DjangoCon 2011

[Steve Holden]

I'd just like to briefly report back on the inquiries Nancy and I have
been making into East coast venues for DjangoCon 2011. This is not a
final answer, simply reassurance that things have actually been happening.

Sadly, New York is out for 2011. Those (very few) venues whose costs are
low enough are already booked up. Those with space are *much* too
expensive. If we want to look at a New York DjangoCon US we should
probably plan at least two years ahead, and still expect it to be quite
a lot more expensive than Portland (even without factoring in the higher
cost of eating out and so on in New York).

Chicago is also quite a lot more expensive than Portland for 2011, so we
have had to rule that out too. Again, a longer planning time frame
*might* help.

We did receive responses from a couple of hotels close to Dulles airport
where the costs might be acceptable and they do have space for next
year. Sadly both facilities (and particularly the one whose costs are
closest to the Doubletree in Portland) are quite isolated (i.e. anything
else is a cab ride away). This doesn't seem like it would fit with a
group that enjoys visiting local bars and restaurants.

We are currently waiting for replies from one or two more hotels more
"in the thick of things" in the DC area. This would probably mean a bit
more difficulty getting to the venue from the airports, but it would
mean that Djangonauts who want to venture out from the hotel would find
more facilities close by.

I will let you know more when I hear more. In the meantime, I am
wondering whether it might be more practical to have a third year at the
Doubletree in Portland, and adopt a longer time frame for 2012 planning
for an East coast conference. Feedback on that question would be welcome.

regards
Steve

PS: When is @alex_gaynor's birthday?
--
DjangoCon US 2010 September 7-9 http://djangocon.us/

[Joe Casper]

How about Atlanta or Orlando?

Sent from my iPhone

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[Shawn Milochik]

I live on the east coast, but the past two DjangoCons have caused me to fall in love with Portland. It would be a treat for me to get to go there again in 2011.

In fact, if it's in Portland next year I plan to make a family vacation of it.

So, that's my vote, for whatever it's worth. Hope to see everyone in Portland next year!

Shawn

[Russell Keith-Magee]

I don't have any objections to another year in Portland. It's a great
city with great transport and nightlife. If another year in Portland
will give us the breathing room to secure better options on the east
coast, I'm all for it. It's certainly a more attractive option than a
week in an airport Hilton with a cab ride needed for every restaurant
trip.

Yours
Russ Magee %-)

[Franklin Einspruch]

May I humbly suggest Boston?

- a Bostonian

--
Art, writing, journal: http://einspruch.com
Comics: http://themoonfellonme.com

[Steve Holden]

On 9/27/2010 11:04 PM, Russell Keith-Magee wrote:
> > I don't have any objections to another year in Portland. It's a great
> > city with great transport and nightlife. If another year in Portland
> > will give us the breathing room to secure better options on the east
> > coast, I'm all for it. It's certainly a more attractive option than a
> > week in an airport Hilton with a cab ride needed for every restaurant
> > trip.
> >

That was my reasoning too. It's not all over yet (there are still
options in Arlington, which is rather more cosmopolitan, that we are
still awaiting replies from) but in the absence of some alternative
which allows us to keep the price within 5-10% of this year it does seem
attractive.

We could then take the opportunity to plan an East coast venue with a
longer time frame, giving us more chance of meeting the community's
parameters.

Atlanta, Orlando and Boston have also been suggested. It will never be
Orlando for me (sorry, I just can't bring myself to like the place as a
conference venue, great as it may be for a family vacation). While the
other two cities might be possibilities for future years I don't think
they are any more likely to be practical for 2011 than Chicago or New
York, and for much the same reasons.

regards
Steve

[Samuel Baldwin]

2010/9/27 Franklin Einspruch <franklin....@gmail.com>:

> May I humbly suggest Boston?

Another for Boston.
--
Samuel Baldwin - logik.li

[David Zhou]

Is the bay area right out for cost reasons?

dz

Sent from my iPhone

[Олег Корсак]

Make conference in eastern europe :)
----- Исходное сообщение -----

[Kenneth Gonsalves]

On Mon, 2010-09-27 at 22:51 -0400, Steve Holden wrote:
> I'd just like to briefly report back on the inquiries Nancy and I have
> been making into East coast venues for DjangoCon 2011.

just curious - why a hotel? In India we hold such conferences in
universities/colleges - they provide all facilities free of cost (except
accomodation - although some make their guest houses available for the
VIPs), and in fact, compete with each other to offer hosting. We have
just finished Pycon India where we got three state of art auditoriums
free of cost.
--
regards
Kenneth Gonsalves

[Steve Holden]

There seemed to be a general feeling that a change of venue should head
Eastwards rather than South. So we are looking primarily for East coast
locations as an alternative to Portland for 2011.

regards
Steve

On 9/27/2010 11:49 PM, David Zhou wrote:
> Is the bay area right out for cost reasons?
>
> dz
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Sep 27, 2010, at 8:48 PM, Samuel Baldwin <recursiv...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> 2010/9/27 Franklin Einspruch <franklin....@gmail.com>:
>>> May I humbly suggest Boston?
>>
>> Another for Boston.
>> --
>> Samuel Baldwin - logik.li
>>

[Siraaj Khandkar]

On Sep 27, 10:51 pm, Steve Holden <holden...@gmail.com> wrote:
>....
> Sadly, New York is out for2011. Those (very few) venues whose costs are

> low enough are already booked up. Those with space are *much* too

> expensive. If we want to look at a New YorkDjangoConUS we should

> probably plan at least two years ahead, and still expect it to be quite
> a lot more expensive than Portland (even without factoring in the higher
> cost of eating out and so on in New York).
>

Look into Cooper Union in New York. NYCBUG is holding NYCBSDCon there
in a little over a month, with reasonable costs.

http://www.nycbsdcon.org/2010/


...

>
> We are currently waiting for replies from one or two more hotels more
> "in the thick of things" in the DC area. This would probably mean a bit
> more difficulty getting to the venue from the airports, but it would
> mean that Djangonauts who want to venture out from the hotel would find
> more facilities close by.
>

DC sounds cool, UPenn in Philadelphia would be a good place to
consider as well.

[sserrano]

I live in Argentina, If I wanted to go to the DjangoCon in Portland,
it would require a Bus to Buenos Aires, then take an international
flight to a US mayor city and then another to reach Portland, overall
I would be travelling more nearly an entire day to reach the
conference.

New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington have direct
flights from almost every country. I'm sure if the conference is place
in a city with easy access it would have more people going.

Cheers, Sebastian

[Steve Holden]

On 9/30/2010 10:36 AM, sserrano wrote:
>> I live in Argentina, If I wanted to go to the DjangoCon in
>> Portland, it would require a Bus to Buenos Aires, then take an
>> international flight to a US mayor city and then another to reach
>> Portland, overall I would be travelling more nearly an entire day
>> to reach the conference.
>>
>> New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington have direct
>> flights from almost every country. I'm sure if the conference is
>> place in a city with easy access it would have more people going.
>>

Thank you for your input. What you say is true. Unfortunately (for
people in your position) growth in numbers isn't a primary goal for
DjangoCon US and Portland seems to attract sufficient delegates to make
it successful.

I am not unmindful of these factors, but on the other side of the coin
it's likely (for precisely the convenience reasons you state) that those
locations with convenient international airports will have hotels that
are significantly more expensive than places like Portland.

Cost *is* a major inhibitor of attendance, and unless the Django
community advise otherwise a high priority will be trying to keep the
2011 cost as close to this year's level as I can.

regards
Steve