to 675
in a meeting, 300 for a banquet
- University Place: built last year, modern style. 1,100 seat
auditorium, dividable to 600/400
- Reynold Building: 1960s building. 500-seat lecture room with nearby
2x300 and 5x140 theatres

Plus there's lots of others in the 200-400 seat range, lots of space
for stands/gatherings, and lots of smaller rooms.

I'm currently a postgraduate student at the University, and can
enquire into availability and costs if people here think it's
worthwhile. However, my course finishes in September 2009 so I may
not be at the university during the Wikimania.

What do y'all think? Worth investigating?

Mike Peel
http://www.mikepeel.net/

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I like the sound of Manchester, but I'm thinking of the connection to foreign airports. The amount isn't as high as in London, and London to Manchester is far.

--
Al Tally
(User:Majorly)