Cambridge Venue for Linux Kernel Summit in '07

[Steven Whitehouse]

Hi,

On Mon, 2006-09-18 at 14:32 -0700, Ellie Young wrote:
> Hello Operation Cambridge Folks,
> 
> USENIX has been investigating the various options supplied by this  
> list  to see if we can obtain a viable venue for next year's Linux  
> Kernel Summit.   Here's a report, our recommendation, and next steps.
> 
> We sent specs to "Conference Cambridge" which disseminates specs and  
> rfp's to the Cambridge universities/colleges.  Then, if any of them  
> have the space/dates, etc., they contact the customer.  We heard back  
> from:
> 
> Clare College:  they  only have a lecture hall (vs. round table  
> seating that we prefer) for the #'s we have attending.
> Queens College cannot "do rounds in lecture theatre or dining hall"
> Moller Centre seats 70 "cabaret style" but not 4-5 per banquet round  
> per our specs
> St John's College has a lecture hall only. The seats do "roll  
> back" (which was stated in one of this list's e-mails), but it  
> becomes a badminton court which is used by the college.  They insist  
> they can only offer the tiered lecture seating.
> 
That sounds pretty similar, but slightly different to the response I had
from Conference Cambridge. I had Hommerton College on my list as well,
but thats a bit further outside the City centre than the others and
might be considered too far.

I wonder whether the lecture hall that Clare offered was within the
college itself? They told me that they would offer the facilities of the
Law Faculty since they didn't have anywhere large enough themselves,
although the brochure they sent suggested that they did have some rooms
not far off the size we requested.

Did you get a reference number for your enquiry with Conference
Cambridge? I have 138506 as the reference for my enquiry and it might be
worth letting them know that its the same event for both queries. A
summary of my enquires was posted to this list recently, so if you
missed that, I'll forward a copy to you.

> We also sent the specs to the Cambridge Tourist Ofc  
> (cambridge.gov.uk) who sent them to the hotels. We looked at every  
> hotel listed on the "Cambridge Area Guide - Cambridge, England  
> Conference Centres and Event Space" to determine if they had what we  
> needed.  Only the DeVere University Arms did (from whom we have a  
> proposal) and the Crowne Plaza looked like they MIGHT.  However, the  
> Crowne Plaza, after several e-mails clarifying their space, does not.
> 
> Recommendation:
> 
> DeVere University Arms
> Dates:  Sept. 4-7, 2007  (note: Sept 3 is a holiday in USA, so we  
> figure the workshop could  be held either 5-7 or 6-7.
> Ballroom is 2944 sq ft, smaller than the room in the Ottawa Congress  
> Centre (the round tables will be tight, but Ted thinks it's doable.)
> 
Its certainly in the right area of town, and fairly close to the centre.

> Prices are in “packages”.  We recommend that we go with:
> 
> Day delegate:  Approx $94 USD per person
> Incl am coffee break, finger buffet lunch, pm tea break, flipchart,  
> lcd proj/screen, water in mtg room, “main”mtg room rental.  (they  
> assure us that the lunch will not leave people hungry :-)
> 
> We could book the conference with the Day delegate pkg and let people  
> just book their own hotel rooms.   This might be better since there  
> are probably other lower-priced hotels nearby.
> 
Did you get an indication of their room charges?

> We will arrange dinners/evening activities at venues close by (need  
> help from the locals w/ their suggestions).
> 
There are plenty of colleges with large enough halls for dinner, if we
still want to use it as an excuse to allow people to visit a college. We
might be a bit stuck for restaurants I guess since Cambridge is
generally rather small and there are probably few that can take the
numbers. The one I had in mind as a possible venue appears to take only
50 maximum.

Also several of the colleges are close enough that it would be
feasible to use them for accommodation if required.

> Residential guest parking approx $19 USD
Parking is always a problem in Cambridge. I guess we'll not need too
much as most people will be coming via public transport. There are buses
from all the major airports to Cambridge and they terminate in the city
centre quite close to the De Vere University Arms.

If its any help, I can be contacted on +44 (0)781 2059401 (mobile) or
+44 (0)1792 513737 (office) although I'm too far away to count as local,
I did live in Cambridge for four years,

Steve.