On 16/08/05, Cormac Lawler cormaggio@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Dan, thanks a million for doing all this. On Manchester venues, have you had a look at the University of Manchester? http://www.conference.manchester.ac.uk/meetingmanchester/meetingandaccommoda... I haven't seen the Reynolds building in their list.
It was the University of Manchester Conference Department that I was talking to today. They said the only place that could handle 400-500 delegates is the Reynolds Building, which is on Sackville Street, not Oxford Road :-). The biggest LT on Oxford Road is only a 244 seater :-(.
They did also suggest that Fallowfield Road is a possibility, although it was described to me as "being a bit run-down" :-). I'm consulting further with them on this one; I'll let you know as soon as I get something back.
And have you seen Arwel Parry's list of suggestions on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:UK_Wikipedians%27_notice_board#W... ? Some interestign ideas - although on a different scale.
Appear to be mainly hotels, where you are looking at 3x the cost of accommodation. But if Arwel can get numbers and they're competitive, great!
Also, if we're worried about leaving it too late, maybe the best thing to do is to find our best option early and then provisionally book it, in advance of the wikimania committee decision?
That's a good idea! I'm a bit worried they'll want a deposit, but we'll certainly give it a try.
And finally, the Wikimania conference itself was over three days but there was a whole hacking convention and minor meetings beforehand so we might be looking at a Wikimedia presence needing to be facilitated on-site (or nearby) for a week or so. Maybe James F (who was on staff) could fill us in on some relevant details?
Apparently any future "hacker's conventions" are going to be held seperately. However it shouldn't an issue to hire a suite of smaller rooms (all unis are filled with them, after all) for a few days before hand. It's getting a slot in the large-capacity LTs which is the main concern.
Thanks for your input Cormac :-)
Dan