Site visit report.

[Theodore Tso]

On Fri, Sep 29, 2006 at 06:34:42AM +0100, David Woodhouse wrote:
> We visited the University Arms, the Corn Exchange and the Guild Hall.
> 
> We took photos but the ones in the brochures will probably be better --
> and the brochures should be available to us in electronic form shortly.
> I'll forward them when they arrive, and supplement them with my own
> photographs if appropriate.

Great, thanks for going out and taking a look at the various
locations!!

Did anyone go through a detailed pricing discussion with the Guild
Hall about what A/V, catering, wifi access, etc. would cost?  I know
Ellie and her staff have contacted the DeVere University Arms and have
gotten that information to satisfy them, but do we have everything we
need for the Guild Hall?  How much cheaper do you think it will be?

I assume that one advantage of the Guild Hall is that they won't have
a room block requirement, since they probably don't offer lodging?  At
the University Arms, we would need to have something like at least 20
rooms rented or they would charge us additional money ("a penalty")
and the University Arms is probably more expensive than lodging that
might be available at the surrounding colleges.  But if we're going to
go with the Guild Hall, we'll have to gether detailed cost information
fairly quickly.  Ellie, anything you want to add?

As far as speed of the wireless network, I suspect speed isn't that
important, since we're not doing audio streaming or anything that
requires high bandwidth, and most people will just want to do e-mail
and web browsing.  What probably *is* important is whether or not the
wireless congestively collapses when 100 people try to use it
simultaneously.  Many hotels and function spaces, if they don't use
industrial grade access points, will work fine and most conferences
where the percentage of attendees trying to use the network at the
same time are a lot smaller than what we'll probably have.  :-)


						- Ted
> 
> In summary...
> 
> The University Arms is probably the most suitable venue -- they seem
> entirely capable of hosting an event such as this. The rooms are
> sufficient in quantity and quality, and the technical requirements such
> as wireless, audio systems, etc. should also be fine.
> 
> The Corn Exchange has plenty of space in the main hall, and has suitable
> space for BOFs, but lacks a really decent room for lunch unless we were
> going to cross the road into the Guild Hall -- but in that case we might
> as well do the whole thing there instead. If we use the Corn Exchange we
> apparently need to use their caterers rather than getting someone else
> in.
> 
> The Guild Hall would also work well, and may be cheaper. We can use
> their caterers or not, as we see fit. They have adjacent rooms -- the
> imaginatively titled 'Large Hall' and 'Small Hall' which would be
> perfectly sufficient for the conference and for luncheon, respectively.
> There are other, smaller, meeting rooms which should be available for
> BOFs. They don't yet have wireless provision but intend to have it by
> next September -- we aren't sure what _speed_ the access to the outside
> world would be (we don't know that of the University Arms either).
> 
> -- 
> dwmw2
> 
> 
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